No comments about Decorating Ideas that Work.

2 comments about The Way We Live by the Sea (Way We Live (Rizzoli)).

1. This is a beautiful book for anyone who loves the sea. In looking at it I was immediately transported to ocean locations - very relaxing and pleasurable. There is a lot of variety in the book and I enjoyed the ideas for sea based furnishings which can be used as much in the city as by the ocean. The only additional thing I would suggest for future editions would be to incorporate images from a wider choice of countries.



2. This beautiful book will transport you to the sea of your dreams. The photographs are evocative and dreamlike. Whatever your sea dreams are, you will find them in this book.

2 comments about London Style: Streets, Interiors, Details (Icon (Taschen)).

1. Artsy black & white pics show London street scenes in the first (small) section. Then the large sections of excellent color photography illustrate a variety of interiors, then decorating details.
   
   Most of the space is given to the pictorial, as befits a book on how things look; what little trilingual (English-French-German) text exists is poetically descriptive.
   
   Styles represented tend toward the spare and eclectic - we're not talking about conspicuous consumption or Martha wannabes here - probably "urban bohemian" is the general trend. Architectural details are proudly and blatantly incorporated into the overall scheme of things... It's a work well worth inclusion in your library



2. This book is an excellent viewbook if you want to get a taste of contemporary London interiors. It has very modern, a bit more classic and very simple interiors as well. There is very little text in the book, but the photos are all full page and very well made, high quality. A fun book to flip through and get inspiration from!

2 comments about Tuscany Interiors.

1. This book did not provide any practical interior design ideas. If, however, you are into Tuscan, it would make a fabulous coffee table book.



2. Unlike most interior design idea books, this book actually has a fair number of interiors that are relevant to normal size homes and rooms. I would say that about half this book is useful for homes that aren't mansions. This is unusual, because most design books only have a few plates that are relevant to anything less than a Hearst manion. Definately a buy.

   - jim and katya preston

1 comments about Spa & Health Club Design.

1. With the increasing understanding of the importance of exercise, has also come the understanding that the old fashioned gym like Rocky might have used, upstairs over the pool hall, has given way to places designed to attract the upper scale clientelle of today.
   
   Ms. Castillo has carefully collected a set of photographs of newly built spa and health clubs from around the world. Literally from all over the world: Australia, Vienna, Canada, China, all over Europe. These spa's represent what the best architects are doing in this area. The book is an idea book for people interested in the area. This would include no only architects, but people like hotel management, spa operators, or even the home owner looking to put in his own unit.
   
   For me two points really stand out in these designs:
   
   1. The integration of the new, almost exoctic spa into a standard hotel design, or perhaps fit into an existing building of any age or architecture.
   
   2. The large use of water. This can be swiming pools, fountains, hot tubs or whatever. It seems that water is an integral part of the new spa.
   
   Beautiful photographs carefully selected to illustrate what can be done.

2 comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Designing your Own Home (Complete Idiot's Guide to).

1. Striking out on designing one's own house is a lonely prospect. I read every book I could get my hands on. Most provide cursory information, which left me hungry. This book goes into much greater detail on the process than any other. So start with it and then wander over to [...] and go to the home forum. That is where you'll get a major education from people who are building homes whether with book plans, and architect, or their own design.



2. This book is a very helpful, easy to understand, and comprehensive guide to home design and renovation. Mr. Drapaca's excellent sense of esthetics, great negotiation skills and committment to high quality projects evidently inspired the content of this book. We had the pleasure to work with Mr. Drapaca on the renovation of our apartment and found in the book many of the things we learned thanks to his advice.

3 comments about The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest.

1. This is a very well-done and informative book about the Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest. I live in a new version of a Craftsman style house and found this book of great interest. Recommend!



2. Seattle, Portland, Spokane, and other areas of the Pacific Northwest step out of the shadows of history in this incredibly well-researched, thorough book. The authors' writing is simultaneously accessible and commanding, and the photographs of historic buildings, antiques, and unearthed "treasures" are wonderful to peruse. It is a top-notch publication that informs those interested in this geographical locale, as well as those interested in the overall Arts and Crafts movement.



3. I went to the Seattle Bungalow Fair the last weekend in September 2007. I met both authors and talked to them about their book. They spent lots of time researching the book and are very knowledgeable about the Arts and Crafts movement. I have been able to peruse it but have not had a chance to read it from cover to cover. It is a great book to just look at the pictures and captions. I am looking forward to learning more about the movement here in the Northwest. They have captured the true essence of the Northwest Arts and Crafts Movement. I would highly recommend that if you are in to Arts and Crafts, Bungalows, Mission, etc. that this is a must have book.
   Paula

5 comments about Good Green Kitchens.

1. Planning a kitchen remodel is overwhelming--there are thousands of choices you have to make about every little detail. And on top of that, you have to worry about whether the products you use will destroy forests, contribute to our fuel dependency, pollute, off-gas, etc.
   
   This book does an excellent job of making the decisions simpler. During a time when every company is marketing themselves as green, this book provides a neutral resource for assessing the environmental impact of each of the items you purchase. It also covers the even greener option of re-using and re-purposing items for your kitchen, saving money and reducing your footprint. The pictures of the kitchens prove that a green kitchen can be beautiful and a joy to work in.
   
   A reviewer claimed that this book is "greenwashing" but that word has clearly been misapplied. This book sticks to the subject at hand and doesn't get off topic telling you how to cook and eat and live your life--that's a plus.



2. ... and so is this book. It's packed with beautiful kitchens and guidelines on choosing the greenest items for your reno or build. Green includes considering the manufacture, transport, durability, recyclability and health effects of the materials or appliances.
   There are 5 sections: an overview lays down general principles and considerations for affordability. Ch. 2 considers Flooring, Ch 3.is Storage (cabinets etc.), Ch. 4 is Counters and Walls. For each there is a table summarizing the pros and cons of the options, as well as more detailed text that will explain how it's made, if it can be recycled, whether it presents health concerns, etc. I found this text to be quite comprehensive. The final section considers energy use by major appliances (fridge, freezer, cookers, hood ventilation), water use (dishwashers, sinks, water heating, filtration and gray water), and cleaning (recycling, garbage, compost, and cleaners). There are sources listed in each section.
   The only annoying thing was that a few brands seemed to be "pushed" -- mentioned with great frequency in picture captions and text. Perhaps that reflects the lack of competing green brands, however.
   Bottom line: definitely worth getting if you are doing a kitchen reno or building a new house.



3. I found Good Green Kitchens to be an excellent resource. The information is comprehensive, unbiased, and clearly presented. It's also a great read and beautifully put together. The mix of reference information, case studies, and design tips works very well. I think that the quality of content is far better than most other home design books.



4. Anyone planning a "green" kitchen remodel will find this book very helpful.



5. This book is not worth much of a review. Far from being "green" it's what I'd call "greenwash". It's for people with a spare $20,000 - $50,000 who want to feel good by what they BUY, but there is precious little to indicate that the kitchens pictured actually lead to living a green life. You can't buy more stuff to become green - that's an oxymoron. The first thing to DO to have a green kitchen is to reduce your ecological footprint by what you do and then build a kitchen around your genuinely green lifestyle. This book is based on the unstated assumption that you first dream of living a green life, then you drool over plans and then you buy lots of stuff and that somehow makes you green. Sorry - this might fool your friends, it might even fool yoursdelf, but it won't fool the planet. Almost anyone can reduce their ecological footprint by a change in behaviour far more than they could by following the examples here. Any book on green design that features pictures of buildings, rooms and kitchens without people in them living a green lifestyle is - by my reckoning - just another example of greenwash. I give it two stars rather than one because there are a few ideas here that you might be able to adapt to support a green life. But you'll need to go elsewhere to learn about ecological footprint, environmental load and living green. There is one-third of a page on "environmental costs" when such a book should feature this at its core and the rest of the book should be about building a life and a kitchen around this principle.

5 comments about Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake.

1. Graphically interesting and architecturally significant picture book.
   The line drawings are whimsical and enhance the overall idea of the book...which is that modern architecture in a warm climate creates this unique, warm and intertesting environment. This book illustrates the warmth, charm and social connected-ness of modern architecture given a self-selecting artistic, creative community. It is the antipode to so many of the dreary, static, and people-less coffee table books on modern architecture. The author's friends seem to be the kind of people you see in Dwell magazine, casual and style-conscious, but not obviously pretentious. This book is much better than Dwell, because the emphasis is more on improvised-rehab of modern dwellings, than Dwell's push to sell so many new Modern commodities, products, and style.



2. Forget Ron Burgundy's review. This is a great book. Real people, real houses - not impossible to live with Architectural Digest layouts. One of the few books I have seen that shows everyday (almost - these are sort of trendy ie bohemians of the title) people in their own homes. Ms. Bestor includes not only Silver Lake but the surrounding areas like Atwater and Echo Park to give a glimpse of the entire area. As for the inclusion of shops and restaurants that Mr. Burgundy so disliked - this is the world Ms. Bestor knows and has included in her book of Silverlake so the reader can acknowledge Silver Lake as a whole, not just a series of houses. If that (famed architectural houses) is what you want buy a book on Neutra or Schindler. If you want a taste of the real Silver Lake, but this. PS - I don't know any of these people so my review has no hidden motive.



3. The book offers a great visual journey into the BOHOMO style



4. The L.A. neighborhood called Silver Lake is home to a large number of iconic Modern-era houses, with many created by the West Coast's masters of the period. In recent decades, as "mid-century modern" has found new admiration, a new generation of architects has been called on to add to the already rich Silver Lake Modern storyline. Thus, today, perhaps more than any other neighborhood in the U.S., Silver Lake---a neighborhood with distinct, widely acknowledged geographic boundaries---is a mecca for Modern. What's more, there's actually enough extant iconic Modern houses in Silver Lake to merit a book-length treatment. After all, many of these daring examples of design have fascinating stories.
   Sadly (and frustratingly), Bestor's book, despite its title, isn't about Modern residential architecture in Silver Lake. While it does consider a small portion of Modern houses there, including important houses by Neutra, Schindler, and Lautner, it spends much more time looking outside of Silver Lake (Echo Park, Elysian Park, Atwater), in places that have their own distinct identities and architectural histories. Almost immediately, the reader is forced to ask, "What happened to Silver Lake?"
   Just when one recluctantly accepts this fact in an effort to move on to experience the other houses she's selected, Bestor abruptly ends the house tour and devotes the balance of the book to her favorite restaurants and other businesses, complete with photos of the owners, recipes, and flat-footed self-promo quotes from the managers and other employees of these establishments. Few of these businesses, it must be noted, are contained in Modern buildings. Why are they in a book about Modern in Silver Lake? Page after page, it all smells of blatant advertising.
   If there is a common thread binding each of the author's very odd selections of subjects, it is her seemingly incessant need to use the book's very casual short texts to promote her own firm (as well as that of her many friends mentioned in the book) and give the proprietors of her neighborhood hang-outs a pat on the back.
   How a book with such a confused sense of focus got past its publisher is shocking. The door to do a good book on Silver Lake remains wide open.



5. Beautifully illustrated and informative exploration of the design and architecture of America's most unique and unheralded artist community. The author seems a bit eager to anoint herself the leader of the BOMO movement, taking great pains to establish her legacy as its central figure. At times this leaves the book feeling like an overpriced brochure for the Barbara Bestor Studio, however, there is enough content to make it a worthwhile read, particularly for those familiar with the area.

1 comments about Paris Style (Icon (Taschen)).

1. The photos were nice but anyone expecting this to provide any kind of how-to experience will be disappointed. Anyone looking for the French photography experience will also be disappointed as the size of the photos (paperback size) are too small to fully enjoy.