Book Description
In her latest book, best-selling author of The Not So Big House Sarah Susanka teams up with architectural design writer Marc Vassallo to expand upon the message that has resonated with over a million homeowners and builders across the country: opting for personalized, well-crafted, thoughtfully designed spaces over superfluous square footage results in a home that comforts and nourishes those who live there.
In Inside The Not So Big House, Susanka and Vassallo focus their lens on the tangible and sometimes intangible details that bring an otherwise ordinary home to life. Incorporating such details as dropped ceilings, built-in shelves, pocket doors, window seats, and well-placed alcoves infuses a home with the character of its owners and conveys a uniqueness that's mising in many homes built or remodeled today. From Rhode Island to San Diego, the 23 homes featured here illustrate exceptional attention to detail. Each offers inspiration for those building or remodeling to transform their home into an expression of all that is important to them. "Detail is everything in design. Sarah Susanka proves it again with this, her latest book."
--John Wheatman, author, Meditations on Design and A Good House Is Never Done
Customer Reviews:
For those who want to dig a little deeper.......2007-09-02
Susanka's attention to detail is awe-inspiring, and probably more information than the average person wants, but the book has great photos and some wonderful ideas that anyone can use. If you've been able to acquire the perfect furniture, best use of space and light, but you're still missing the ingredient to really pull it all together -- balance, aesthetics, personality, etc -- this book may help you.
Full of inspiring ideas!.......2007-03-08
I have been devouring the pages of ideas in this book. I think I have looked all through it a dozen times, because many of the concepts and ideas seem to improve and become more usable as I think them over. We live in a ca. 1970's "split-ranch" house and this book has me thinking creatively about using the space in our house in ways I haven't done before.
Great Ideas.......2006-11-03
Read the book cover to cover and enjoyed a fresh look at residential design. As an architect myself, it made me rethink some of my own design processes. Bigger isn't always necessarily better!
Less is most definitely more.......2006-03-22
In this astonishing book, which is filled with wonderful ideas, as well as being a beautiful coffee table book, we are granted an inside look at a truly new concept in home design in our age of teardowns and mega-mansions, a concept that smaller can be more satisfying than larger, if properly done. Here we are presented with something seldom viewed these days, how to make a house a home. There is something for every taste herein, and it is even multi-cultural, with oriental viewpoints as well on both furniture and flow of the home. Spend some time with this excellent book to see how every size home can be made more personal and beautiful, no matter what the budget.
Great as always!.......2006-03-20
Sarah books are a staple in my books of design collection. I refer to them frequently. She has a wonderful sense of design as it relates to organization, usefullness,and asthetically pleasing. I wish more designers and architects would use her sensibility and we would not be over run with all the hideous, vapid,mac mansions everywhere. I would reccommend all of her books without hesitation.
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
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.
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
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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
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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!
Book Description
Real people's deacute;cor from the real people's decorator-whose clever, creative, noncostly ideas have wowed millions of viewers of her HGTV show and her enormously popular appearances on Oprah.Kitty Bartholomew believes that home decorating can be stylish and comfortable, budget-conscious and beautiful. Rather than suggest expensive, over-the-top solutions to decorating dilemmas, she comes up with inventive, resourceful ideas that are within the average person's means.In this, her first book, Kitty Bartholomew brings her knowledge, decorating savvy, and enthusiasm to bear on every aspect of home design, from window, door, ceiling, wall, and floor treatments to furniture, lighting, and mirrors. There's even a chapter on flea-market shopping, where readers will learn how to find the treasures buried among the trash and how to turn them into better-than-new deacute;cor. Each chapter details the basics, offers a photo tour showing how the author handled decorating challenges in her own home, presents step-by-step projects, and includes "Ask Kitty" questions answering readers' most frequently asked questions. Gorgeous color photographs throughout illustrate Kitty's ingenious makeover ideas.
Customer Reviews:
Kitty at her best.......2007-07-03
I love this book. Photos of most of Kitty's special rooms featured on her old TV show. My only complaint is some of the photos are too small. I'd rather see all full page photos.
UNDER-WHELMED !!!.......2006-12-02
Love Kitty ..... but!
The book was very disappointing to me. Kitty's sense of style is wonderful, but I felt that this was a textbook, not the normal lovely pictures of decorated rooms that I so enjoy in a decorating book or magazine. Perhaps I have my own sense of style and love looking at pictures with minimal description, finding those little things that really do make something special, rather than literally a how-to-copy-style way of decorating, which is in my mind COPY COPY COPY! Hopefully this book will help that person who needs help putting an idea to work.
Kitty Rocks!.......2006-07-30
This is a fab book full of great tips, beautiful rooms and commonsense! Absolutely LOVED it !!!Worth every penny!
Kitty once again comes through!.......2006-03-20
I have followed Kitty for a number of years and am continuously amazed by her talents and ideas. Though I have not had a chance to read the book cover to cover, am thrilled to have one of her books for reference, as she covers all aspects in need to know decorating.
Like a breath of fresh spring air.......2006-02-21
I'm loving this book. It's full of logical,commonsense, rational advice on making your home look and feel good to your and your family. There are no trends, no being too cool, no trying to show off. This book and this philosophy is what I've needed to get my house feeling better. Kitty is obviously very grounded and very intelligent, as well as being good with her hands. I recommend this book if you want to make your home feel good.
Book Description
The Big Book of Interiors features more than 600 different design ideas covering every room in the house...and then some.
For easy reference, the chapters are divided by location in the home:
- Living Rooms
- Bedrooms
- Kitchens
- Bathrooms
- Home Offices
- Kid Rooms
- Entrances and Corridors
Each section opens with text describing the decorating challenges unique to that part of the house, followed by full-color design ideas showcasing hundreds of different solutions to outfit every size room with a range of current interior style methods.The styles featured focus on the most popular used by today's best interior designers, including New rococo, Minimalism, New Rustic, Retro and Contemporary. Photographs are accompanied by captions explaining the different approaches from each designer and architect.
Whether it's one room or an entire house, Big Book of Interiors is the ultimate reference for every homeowner ready to redecorate.
Customer Reviews:
Big Book of Interiors.......2007-07-21
Not a book I'd recommend unless you're interested in pretty much the same design reworked over and over again. More than 380 pages of ultra-modern rooms which are sterile and "office building" chic at best. No diversity at all.
Not What I Expected.......2007-04-06
I don't really like having to rate a book so low, but I think it was more because it was nothing that I expected. My husband and I are basically "flipping" our house and I thought that this book would give us some great ideas and tips designing our new rooms. However, this book is just pictures! No information on where you can even find some of the products which is probably better because only movie stars and millionaires live in the houses that were displayed along the pages. If you have the money and want to gut everything, then this book is worth buying, however, if you just need some little ideas I suggest trying a different book.
Beautiful Ideas With Some Unusual Areas.......2006-07-14
This is a great idea book of interiors done by some of the best designers in the world. It is organized by the types of room:
Halls and Staircases
Kitchens
Dining Rooms
Living Rooms
Bedrooms
Home Offices
Bathrooms
This book offers ideas in several areas that you don't normall see in such idea books. The section on staircases is fantastic. Staircases give the designer to do some really dramatic things. I didn't realize just how dramatic until I saw all the designs that are shown here. And surprisingly, many of them look like they would be less expensive than traditional designs.
Another aspect of this book that isn't often seen is the decoration they have done on smaller houses and even lofts in converted warehouses, and sometimes showing very small areas.
Don't get the feeling though that you could build rooms like these by buying your appliances and furniture at the cut-rate discount store. This is a book of high end designs. Spectacularly photographed and printed.
Customer Reviews:
An interesting read that is VERY useful.......2006-08-11
I bought this book to help me decorate a house I recently purchased. It has given me several ideas that I hadn't thought of. I love the way Mary Gilliatt delves into a brief history of each room before sharing her thoughts on them. It helps put her ideas into perspective. This is a very well written book with some beautiful pictures and ideas. I recommend this book for anyone interested in decorating as well as any ammateur decorators out there!
Breathtaking ideas, styles and color schemes.......2003-09-15
Mary Gilliatt's Complete Room By Room Decorating Guide is a captivating interior decorations guide which offers both amateur and professional interior designers a wealth of tips, tricks, and techniques for sprucing up and adding unique individual touches to every corner of the home. Full-color photographs taken by Andreas von Einsiedel of breathtaking ideas, styles and color schemes fit well with Mary Gilliatt's thoughtful and inventive advice stressing balance and attention to detail. Mary Gilliatt's Complete Room By Room Decorating Guide is a thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution to Interior Design reference collections and reading lists.
Amazon.com
There are countless books about lifestyles that are inaccessible, either because they are engulfed by abstract ideas or are set in palaces, real or imagined. The Outdoor Living Room: Stylish Ideas for Porches, Patios, and Pools is a rare exception: gorgeous photographs of beautiful outdoor spaces that are accessible, or at least seem to be. Split up into sections that can appeal to anyone-"Modern," "Classic," "In Town," "Romantic," or "Whimsical"--this book can move even the most hardened city dweller, or bring dreamers out of their country homes. The book has a distinct magazine-like flavor, but the rigor of the photographic summation of elements in each section offsets this. The text is uninspiring, usually describing the photographs or making vague generalizations, but no matter, because the photographs are what this book is all about. They are beautiful and plentiful, whetting the appetite for sunny days in our own "outdoor living rooms." --Juliette Cezzar
Book Description
In the summer months and year-round in warmer climates, Americans love spending time outdoors. More and more, people are treating the outdoor spaces on their properties as true extensions of their homes, turning porches, pools, patios, decks, and gardens into outdoor living spaces that serve the same functions as indoor rooms.
In The Outdoor Living Room:
Stylish Ideas for Porches, Patios, and Pools, acclaimed author Martha Baker offers more than forty-five striking examples of this enlightened approach to outdoor decorating.
The Outdoor Living Room is divided into six chapters, each representing a specific type of outdoor style: Classic, Rustic, Romantic, Modern, Whimsical, and In Town. Six or seven different locations are featured in every chapter, each contributing a different idea or novel aspect of the same style. A multipaged “Components” section appears at the end of each chapter focusing on important elements of outdoor decorating, such as paving and lighting, followed by a heavily illustrated “Ideas” spread with tips on achieving a particular look. None of the magnificent spaces in this book has ever been published before; they range from a Southeast Asian–inspired tropical garden in Florida to a Japanese tea garden atop a New York City roof, from a grand wraparound porch on a classic home facing Lake Michigan to a thoroughly modern all-white patio near Miami.
The Outdoor Living Room also includes an extensive resource section, illustrating and describing garden furniture, architectural and landscape elements, and decorative items. Packed with more than 350 full-color photographs,
The Outdoor Living Room is at once a practical sourcebook and an inspirational delight.
Customer Reviews:
A carpenter's point of view.......2006-07-10
I bought this book as a gift for my husband, who is a carpenter. He makes furniture as a hobby and has improved our back patio with the addition of a handmade trellis, flower shelves and boxes, and--of course--plants, plants, and more plants.
He says, "This is a book for rich people," but as he gazes at the photos I see him drawing blueprints in his mind. Buy the book for ideas if you are rich and can pay someone else to execute them, or if you are handy and can build them yourself, like my husband. Or buy it because you just like to admire the elegant spaces where the other half plays.
I'm dreaming of an adirondack chaise lounge handmade by my husband, which I'm sure will appear on my patio one day soon.
Beautiful book.......2001-09-28
Loved this book. Beautiful photos-my only criticism is that I found many photos were repeated through the book in different chapters. I liked the index at the back of the book which listed sources for finding objects featured in photos. I also have Martha Baker's book, Garden Ornaments, and recommend both. These books have a permanent place on my bookshelf and bedside table.
Books:
- Interior Alchemy: Secrets to Creating Expressive Ambience
- Interior Design Visual Presentation: A Guide to Graphics, Models & Presentation Techniques, Second Edition
- Interior Graphic Standards
- Islands and Ancestors: Indigenous Styles of Southeast Asia (African, Asian & Oceanic Art)
- Italian Splendor
- Jim Tolpin's Table Saw Magic, Second Edition
- Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking
- Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World
- Little Pea
- Living Color: Master Lin Yuns Guide to Feng Shui and the Art of Color
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Think and Grow Rich
- Simply Natural Baby Food: Easy Recipes for Delicious Meals Your Infant and Toddler Will Love
- Fell in Love with a Band: The Story of The White Stripes
- Godfather of the Kremlin: the Life and Times of Boris Berezovsky
- MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit
- Obesity Cancer & Depression: Their Common Cause & Natural Cure
- Lonely Planet Tramping in New Zealand
- Casebook in Accounting Information Systems
- Globalization and International Political Economy: The Politics of Alternative Futures
- The Wooden Overcoat
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)
