1 comments about Start-to-Finish Patios.

1. This guide, with instructions fully illustrated in color, will give you many ideas about how to plan the right patio, whether you build it yourself or hire a contractor to do the work. It could even be useful for ideas about adding plantings and minor improvements to existing patios." (summary by South TX Library System)
   If you want to build a retaining wall or add water features, this book will get you started. Make your patio area a welcoming space that gets your family outdoors more. Don't spend your summer trapped inside the house with the air conditioning and TV.

No comments about The Big Book of Backyard Projects: Walls, Fences, Paths, Patios, Benches, Chairs & More.

1 comments about Outdoor Rooms: Fresh-air Kitchens And Living Areas.

1. f you dream of making your backyard part of your house, here's the book for you: Outdoor Rooms: Fresh Air Kitchens And Living Areas tells how to blend a simple lawn into a fresh-air open-'walled' room which can be made of wood, concrete, brick, or stone. From patios to kitchens, a pool house to a pavilion, Outdoor Rooms provide a wide range of options for any who would add on to an outdoor setting.

No comments about Outdoor Kitchens (Ideas & How-to).

3 comments about Porches & Sunrooms: Your Guide to Planning and Remodeling (Better Homes and Gardens(R)).

1. I could not find any other books like this that showed me all the possibilities and helped me decide what kind of room was right for our house, where to put the room, and even how to decorate it.This isn't a book about building it yourself but about getting your own goals and ideas straight before you call in the builder or the architect or the seller of sunroom additions,



2. The Guide would be useful to an interior decorator. I was looking for help in estimating cost and materials needed to build a porch.



3. I bought this book, along with another on building additions, when I was rebuilding an old porch that was falling apart because of bad construction. I needed some ideas on what to make it look like and how to go about it. I liked the basic design of the original, but it's execution was poor. The many pictures of such a variety of porches showed me what I needed to do, and the end result of my little project is one of my favorite rooms in the house. The book shows porches in various climate zones, although all of them were larger than my project, it's nice to be able to apply ideas from bigger and fancier to smaller projects to add just a bit of elegance to what would otherwise be only average.

4 comments about On the Porch: Creating Your Place to Watch the World Go By.

1. I picked up a copy of this book because my husband and I want to remodel our unused dark & uncomfortable back porch. We were able to get some great design ideas that will help us increase our entertaining space because we will actually be able to use our porch for summer parties. Also, great tips and ideas for furnishing the new space. Of all the design and remodeling books that I looked at, "On The Porch", was the best at answering my questions and offering ideas!



2. ON THE PORCH: CREATING YOUR PLACE TO WATCH THE WORLD GO BY discusses the ambiance and design of the home porch with an eye to surveying how a porch added to a home can change its atmosphere. It's the first book on the market devoted to porches alone and covers an extensive range, from assessing different types of porches for different purposes to design, construction, and maintenance. Everything from furnishings to lighting is reviewed in this in-depth, well detailed guide perfect for any library strong in interior design or homeowner hints.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. This book is very well written and gives good, practical advice which should be considered when you are planning to build or remodel a porch addition to your house. It gives types and styles to choose from.
   Some of these are huge projects that I would need to mortage my house for or sell some property or inherit some money to do but I still enjoyed reading about them.
   Definite read if you are planning a porch!



4. This book is a piece of America. Back to basics. Simple and well planned. When you want to touch base and realize the simplicity of a home you will look for this helpful and complete guide. Sandra is a real asset when it comes to easy living. Thanks for sharing.

5 comments about Home Theater Design: Planning and Decorating Media-Savvy Interiors.

1. This book is really helpful if you're planning a home theater system or integrating some type of audio and video stuff inside the house. I had a small house and was able to get lots of tips for designing my a/v system in it. Now that I bought my new house (much larger) I am able to reference the later chapters for dealing with the new challenges. Highly recommend!



2. This book has tons of helpful tips about features that you should have in an entertainment room. It helps you learn what accessories to get, but doesn't help much in the way of actually building the room. I was hoping to have some help on how to install a suspended ceiling with the sound-proofing material, or how they recommend to frame an elevated seating platform.
   
   All in all, I'd say this book is an advantage to have, and it definately is worth purchasing, but don't expect it to help you with the nuts and bolts of the operation.



3. I bought this book to help me plan the space for a home theater I am planning to build myself. Big mistake. It contained nothing useful for me.
   
   This is a book written by someone who only knows home theater from the perspective of rich or trendy clients who pay big bucks to have someone else do all the planning. It's also something of a advertising piece to show off very big and expensive (nothing under six figures) home theaters designed by two firms the author repeatedly gives credits to. At the very end she even has a brief interview with the head of one of those firms.
   
   If you're really rolling in the dough and want to see lots of glossy pictures to see how to spend your money, this book is for you. Example: "John and Jane have a wonderful theater space with arched alcoves along the walls. They display their collection of antique vases in each alcove, and use accent lighting to enhance it. They install a crystal chandelier for ambient lighting..."
   
   For everyone else it's a waste of time. It's so limited in text that it didn't take more than a couple hours to read through. Instead of giving you some real planning guides, the author limits herself to glosses of the obvious along with references to the type of professional you'll need to hire (so many - I've never heard of an acoustician before. He came somewhere after the cabinetmaker you'll need to design the housing for the projector).
   
   This is a book that bows to wealth and trendiness. For those of us who want to tap our own creative ability as well as our more typical budget, we'll have to look elsewhere for inspiration and information.



4. The first question you have to ask is 'What is a home theater.'
   
   And the author doesn't have any better definition than you do, so she has written the book in three sections, and with a definite point of view.
   
   One section is on small systems in small rooms. Here you are basically using more or less standard equipment in more or less standard rooms.
   
   The next section is on multi-purpose rooms, such as a den or living room with a major emphasis on media but still useful for other things.
   
   Finally there's the dedicated home theater. Here a room is built to make your own small, but technologically, audiologically, aesthetically and in every other way professional quality. This often includes stadium seating, with high quality chairs and tables for drinks and popcorn between the seats.
   
   All in all the book is more concerned with the interior decoration of the home theater than with the technical aspects. I suppose that's fair, because the rapid change in the technology. Anything you attempted to print in a book would become obsolete at the next Consumer Electronics Show.



5. This book gives an excellent overview of the different levels a home theater can be done at as well as many illustrations to refer to. It is very helpful in gaining knowledge of how theaters work and should be designed and integrated into their environment. That is where the hundreds of illustrations help out most.
   The only thing to remeber when reading this book is that technology changes so rapidly that some of the information relating to video displays and a few other items are outdated but not harmful in any way to your project or design. I recommend it.

2 comments about Design Ideas for Curb Appeal (House Plan Bible).

1. I recently purchased two books on curb appeal. This book by Creative Homeowner, written by Megan Connelly, uses only estate-size houses. The houses are almost all 98% probably 6,000 square feet or more. While it is well written, it does not show before and after pictures. Instead it just explains the finished photo and what gives it curb appeal. If you own a house of 1500-4000 square feet, I recommend Sunset Curb Appel book: exciting ways to enhance the appearance of your home. The homes are more modertately scaled, they show before and after photos, and you also get an idea of the "big picture". You can see that you don't have to take on the entire process at one time. And, you can see that small fixes have big appeal.



2. This book has wonderful photographs of exteriors of home that just ooze curb appeal. A previous review said there were no before and after's, there are, but the before pictures are so small it's easy to overlook them. There also are only a few before and after photos. Many of the modifications that provide curb appeal include additions, second stories or very elaborate porches, grand entries and other costly remodels. Most of the homes are already grand or architecturally interesting. It does have useful info on garage doors, exterior colors, front doors, hardware, walkways and landscapes. What I was looking for in a curb appeal book IS before and after pictures, ideas for increasing curb appeal on a small to moderate budget. Seeing how to obtain curb appeal with a nondescript home and making it more attractive with simple fixes, i.e. shutters, paver walkways, trimming out windows, etc.
   
   All in all a nice photo book, with SOME useful information.

No comments about Backyards for Kids.

5 comments about The English Roses: Classic Favorites and New Selections.

1. I love growing David Austin roses, reading about them and deciding which ones to add to my garden. I was disappointed with the quality of the paper and the printing has declined since the previous edition. I found it difficult to really see what a rose would look like in the garden when the backgrounds of the photos are all stark white.
   After having this book out on my coffee table for three months and making notes to decide which roses to buy I noticed that the binding is starting to tear. I feel that stardardizing this edition took away the charm and beauty of the previous edition. ams



2. With all this talk (by David Austin) of breeding a more attractive flower on a more attractive shrub, why didn't he include a picture of a mature shrub of each rose he was talking about?
   The book does have beautiful closeups of many, many, (I think 71) of his roses. And... there are pictures in the other sections of some of the rose bushes... but it could have been much more helpful if there were also a picture of each shrub, not just the close-up of the flower.
   But not to be forgotton, other than the beautiful flowers and the missing shrubs, David Austin's history of the English roses, etc, makes for interesting and educational reading.



3. a beautiful book with full explanatory notes on the roses. just a "gorgeous" book to hold and read. a real treasure by a master grower and developer of english roses.



4. My wife picked this book up when she got on a rose kick earlier this year. Although I'm more into jazz than flowers, I have to say this is a very impressive, beautiful book. For the most part, this book is pretty much a catalog of Mr. Austin's roses, but the layout of the book is especially user-friendly and approachable. Most of it has text on the left hand page and a full page picture on the right hand page accompanying the text. You always know what you're looking at and what the author is talking about. The nuggets about caring for roses and laying out a garden are embedded in the text; there's no comprehensive "how to" section for the beginner, which might be a negative point for some. And although the book is a little pricey, it really is pleasant to look at. This book will be revisited often not only throughout the rose growing season, but especially in anticipation of spring, when your eyes want to dwell on flowers and there's nothing but stems in the garden.



5. I love this book! It is almost as if I can smell the roses. There are beautiful pictures and suggestions how to apply roses in your own garden.
   
   I went on a holiday to the UK last year and visited the David Austin nursery. This book brings me back there. I love it!