Almost 10 years after The Not So Big House came out, it's reassuring to see that houses really are starting to get smaller. Over the past year I've been interviewed time and again for articles describing a growing backlash against the mega-houses that have been built across the country in recent decades.
Houses aren't only getting smaller, they're also becoming less formal, a trend picked up by my good friend and coauthor (of Inside the Not So Big House) Marc Vassallo in his new book, The Barefoot Home. Marc hits the nail on the head when he says that we no longer need formal living and dining rooms--it just doesn't fit the way we live anymore. And we're spending just as much time enjoying the outside of our homes as we are the inside. In a barefoot home, you can feel like you're on vacation 365 days a year, a lifestyle that's much more in tune with the way we REALLY live today--at least when we're not at work.
I was lucky enough to be one of the very first readers to receive a copy of The Barefoot Home and as I leafed through it, I could almost feel the sand between my toes. Marc has assembled and described, in his inimitable style, 20 excellent examples of houses that are both Not So Big in form, and decidedly Not So Formal in function. As Marc recommends in his "barefoot manifesto," it's time to kick off your shoes, open up, embrace the sun, live outside as well as in, and adopt a barefoot state of mind. The lessons these homes have to offer are much needed by all who are disenchanted with "too bigness" in house design; and best of all, they're easy to implement, and often less expensive to boot. Anyone who is a fan of the Not So Big House series will almost certainly enjoy this book as well.
Book Description
As our personal and professional lives become more demanding and hectic, people have reacted with a more casual, relaxed, and open way of living at home. Kitchens are no longer just for cooking but serve as entertainment hubs; barbeques on the grill have replaced formal dinners. As our lives at home have become increasingly informal, the “barefoot living” lifestyle has emerged and there is increased demand to carry this attitude over into home design.
Relaxed, open, filled with light, and intimately connected to the outdoors, barefoot houses make living at home feel like being on vacation 365 days a year. The 24 houses featured in The Barefoot Home reflect today’s barefoot times. From a long, low house on the Kansas prairie to an adobe home in New Mexico and a New England cottage by the sea, these homes capture the essence of barefoot living.
Customer Reviews:
Surprised and delighted.......2007-09-27
We live in temperate Australia and hesitated long before buying this book. We have shelves of excellent architecture reference books from around the world and have been owner builders. Was it going to be just glam coffee table eye candy? The architect has worked with Sarah Susanka (Not So Big House etc), so we decided to take the plunge. This is a very good book. There is so much to look at, contemplate, re-visit. Brilliant resolution of details, houses that flow, small exquisite spaces, sound materials. We have had hours of enjoyment from this book and have been happy to share it with others to extend their knowledge of good architecture. Enjoy!
Barefoot -- informal style, for an informal life........2007-05-16
On first glance I agreed with many of the other reviewers: 'the book was slick', 'it was disingenuous', 'sure, if you live in a sunny climate, most, if not all, of the time'.
Then I went back and looked at the book again, and read the opening passage: he does not strive to be disingenuous, he tells us he himself doesn't live in a barefoot home, nor a barefoot neighborhood, but he is trying and the manifesto of the book is to entreat all of us to be more informal in our primary living space -- our homes.
Open the house up as soon as you can, get rid of all the stuff you don't need, make your home as casual as you can, and then enjoy it.
Think informal thoughts, and live in all the spaces available to you: the patio, the deck and never forget how good it feels to have sand between your toes!
He provides blue prints to the homes and he even lists the architects. Enjoy and live well!
Great Book!.......2007-03-26
This book is great for conversation and ideas. I leave mine on the coffee table for periodic inspiration...that of myself..and of others!
Barefoot, if it's summertime.......2007-03-11
I don't exactly get the barefoot concept. If the author had seen these homes in the wintertime, would he still consider them barefoot homes? Barefoot seems far-fetched and contrived in this book.
This book is a nice compilation of casual homes mostly in the country or at the beach. It's similar to other books on getaway homes. Beyond that, I didn't see anything particularly new or inspiring. It almost seems like the author (or Taunton?) was more interested in pushing the barefoot concept than providing new ideas.
Designed for wilder, more remote locations.......2007-02-15
This book is beautiful, the writing lyric and inviting.
But in looking for ideas for building our coastal home, I found that the windows and outdoor living areas were meant for homes in secluded or tree-sheltered locations, not on a city lot as our will be.
I highly recommend this book for those with more remote building sites.
Book Description
Geo-Metrics III is an extensively revised edition of the most respected and widely-read book on geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, the technical drawing language for designing and manufacturing component parts of a mechanical product. Completely up to date, this new edition takes its reference from the content of the latest ANSI/ASME Y14.5M standard as well as harmonizing with the principles of related ISO international standards. It is also supportive of the ISO 9000 series of international standards policies and directives.
Customer Reviews:
Tolerancing for Dummies.......2001-05-09
A very well writen book I had no problem understanding the text and the examples given for creating objects was very simple I picked up on creating tolerancs very easy I would recemond this book to anyone starting out doing tolerancing
Understand Geometric Tolerancing.......2000-09-04
Was reading the new rev. of the ARINC 600 Spec. Used a co-workers copy of of Geo-Metrics III to figure out a tolerance note I wasn't sure of. This book has the clearest descriptions of Geometric tolerancing with detail showing how to read and apply notes I have ever seen. I immediately copied the title pape so I could get my own copy. By the way, I am an electro-mechanical engineer.
Probably the best available.......1998-05-20
Foster presents essentially all of the basics required for understanding GD&T. I've taken associated training courses using Geo-Metrics II and III and found the books to be excellent reference materials. However, I found the text to be rather convoluted and boring. Coupled with the excellent graphics representations, one will come to an understanding of the principles.
Book Description
Outdoor cooking has far surpassed the days of the simply grilling on the patio. Incorporating everything from fully-stocked bars to full-size kitchen appliances in its plans, open-air cooking has soared to new levels of creativity, design, and technique.
With Outdoor Kitchens you will be able to personalize the outdoor cooking space that perfectly suits your lifestyle. Superb photography creates a catalog of options, inspiring you to design a space that exactly meets your desires, climate, cooking style, and budget. This book equips you with all the information you need to successfully set up an outdoor kitchen, from tips on choosing the right decor to proper equipment selection, allowing you to make all the correct decisions along the way.
Customer Reviews:
A Landmark Design Book.......2005-11-10
This must be the first full book-length study of the increasingly popular subject of outdoor kitchens and cooking. The author's style is precise and easy, allowing the reader to understand the history of cooking outdoors, which, after all, is how cooking got started. The book is beautifully produced, with a profusion of color illustrations and drawings which illustrate the text's in-depth approach to all aspects of the subject. From simple outdoor grilling to the design and construction of a custom, high-end outdoor kitchen and dining area, the reader can develop a better feel for the glorious benefits of cooking by fire. A useful index of resources for products is included at the end.
Not to be ignored are the many sidebars in the book, many of which provide essential information, such as those relating to choosing grills, the estimation of food servings for groups, cleaning a grill and food safety when outdoors. Major chefs and designers who specialize in outdoor cooking and grilling are interviewed, including 'Barbeque Bible' maestro Steven Raichlen, Dwayne Ridgaway, Food Network star Paula Deen, Richard Sandoval (author of Modern Mexican Flavors) and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que owner John Stage.
We can't all afford to spend a fortune on a full-blown outdoor kitchen, but Amanda Lecky's book is a great resource for outdoor large and small, and is worth more than its weight in (gold or otherwise) briquettes. Outdoor cooking has never been so fully analyzed and featured and this book makes you want to run out on the patio, fight the fall chill and grill a great meal.
Book Description
Say good-bye to that jumble of tools, muddle of magazines, and forest of fabric! Systemize your cluttered space with an expert's ideas on planning a functional and beautiful home quilting studio—a place where creativity wins over chaos.
· Create the quilt studio of your dreams with dozens of ideas for making your time more enjoyable and efficient
· View before-and-after photos of real-life makeovers for small, medium, and large spaces—all on a range of budgets
· Find fantastic storage solutions for fabric, scraps, patterns, books, tools, and more
Customer Reviews:
A great source of inspiration.......2007-10-11
I bought this book not knowing the best way to reorganise my sewing room. It has gives so many wonderful ideas and helps you make them into reality. Easy to follow, great pictures and such a joy to read, which I do still do for further inspiration.
Creating my "not quite perfect" quilting space.......2007-10-03
I'm in the process of converting a boys' bedroom to a quilting room, so I was looking for specific ideas from the experts. Even though my quilting space will not be a 'perfect quilting space' as a result of reading this book, it will be so much better! I appreciated the author's guidelines for making the cutting and the pressing surfaces each the correct height - for the individual quilter, not just the average height quilter (I'm 5' tall, so "average height" does not work well for me) - and her attention to ergonomic considerations in all areas. Her ideas on use of space near the sewing machine, with small cutting and pressing areas right there, make so much sense, but would not have occurred to me. The book was well written; I just read it straight through, then went back to the sections as I was making more detailed plans. I would recommend it to anyone planning a quilting space, or redoing one that they have. It was very useful to me.
Perfect book for quilters.......2007-09-08
I have been contemplating setting up my sewing room to make it truely a "quilting studio" as the author says we should call it. In the first chapter alone I learned about ergonomics for quilters and changed some things that helped me immediately. I had things set up the wrong height and orientation and these changes relieved my back and legs immediately. Throughout the book there are excellent suggestions, and six actual makeover examples. I highly recommend this book for quilters who want to make even the smallest change to their quilt studios.
Great ideas.......2007-07-24
If I were starting to build a room specifically for crafting, these are wonderful ideas, but a little extreme as far as setting it up. But I did give the book to a friend building anew home that may be able to afford all the items in the pictures shown.
Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space.......2007-05-14
This book was full of wonderful ideas - how to use your present room to designing a dream room.
Book Description
Rooms celebrates some of the most luxurious and bold interiors around the globe and the creative sensibilities of the people who inspired them. Beautifully presented through the sumptuous photography of Derry Moore, the 12th Earl of Drogheda, who has photographed some of the world's most spectacular houses as well as some of the most notable personalities in their homes, this lavish publication captures the dramatic spirit of such vivid figures as famed early twentieth-century interior designer Elsie de Wolfe, contemporary design legend Renzo Mongiardino, and the legendary decorator Nancy Lancaster. Moore revolutionized interior photography with his technical acuity, his keen aesthetic eye and his impeccably good taste. This vision culminated in an inspired collaboration with Joseph Holtzman, founding editor in chief and art director of the celebrated and controversial magazine Nest, and one of the great tastemakers of our age. This long-awaited book features a remarkable array of spectacular interiors, ranging from Charleston, the famed haunt of the Bloomsbury group, to India's Falaknuma Palace, Pauline de Rothschild's London residence, and Chatsworth Hall, Derbyshire, the grandest of English country houses.
Customer Reviews:
Lovely Book.......2007-08-31
This is a lovely book, its very soothing and enjoyable to read. The photographs are lovely and the homes are so interesting. Its really worth buying for oneself or as a gift.
I purchased the book since I am decorating my home which was built in 1917 and I felt I could learn something from the featured homes.
"Rooms" took my breath away when I first started browsing it.
The cover does not do this book justice........2007-03-25
Great book! Great rooms! Great Old Homes.
Good coffee table book but not what I expected.......2007-02-01
A good coffee table book with some great images and stories, however I was expecting it to be a bit different. I bought this book because I saw it in Domino Magazine, and given their high end, modern editorial skew, I expected the same of this book. I was a bit disappointed to not find a book filled with amazing modern spaces. That said, it's possible my expectations were off and it is still a good book to have and peruse to see a variey of "rooms."
Rooms with a viewpoint.......2007-01-19
If you are a room and interior design junkie, as am I, you will be amazed and thrilled with the sensitive and dazzling series of photo essays enclosed in these pages. I was greedy for more.
However I found the very aggressive design of the book itself very puzzling. I often had to hold my hand over the facing page in order to prevent myself being blinded by the stripes.
Rooms -- With a Point of View.......2007-01-03
Rooms is a perfect title for this stunning compilation of photographs by Derry Moore, since what the book offers is a document of rooms lived in, rather then interiors carefully prepped for maximum prettiness. Although many of the rooms are very grand indeed - those of Pauline De Rothschild, Lady Diana Cooper and Elsie de Wolf immediately come to mind - Moore always views them as homes, not mausoleums of taste.
Covering a thirty-year period in Moore's career, Rooms presents a range of dwellings that largely compel interest as reflections of their owners' sense of style. Charleston, home of Vanessa Bell and her various lovers, retains its haute bohemian glamour while showing signs of age that more timid photographers would conceal. Shots of Rudolf Nureyev, lounging in a richly colored robe and cap beneath academic oil paintings of male nudes, amply convey the elegant decadence of the dancer's surroundings. These rooms fascinate because they make manifest the inner lives of their enthralling inhabitants; and, aside from his abundant technical skill, Moore's greatest gift as a photographer is to divine and capture the spirit of a setting.
Yet what ultimately distinguishes Rooms from the plethora of coffee table books on interior design is Carl Skoggard's essays on each interior. Witty and informative, these gems convey a point of view as refined as Moore's, brimming with insight in a format that is at once concise and expansive. And it is highly appropriate that the final spread features the eclectic apartment of Joseph Holtzman, whose talent as a designer is matched by his finely calibrated editing of this volume. Rooms is a must-have for those who love rooms as much as the three men who have created this exquisite book.
Amazon.com
After reading Terah Kathryn Collins's The Western Guide to Feng Shui: Room by Room, you'll never look at your home the same way again. Under Collins's caring and perceptive tutelage, the home becomes more than just a box to move around in; it grows into an entire ecology of meaning and encouragement. To begin, Collins explains in clear language the principles of Feng Shui and how it can be good or bad. After detailing a number of items used as traditional Feng Shui enhancements, Collins proceeds to walk us through all the rooms of a house, from foyer to attic, to family room, bedroom, and kitchen. She explains the significance of each room, common problems, and, most importantly, effective solutions. In westernizing her Feng Shui, Collins dispenses with some of the more bizarre and ungainly traditional practices, always keying in on the straightforward and pragmatic. By including inner practices as well as outer, Collins offers one of the most profound and enriching Feng Shui books yet.
Book Description
A step-by-step, room-by-room journey through your home and office, opening your "Feng Shui eyes" to see the problems and solutions in your environment. This book explains why the arrangement of your home and workplace affects every aspect of your life.
Customer Reviews:
Useful.......2007-06-09
I found this book very easy to follow and will use for reference in the future.
The Western guide to Feng Shui.......2007-05-19
This book is interesting, was hard to put down.
I read the entire book in just a little time.
I would give the author an A+.
Amazon service was great.
Dumb Book.......2007-03-20
Sorry, but I think the whole book could have been written in one chapter. Most of the book was saying things like, don't buy a chair until you sit in it, or keep clutter off your desk. Advise that just takes common sense and fills up pages. I was waiting for the author to tell me not to run with a pair of scissors in my hand. I felt talked down to and unless you are very young with your very first apartment or house, you might also find the book insulting.
The only book that wasn't too negative.......2007-03-19
Feng Shui is a very negative system. This book wasn't as bad as the others. It was invented from an ancient poem and the reading of dead bones from graves. Someone came up with this system that seems to threaten you every step of the way. Your home, entrance, bed, couches, etc must all be positioned a certain way or else you have bad luck in finances romance and life in general. It's all nonsense and doesn't work. Save your money and remain happy in life. Putting purple paper in your desk will not create money for you.
Very Easy to Follow.......2006-09-06
This is a great book for the Feng Shui beginner! It is clear and very easy to understand.
Book Description
Take the guesswork out of choosing colors for your home!
When it comes to choosing colors, most people make selections by trial and error. Now, you can take the anxiety out of home color design with this accessible and easy-to-use guide with more than 65,000 color combinations at your fingertips.
Color Your Home features:
-
A mix-and-match format -- showing the ceiling, walls, furniture, and floor for 16 sample rooms -- that allows you to see which color combinations will work for you
-
Three basic color sections -- featuring 128 distinct colors that are each matched with 15 sets of complementary, adjacent, or contrasting colors to set your personal style
-
Removable color chips to match the 128 featured colors, so you can easily compare and combine your paint chips, furniture, fabric, and more
Color Your Home is the ultimate resource to create your own successful and personalized color schemes.
Customer Reviews:
COLOR IDEAS.......2007-05-17
The book is okay, but nothing that practical. Took sometime to understand how to use it.
Save your money.......2007-01-19
This book contains 90% color swatches and 10% information. Really, how could anyone feel that they purchased something helpful when it is mostly pages of 20 different colors that one is suppose to rip out and put on one's wall. Swatches are for decorating/paint stores not books, or it should at least indicate this.
its about time! .......2006-08-03
This book is very thorough about principles of color- it has tear out color charts and about every conceivable color combination that will look 'smashing" together. I absolutely love it and i will be using it to decorate my new home- The author has simplified a seemingly complex visionary task to a method that is foolproof for getting that designer look. I would have paid over $ 300.00 for the book to have the information that she supplies and i would like to have more by this author . fabulous! thank you
Amazon.com
Most Americans are pack rats, and Mary Emmerling seems to be no exception, but she knows how to make it look chic. Emmerling's specialty is a quintessential American country look: light fabrics, Western knickknacks, Navajo rugs, sunflowers, seashells, and gingham. The great thing about Emmerling's style is that it's flexible--when summer comes, you change the damask drapes to canvas tab curtains, put out some new pillows with mattress-ticking stripes, and--voilà!--you've got the beach cottage look. Every possession becomes decorating fodder: you can use nice, old chairs as end tables, house your videos and CDs in wicker baskets, or keep your spices in a test-tube rack. The division of the book into decorating periods of 5, 15, and 30 minutes (as well as "1 Hour to an Afternoon") is a bit odd and arbitrary, but the ideas are interesting and the look is great, especially for people with a lot of stuff.
Book Description
Mary Emmerling's American Country Cottages 0-517-58365 Mary Emmerling's American Country Details 0-517-583690
Customer Reviews:
Timeless cottage decorating.......2007-08-23
This will be one the books you constantly reach for when you need inspiration. It is one of my favorites - it will probably become one of yours too. And it's all so do-able - even with thrift store, garage/estate sales and antique store finds.
Old-fashioned country looks for your home.......2007-06-04
I bought this book in the late 1990's.
I still browse through it today, and this book does hold up,even now.
The chapters are easily categorized by styles & ideas. The photos are wonderful!
If you're familiar with COUNTRY HOME MAGAZINE or Mary Emmerling's style, then you'll like the format & ideas in this book.
Somebody else described the style of this book as "rustic", and I agree.
NOTE: If you're expecting "shabby chic" or "minimalist" country style, then this book is not for you.
But , if you love the "naturally" rustic look of the older country styles, then you'll love this book
For the love of rustic.......2006-11-09
This book is a real winner for those who love rustic, casual but sophisticated rooms. There is a lot of Southwestern decor here but you can apply a lot of what Mary Emmerling is showing without going that far. I think of it as introducing some Native American culture into my spaces and that is so earthy, colorful and rich. Her textiles and textures are very inspiring. This is my favorite decorating book! Just about every page is a hit with me.
Inspiration generation.......2004-02-09
I have a shelf full of "country" decorating books, but this is the one I pick up most often when I worry that things around here have been the same for too long. It's full of little ideas that can make it look as if you have spent longer re-vamping than you have done. Some of the suggestions are more long term and perhaps Mary shouldn't try to catagorise them as "quick" projects, but she has loads of quick ideas to perk up rooms around the house.
Buy it for the inspiration it generates - for the beautiful photography and the concept that you don't have to do much to make a difference to the look of your home.
Fantastic Book - full of inspiration!.......1998-10-14
I loved this book! The many different styles covered by Mary (everything from Southwestern to Shabby Chic) was my initial reason for purchasing Quick Decorating. Also, this book is filled with many examples for placing and arranging ordinary items for an extraordinary look! I refer to this book often for inspiration and loan it to friends when they are in need of some too!
Customer Reviews:
Not quite what I was expecting.......2007-01-12
I bought this book hoping to get some decorating ideas for our kids' rooms. It was not at all what I was expecting. It gave me a few ideas for storage, but not worth buying.
A Good Book - depending on your needs........2007-01-11
I thought this book would be about kids BEDrooms, but it's encompasses all kid spaces. It's great if you are building a home, remodeling or have the space to create as they do. I was disappointed that there wasn't more about kids bedrooms, but I picked up a FREE copy of the Pottery Barn Kids catalogue at my local store and that had what I was looking for.
Great Book!.......2006-11-04
This is a great book. I love the entire design library from Pottery Barn. Lots of fun ideas & good pictures.
The Best Kids Room Book.......2006-03-22
I own almost all books on decorating kids rooms and this is by far the best. It has great tips on how to use everyday and/or easy to make items to make kids rooms fun and fabulous. There are a lot of items in the book that they sell but they definitely do not push their product.
I am NOT a fan of Pottery Barn in general, as a matter of fact, I just bought the "Work Spaces" book and found it to be awful, sort of junky old stuff. However, this book is a MUST if you are decorating for your kids. Very practical and useful. My 4 year old son and I looked at every page and he loved every boys room and playroom in this book.
This book was not what I expected at all. Most kids books are full of outlandish or impractical but beautiful rooms. The rooms in this book are definitely not what I would call beautiful, but are very fun and practical for your kids. These are definitely not showplaces. The rooms they illustrate include a bathroom, bedrooms, a playroom, and art spaces.
A word of caution, though. This book does not have several bedrooms, playrooms, or bathrooms. It has a couple of each, but great advice to make your childs room great fun!
Books:
- Island Life: Inspirational Interiors
- Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader: Recipes from Mitford Cooks, Favorite Tales from Mitford Books (Mitford)
- Jewels of the Tsars: The Romanovs and Imperial Russia
- Kids Rooms (Pottery Barn Kids)
- Land Development Calculations: Interactive Tools and Techniques for Site Planning, Analysis and Design
- Land Development Calculations: Interactive Tools and Techniques for Site Planning, Analysis and Design
- Life in the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History
- Living Large in Small Spaces: Expressing Personal Style in 100 to 1,000 Square Feet
- Living Large in Small Spaces: Expressing Personal Style in 100 to 1,000 Square Feet
- Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Balancing Your Family, Faith & Work
- Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems
- Jimi Hendrix: The Man, the Magic, the Truth
- Green Profits: The Manager's Handbook for ISO 14001 and Pollution Prevention
- Modern Industrial Organization
- Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion
- Monet in Normandy
- Curso de Contabilidad Interna
- I Hate Financial Planning
- Wifebeater
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Outside the Not So Big House: Creating the Landscape of Home
The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live
Not So Big Solutions for Your Home (Susanka)
Creating the Not So Big House: Insights and Ideas for the New American Home
Home by Design: Transforming Your House into Home (Susanka)
