No comments about Baseball Now!.

5 comments about Building Great Sheds: Creative Ideas & Easy Instructions for Simple Structures.

1. An excellent manual if you want to build your own shed, it has all the things from start to finish. Great ideas, and the instructions are clear and concise, and well thought out! I highly recommend this book!



2. I checked this book out from the library, along with several others. This is the one I just had to buy. The sheds are creative and the instructions give me confidence to complete my project.



3. There are tons of books out that purport to guide someone through a do-it-yourself project. Many of them are poorly organized, erratically laid out or conceived and incompletely documented. This one shines, for a variety of reasons. The writing is clear and the instructions are designed to foster confidence, even for the beginner. The great thing is that the ideas allow you to consider other ideas, add your own creativity. Truscott has published a handful of craft/do it yourself guides through Lark Books. Highly recommended.



4. I can't see why other rated this book 5 stars. Maybe they just looked at the pictures because it does have nice pictures of various old sheds.
   The book contains instructions to build one shed. They are very detailed. Too bad they are hard to follow and in some cases just plain wrong. For instance, on page 77, step 68, the author says to set your circular saw to a 45 degree angle and cut a 12' 2X4 into 6 pieces 3' long. This will result in bevel cuts, not the desired angle cuts. The instructions are written in such a way that you expected to follow them blindly without deviation. Also it is difficult to match up the relavant photos with the instructions.
   My bigest gripe is the drawings in the appendix. They used brown lines on tan paper with brown stipple. This makes them so hard to read they are almost useless. The full uselessness is rendered by the appendex drawings being incomplete and poorly ordered.



5. Pluses to this book:

   Photos

   Plenty of them on sheds set in backyards everywhere. For the most part, these are not your typical home improvement store shed. Metal roofs, old barn board, stone, earth and more are combined to create interesting designs.

   Ideas

   Because of the numerous photos you are only limited by your imagination and budget when the time comes to your own little shed retreat. I picked up this book for just this reason. As I get ready to build a shed for a customer I wanted to create a unique shed so I have been browsing many shed books for inspiration.

   Details

   The book offers a step-by-step detail plan for two sheds. From these sheds you are given other ideas to expand on the main plans to create several other sheds.

   Plans

   There are plans included in the back of the book.

   Material list.

   For the basic sheds you are given a shopping list of materials needed to construct the shed.

   Minuses to this book:

   Details

   This is a catch 22. Description of tools and supplies will be of no use for someone with a little background in construction. The details are helpful however they are written as if you have never built anything before. Many people will find this helpful but if you have built something you will be able to skim through these details and move forward. (this is not a big minus)

   Overall I enjoyed borrowing this book, but for my carpentry skill level...carpenter by trade, it is not one I will add to my personal collection.

   I would suggest Joseph Truini's Building a Shed. (Check out my 5 star review on Truini's book for more information.)

No comments about Outdoor Decorating and Style Guide.

1 comments about Building Your Outdoor Home: 30 Easy Landscaping Projects (Black & Decker Outdoor Home).

1. If you want to make your yard an extension of you home living space you will find 30 easy projects to do just that in this book. From basic landscaping to building benches, decks, sidewalks, steps, sprinklers, fences, and even walls there are several basic projects that will help to make your yard a place to relax and enjoy a quiet evening or a friendly get-together. The instructions are easy to follow and detail every step to make sure your project is a success. No special skills are required except the ability to follow instructions. One thing I always look for in a book of this type is a lot of illustrations or photographs to show exactly how to do each step. This book has plenty of both so you can make it perfect the first time. Building Your Outdoor Home is a recommended purchase for any do-it-yourself types who want to personalize their outdoor living space.

3 comments about Open Air Living.

1. This is Enrica Stabile's first book ever published. A few years back, I bought her second book titled "Comfortable Country" and assumed "Open Air Living" would be as visually rich, beautiful, well-designed, and inspiring. I was very disappointed! "Open Air Living" is comprised almost entirely of very simplistic outdoor settings that are either boring, visually uninteresting and bland, or have no real creative or stylish purpose other than to feature the author's family, friends, and pets. Many were repetitive; a lot of closeups and different angles of the same things. Out of approximately 119 photographs, I only found a dozen or so to be pretty and appealing, or even useful for recreating similiar settings at home. Normally, I browse through books at the library or bookstore before I buy them. Unfortunately, I purchased this one online based soley upon the author's second book and Amazon's reduced price, and mistakenly thought it would be as lovely to look at as "Comfortable Country".



2. While this book isn't perfect, it is worth looking at. The pictures are magazine-like, and at the back are several crafts projects. A bunch of the multiple view photos show the projects in their finished states. So if you're looking for a crafts book on this subject, it's a good choice.



3. This exciting book looks at your yard, patio, balcony or vacation beachfront as a room inside your home. Ideas for decorating and using your outdoor "room" abound - whether it's for making a reading nook or an outdoor bathing retreat.
   
   This goes beyond the usual "spread a nice picnic in a field" or even "have a campout in your own backyard." Those sophomoric ideas are banished in the face of exhortations to hang Chinese lanterns from tree branches, when serving sashimi (from enamel plates) for your own midday Asian Tea Ceremony; moving your computer and desk out to the patio for an al fresco work environment; and turning your old outbuildings into open-fronted art studios and meditation retreats.
   
   Props are liberally suggested to make a sense of enclosure in each locale - often by setting up flowing fabrics like sarongs and saris, bright sheets and even textured cotton shower curtains. Other pictures depict ingenious uses for those ubiquitous bamboo screens for a sense of privacy, shade, or ambiance.
   
   The appendix provides concise instructions to make your own colorful beach tents, decorative chair covers and table skirts, floral tablecloths, rustic stools and garden benches.
   
   While not every idea seems exceptionally practical (depending on your climate), I can vouch for the pleasures of setting up an outdoor shower and fireplace. There's nothing quite like a morning shower under blue skies, or an evening with the family, by firelight, under the stars. This book will put you in the mood to plan your own version of backyard heaven.

3 comments about Home Planners Complete Book of Landscape Plans: 50+ Garden Designs to Transform Your Yard.

1. I bought this book expecting the 50+ garden design plans they promised. Well, they had 50+ garden designs, all right. You got six for free and you had to pay at least $10.00 apiece for the remaining plans. It is essentially a catalog of plans and you buy the ones you want.

   Not worth the money!!!!




2. While this book does not have comprehensive information on each plan, it still provides some interesting ideas. Additional information such as comprehensive blueprints as well as plant and material lists customized to your region is available for purchase, but I found this useful without having to order the additional material. The different plans provide a wealth of ideas and act as a catalyst in designing your own landscape. You won't get substantial information on the plant life itself, in fact in most cases you don't get anything but a picture, but this allows you to substitute a more appropriate item suited to your tastes and region. This is by no means a "how-to design a landscape" book, but if you are looking for some ideas and basic landscape plans then this book delivers.



3. This book is great for garden ideas. Plenty of interesting designs shown in graphic form, plus an artist's illustration. Lists of plant material have to be ordered. Some may find this a shortcoming. In our case, it's great as most of those lists contain plant material that is inappropriate for our region.

No comments about Proyectos para exteriores 1-2-3: patios, terrazas, senderos, muros, cercas, cobertizos, jardineras, pérgolas, muebles.

1 comments about Outdoor Furniture for the Weekend Woodworker: Stylish Projects for the Yard and Deck (Rodale's Step-By-Step Guides).

1. Rodale's Step-By-Step guide is perfect for any one. From the beginner to the expert. Every step is laid out so any one can follow. Some projects require more tools than others, and some require high end tools, but if you have a good imagination, you can work it out. If you love woodworking then this is the book for you.

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

1 comments about Pavers 101: Patios and Other Projects You Can Do.

1. Lots of good pictures, no meat. The author spends all of two pages going into the details of installation.