A new home decor book, “Design Happy ─ Colorful Homes for the Modern Family” by Betsy Wentz, is all about colorful design choices.
I flip through a lot of home design books in this job. Frankly, most run together. Betsy Wentz’s “Design Happy ─ Colorful Homes for the Modern Family” (available Feb. 21, Gibbs Smith Publishing) stands out as the exception.
All the interiors featured in the book’s photo-filled 224 pages jump out for their bright, unapologetic use of color.
“You can do that?” I thought.
Yes, you can. Well, at least Wentz can.
Wentz, 49, grew up working alongside her mother, an interior designer who ran a design shop out of the family home. Wentz pursued a career in psychology and after working as a counselor, came back and partnered with her mentor mom in 2001. When her mother retired 10 years later, Wentz rebranded and launched her own studio near Pittsburgh.
A designer trained as a counselor. This makes perfect sense.
But back to the book. Of all the traits I admire in designers, creative courage tops my list, and Wentz has this gift in (paint) buckets.
I mean, this woman did not pause before covering an heirloom antique wooden grandfather clock ─ which let’s face it, few people really want in their homes anymore ─ with bright yellow citron lacquer paint, which made everyone in the family fall in love with it.
So, I called Wentz, who, proved just as colorful in conversation:
Q. You have a master’s degree in counseling psychology and were a behavioral therapist before starting a design firm.
