House & Home & General

The Not So Big House- A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live

5 stars (read THIS B4 U build your DREAM HOUSE!!!!) - Every real-estate agents SHOULD read this book! BUY and BUILD how we LIVE and not be sold or told as to how we should THINK we should live! GREAT BOOK...food for thought! 3 stars (Good but Not Great) - Although both "The Not So Big House" and "Creating the Not So Big House" are good books with well-thought out concepts, I think you can find better books on the subject. After reading both books, I felt the information rather evaporated, and I was left without some good, basic practical outlines on how to proceed with the house. Fortunately, I came across "The Home Design Handbook" by June Cotner Myrvang & Steve Myrvang, AIA, where at the end of every well thought out chapter, you found a detailed, practical checklist of major issues that needed to be considered before proceeding with your plans. Everything missing in the "Not So big House"(s) was found in this one book, which offered highly useful information. 1 stars (Would have helped to have known .......) - Just having bought an 1887 house in a small southern town, this book was not what I needed. It was well written, beautiful photography and layout, but not within the price range or geographical range. It might have saved me some money if these items of interest to readers had been mentioned. Also - "mission" or "prairie" is not a dominant theme in this area. ...
Taunton :: House & Home & General :: Space (Architecture) :: Repair :: Psychological aspects :: Interior architecture :: Interior Design - General :: House Plans :: House & Ho :: The Not So Big House- A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live

Home by Design- Transforming Your House Into Home

5 stars (An Excellent and very useful book - don't believe the negative reviews) - After reading the negative reviews, I got the book from the library instead of buying it. The negative reviews are really unfounded. It is worth buying. I was able to easily see all of the pictures, even the smallest ones, so the reviewer who complained about the small pictures needs glasses. I get more information from five small pictures on a page than one picture filling the entire page, so I appreciate the denser content. While many of the houses are luxury houses, the design principles can definitely be adapted to more modest houses. One of the houses used granite bathroom tile on the counter - clearly they had budgetary constraints. Many of the unique design features could be added to a modest house with considerable impact. The design principles are simplified into 27 types and illustrated better than any architecture book I have ever seen. In many cases, a second photo is modifed to remove the one isolated design feature being illustrated and it is easy to see the effect that the feature creates when it is missing. Regarding the lack of scale in the floor plans: I am glad there *are* floor plans - most books don't have them at all. It is very easy to create a scale knowing that a kitchen or bathroom counter is 2 feet wide, or that a entry door is 3 feet wide and go from there. A trained designer does this automatically in their head. Many projects are profusely illustrated from multiple angles and each one demonstrates several design principles. This is a very useful resource and an excellent primer on basic design principles. Although the principles explained are very basic, the examples shown are very sophisticated. This book is useful to the novice, and even more so to a trained designer who will see much more than what the text explains. The best design cannot be contained by mere words. All of the projects illustrated are top-notch designs. If you want this kind o...
Taunton :: House & Home & General :: United States :: Residential Interior Design :: Residential Buildings Architecture :: House & Home :: Home Improvement & Construction :: :: Home by Design- Transforming Your House Into Home

MaryJane-s Ideabook- Cookbook- Lifebook - For the Farmgirl in All of Us

4 stars (Journeying With MaryJane) - This is more than a book, which is why the title is composed of Idea,Cook and Life. It's hefty, filled with evocative, inspiring photographs, good recipes, and the encouraging story of MaryJane Butters' journey to her life today in Idaho. Along the way: working as a park ranger, farming organically, surviving as a single Mom, and establishing today's business. I had ordered this book as a 55th birthday gift for a friend, but will need to order another copy for her (this one is now "used": coffee rings and recipe notes...try hers for watermelon salsa.) And even though it's big, you CAN read it in bed! 5 stars (Incredible!!!!!!!!!) - This is not only a great resource...but it is inspiring...beautifully illustrated...took me on a journey of what is really important in life..to simplify...experience and create. 5 stars (Great book!) - I love this book! Just reading it makes me feel like I've taken a trip away from the hustle and bustle of the city! Beautiful photos, interesting information, and some great recipes to boot. This is less of a cookbook though - so if you're looking strictly for recipes more than anything else, this may not be the book for you. It is a great coffee table book and one that I will enjoy reading again. ...
Clarkson Potter :: House & Home & General :: House & Home :: Home economics :: General :: Do-It-Yourself - General :: Do-It-Yourself :: Crafts & Hobbies :: Maryjane Butters :: :: MaryJane-s Ideabook- Cookbook- Lifebook - For the Farmgirl in All of Us

Not So Big Solutions for Your Home

5 stars (Very helpful) - I found this book to be very insightful for me as a new homebuilder. While the book is a collection of magazine articles that Susanka has written in the past, they contain ideas that are refreshing and useful. I have a new direction in the way I think about the design of my house, and I can appreciate the value of maximising space, as well as building the house to suit my particular lifestyle. i would recommend this for any potential homebuilder, or renovator. 5 stars (Bigger is not always better...quality counts!) - Our guiding philosophy and inspiration. An engaging and intelligent defense of building (and renovating) smarter, not bigger. Sarah Susanke has made a career of promoting traditional design principles in a way that speaks to modern situations (many of us can't afford new, huge houses) and responds to the "McMansions" craze that continues to sweep the US. She has a wonderful sense of how to maximize space for personal use. She advocates for built-in furniture, design built around daily activities, and open light-filled design. She had us at "Most architects are afraid to say...'You don't need an addition, you need a cleaning service." She doesn't want to clean out your bank account. She wants you to make the most of what you have...and if you follow her ideas, you will. 5 stars (Useful Information from a Pioneering Voice) - Within a very short time, Sarah Susanka has had a profound impact on the way families approach the design of their home. Eschewing the "bigger is better" model that drives the profits of developers and mass production builders, Sarah Susanka has introduced a new vocablary of user-centered design that focuses on the details that make for a pleaant living experience. Her "smaller is better" philosophy is based on often overlooked details like window size, providing built-in spaces for daily activities, creating "comfort zones" by varying ceiling heights and room lighting, and a myriad of other simple-in-...
Taunton :: House & Home & General :: Interior architecture :: House construction :: House Plans :: House & Home :: Home Improvement & Construction :: Domestic architecture :: :: Not So Big Solutions for Your Home