5 comments about Design Ideas for Basements (Design Ideas).

1. Enhanced with more than 200 full color photography by Phillip H. Ennis, Design Ideas For Basements by home improvement expert Wayne Kalyn offers a wealth of ideas for converting basements into extra living space for busy families. offering up-to-date information on building codes for converting basements into bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, Design Ideas For Basements also deftly covers contemporary trends in basement oriented family rooms, laundry rooms, and/or storage facilities. Light and water issues, and sound proofing options are also fully covered. If you have a basement in need of interior design conversions for optimal utility, then browse through the pages of Wayne Kalyn's Design Ideas For Basements!



2. I was in the process of finishing the basement to make a playroom for my children and was looking for some design ideas. While the book had some nice pictures of bars, full bedrooms, etc... for the basement, there were no ideas for playrooms or basement flooring options besides carpeting.



3. I bought this hoping to get either structural or design ideas. It contains almost no structural or layout suggestions. It really should have been named "Decorating Ideas for Basements".
   90% of the basements shown are hideous. Some look like someone with $$$ to burn decorated a dorm room while drunk. Others look like a caricature of "wealthy", and simply look expensive and tacky at the same time.
   Most of the rooms don't meet construction code, either. I suspect a lot of the rooms shown aren't actually IN a basement in real life.
   Great designs for your basement if it will never contain kids, pets, neighbors, family, or the sighted.



4. do me a favor....DONT BUY THIS BOOK,,,, i spent good money on it because as i searched it i saw a couple pics i liked!!! it is basically a catalogue, not anything more...it even has all the companies that the products came from in the back.... Pretty pictures,, but that is it. Honestly,,,I bought the Stanley complete basements, and it answered about 90% of my questions...and this one was like reading the sears catalogue.....



5. As a carpenter / remodelor, I purchased this book for design ideas for basement finishing. The book has some great ideas, but many do not seem like they are for basements, and so I often find myself using them for other remodeling projects as well. I as wrote, there are some great ideas in this book, but they all are geared toward finishing off basements under ideal conditions. Every room seems to have high ceilings with pipes and ductwork that is already inside the floor joists, a situation in which I rarely find myself. Many of my clients live in older homes around the metro Detroit area that have lower ceilings with even lower pipes and ductwork. I was hoping to find some great ideas for those spaces in this book. Can pipes and ductwork be moved as part of the project? Yes they can, but that either inflates the budget or steals money from other areas of the budget, neither of which is most profitable for me since it requires additional subcontractors (the expensive kind), so I was hoping to see some designs that worked around such issues. Again... I love the book. it has great photos or great design ideas, but these ideas just require ideal working conditions, which most of us do not have.

5 comments about Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets: Layout-Materials-Construction-Installation (A Fine Woodworking Book).

1. I'm not sure what to say other than you will not build anything from this book. Poor illustrations and lacks in construction technique.



2. Poorly illistrated an much too much text for a relatively simple project. Not worth it's price. If you are a novice interested in basic cabinet building, I highly recommend "Better Homes and Gardens Step-By-Step Cabinets & Shelves". It covers everything from tools to lumber to construction and installation, including countertops and drawer construction. It's a MUCH better book than this one! Don't waste you money on this book!



3. For a book written in 1983 I believe the information is a little outdated for todays woodworker. No mention of Euro cabinets, which is the majority of what is built now days. The book has some good information but all in all needs to be updated.



4. As a proffessional that does the occasional kitchen, I offen go back to this book for review. This book is not filled with shiny pictures and style ideas but is loaded with excellent information on layout and construction. I highly reccommend this book for someone who has to get it right the first time.



5. I met Jere at a book signing at a local wood store some 20-25 years ago. He was from the Seattle area. Jere spent his career as a shop teacher at high school and junior colleges. This book started as handouts for people wanting to build cabinets while taking the
   open shop classes the schools sometime offer. It is sad that just as the book was taking off, Jere died of a massive heart attack while boating in the San Juans (Puget Sound). I imagine that if Jere had lived it would have been updated. I keep a copy in my reference library and one at work. I recommend to anyone remodeling a kitchen, even if they will have the cabinets made. I repeatedly buy copies because they disappear. I cannot think of a higher praise for a book than to say it is steal able.

No comments about Outdoor Kitchen Ideas that Work.

No comments about Smart Guide: Painting: Interior and Exterior Painting Step by Step (Smart Guide).

5 comments about Kitchen Culture: Re-inventing Kitchen Design.

1. I'm addicted to coffee table books on home design, and I usually love kitchen design books- my all-time favorite book which I took on vacation and also recommended to my book club was "Great Kitchens". I think that this book overpromised. Johnny Grey stated that he's "reinventing kitchen design". The reinvemtion is his trademark style of semi-circle curved cabinets and round and oval islands. The workmanship on these curved units is amazing and the photographs do them full justice. I was wondering where in the world a person would have curved cabinetry custom made...and lo! The cabinetry is available through "The Grey Guild". Johnny Grey is the only kitchen designer featured in this book, which is terrific is you're an ardent fan. I found that I was not a fan (yawn), seen one and you've seen the unique, all of the rest is style differences. The book, to me, was a shameless sales job for Johnny Grey and his organization. I would have given the book a "2" rating, but the section on kitchen ergonomics at the back redeemed this book a little, in my opinion (finally something useful!). I do design, build, and live with new kitchens, as my husband and I are owner builders and rennovators. His kitchen designs would be a pleasure to cook in (for the most part), but the curved cabinetry would blow up my largest kitchen budget before appliances were purchased. These kitchens belong in multi-million dollar homes and they aren't a reasonable design choice for even a million dollar home building budget. The money spends quickly in homebuilding, and a large part of the house budget is gone before the house is finished enough for kitchen purchases. In my expereince the kitchen budget receives the most scrutiny and is the source of most budget arguements. These "Grey" kitchens would pass muster only in a project where money was no object and the budget had no ceiling.



2. The best kitchen design book I have ever seen. Grey has spent time evaluating the ergonomics of the kitchen from the proper height for the oven door, space between various dedicated work surfaces to raising the dish washer 14 inches so you never have to bend over to put your dishes in to be cleaned. It makes so much sense and the designs are diversifed from modern to classic traditional - and they are just beautiful! He is ecologically mindful and his advice from floors to counter tops to appliances was eye opening for me and very practical. I am designing my new kitchen based on his recommendations. The best news is it will work for me now with kids and still work for me when I am 75 yeras old thanks to the ergonomic design.



3. This book is extremely innovative. It is definately not for those who are looking for safe tried and trued kitchen design. It is for anyone who wants to design "out of the box".



4. Kitchen Culture: Re-inventing Kitchen Design, does exactly this. It takes those obscure thoughts and whimsys' and shows you it can be done. I showed this to a cabinet maker friend who was very impressed and he said that you could achieve this using cheaper materials if you so wished. He was not daunted by the fact that it was built by an English master craftsman, it merely removed obstacles that shapes can produce. This book fits my "whimsy" well, read enjoy and create.



5. I love the underlying concepts in this book. Kitchens should be ergonomic spaces, with function coming first. They should also be designed with the way we live in mind. This is the starting point for Johnny Grey's "revolutionary" kitchen designs. His kitchens use unfitted cabinets to create efficient work centers tailored to your needs. The sink cabinets, for example, are higher than typical cabinets because you are mostly working at the bottom of the sink, not the top.
   
   The kitchens featured are wonderful, but all of them are impossible for anyone who doesn't have millions of dollars to spend or when space is limited. While the curved custom cabinets are beautiful, it would have been nice to see at least one or two kitchens that use off-the-shelf cabinets in innovative ways. If you are working with a creative designer they might be able to take this book and run with it, but if you are a DIYer it will be hard to envision these ideas in your own kitchen.
   
   On the upside, the section at the back that details the ergonomics of kitchen design is very useful, and possibly worth the price of the book.

5 comments about Sunset Building Barbecues & Outdoor Kitchens.

1. This gives details from the concrete support to tiling the countertops. It even shows how to brick a patio or walkway for an outdoor grilling area. The only problem is picking out a design from the many listed.



2. There are some really great ideas in this book...want ot start building them all!
   
   If you are looking for outdoor kitchen ideas, grill plans, Barbeque (the real wood burniung smokehouse style, not propane grill) outdoor fireplaces, etc. This is the best book to buy and start building!



3. There were not too many books on the market when I decided to build my own barbque. This book helped me understand what I was getting myself into, but it fell short of giving me all the information I needed for my project. But it was a good resource. 3 out of 5 stars!



4. NEVER RECEIVED THE BOOK - COMPLAINTS DID NOTHING BUT WAISTE MY TIME AND MY TIME IS WORTH MORE THAN A $10 BOOK



5. I wish someone would realize that we all don't want our entire yard taken up with an outdoor kitchen. The directions were okay but save your money. Go buy a decent grill and have fun!

5 comments about The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live.

1. I was expecting her projects to downsize to ~1000 square feet. It felt like she was reducing large McMansions to smaller McMansions. Good photographs though!



2. This book was absolutely awesome. Beautifully illustrated, excellent content, and I totally agree with the idea that McMansions are not the way to go. I'd much rather have a smaller home that has been personalized to me and made beautiful than some big, cold half-empty McMansion.



3. The Not So Big House was given me by a craftsman friend who had used it building his new, wonderful home.
   I kept this book through my new addition / remodel project of 7 months, using it as the reference for my decisions.
   The ideas are sound; easy to understand and implement. I recommend The Not So Big House to anyone embarking on a home building project who loves good design and is on a budget.



4. First of all, I bought this book used and it was not in very good condition. A page that I really wanted to read was missing, for one thing. Unfortunately, I can't recall the seller's name now but I left a bad review when I received no response to my concern.
   
   But anyway, the book itself was very good. My husband and I are remodeling a house built in 1949 which used every nook and cranny for some function. It doesn't fit the modern concept of lots of empty space, so we are working on creating a little more empty space while using some of Susanka's ideas for making certain areas more compact. We are expanding our kitchen into a porch, but the ceiling in the porch is lower and this book gave us the idea to just keep it as it is because lowered ceilings add character and are something Frank Lloyd Wright used. I also like her recommendations for wood trim and moulding to warm up rooms and use many windows to bring the outside in. As my title implies, some of the details are pretty outdated such as any picture involving a computer and the kitchen chairs, but that can be overlooked since the overall ideas are still very usable.



5. I ordered this book after reading great reviews since I was in the middle of trying to work out the purchase of a turn of the century home where space was the size of just that, turn of the century. The Amazon review picked all the best photo's in the book and the only pages worth reading in it, so I bought it. I was extremely disappointed to receive a book that had too many 1980 - 1990's dated, uninspiring interiors and not so much in the way of smart architectural choices to think about, as was advertised.

No comments about The Complete Guide to Outdoor Wood Projects: Step-by-Step Instuctions for Over 50 Projects (Black & Decker Complete Guide).

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