Product Description

Showcases the variety of innovative ways that small spaces can be transformed into spacious living areas. The open concept of living 'small' can be customized to suit most any taste, and this book guides us through a lot of small spaces.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #86440 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-20
• Original language: English, French, German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 190 pages

Customer Reviews

500 ideas ... but not all useful.
As ever, the title might be accurate, but the usefulness of the information is, on the whole, dubious. The book is laid out with images that illustrate a variety of interiors, and for that it is useful - inspiring, even - but the text provides much that is as best common sense or endlessly repeated elsewhere: sometimes it provides conflicting advice or goes into detail about what is out-dated and what are the latest trends (which are bound to have changed by the time you start work anyway! At its worst it provides conflicting information - rubbishing the use of bold mosiacs then providing photos of these (unless the intention was to show what not to do!) and advising the use of bold coloured furniture in one section and neutral coloured in another. Some sentences just don't make sense, or they provide useless solutions: "Even a narrow elevated walkway can fit in an office area"; "When houses have very low ceilings, the floor can be dug up to achieve the height required for a mezzanine";

Other examples include, "The so-called cow's horns (or black and white zebra's horns) are an elegant option for small sitting rooms." I think, reading the French and German text, that this refers to cow or zebra hides! How about "A setting can be transformed through the addition of a glass enclosure for a balcony or back yard"?

In addition, I really despise writing that appears to be code, as if you need to be a real designer/artist in order to understand it. This book provides several choice examples.

In summary, use the images to inspire you, but don't expect the writing to be useful. If it is, great! Buy this book in addition to but not as a subsitute for other books. And find your favourite silly advice, print it out in a suitable font and hang it on the wall!!!

Small spaces
This book is not very helpful. The pictures are nice, but there is hardly any text.
Jane Ward