Type of bind: Library Type of bind
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Soma Books
Manufacturer: Soma Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 128
Printing Date: February 22, 2007
Publishing house: Soma Books
Sale Popularity Level: 1142332
Studio: Soma Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
If only I had an extra bedroom...bigger closets...a larger kitchen...more storage! We all want more space, but frankly, the size of our home is restricted by what we can afford. And what people can afford these days is getting smaller and smaller.
Compact Living lets you expand your space without moving. Room by room, this book reveals how to achieve stylish results on any budget. It contains over 300 colour photographs of real homes designed by architects who bring verve and style to tiny areas.
Urban dwellers, who often live in closets called 'apartments,' will appreciate advice on how to best utilize wall and floor space, lighting, and color. Problem areas can be transformed by planning inventively, cheating perspective, and playing with new technology. The book also includes unusual diminutive country homes, and sheds and beach huts that have been transformed into vacation homes, home offices, or playrooms.
The simplicity of a tiny home really can be an advantage, and Compact Living shines as an inspiring guide to the possibilities of a small space.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
Many cool examples of small homes with sound advice on how to maximize your space--if you can make structural adjustments to your home. Almost all the rooms feature new contemporary furnishings and therefore might be better suited for people with a chunk of change to spend. Although I like this book to some extent it doesn't fit my needs as a renter.
Rated by buyers 
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Whether they found the book helpful or not, what the other reviewers have to say is true. Graining's remedies for compact living are expensive, professionally designed, and professionally installed . The materials are cutting-edge and the taste is ultra-modern.
But there are some truly innovative solutions for living in a small space (which may inspire you to get creative about your own space). And some basic and practical ideas are sprinkled throughout.
What makes this a 5 star book for me, however, is that it includes something the others don't: FLOORPLANS. There are illustrations of the entire layout, including furniture placement and photos of every room in the house. While these apartments may not resemble anything like your own home, getting to see the individual rooms and how they fit together in the whole space to form a cohesive design IS useful. I've seen some of the photos in this book in other design books (as an isolated room, photographed from one angle). Being able to see how they work with the rest of the space and flow with adjoining rooms is immeasurably helpful.
Rated by buyers 
-
Title should be "Compact living... on a limitless renovation budget."
Everything is designer showroom-perfect on these pages, like an Ikea or Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel catalog.
However the spaces lack human reality, such as quirky collections or individualized space needs or child friendly design. You don't even meet the inhabitants.
Yes, invest in built in cabinets and fold away stair cases if you own and have the money. Again, these options are unattainable for many struggling to pay the mortgage or are renting.
A much better book is Bartolucci's "1000 sqft or less." That features real people with real budgets.
I wanted real advice, not catalog advertisements for perfect unattainable ideal design. I was disappointed. But perhaps idealism and extravagance, not realism and cash poor budgets are what most readers want... Hence the popularity of ARchitectural Digest, and why I am so turned off by such mags.
Rated by buyers -
As someone who is designing a new place that I want to make small but open, as well as environmentally friendly and energy efficient I found this book a good reference book for those of us wanting to build on a small lot in the most cost effective as well as land efficient way.
Loved how on page 79 she shows how structural pillars in a bedroom area act as both a full height headboard with a full height mirror panel which makes a small room seem vastly bigger and brighter. Its the use of these overlooked areas like pillars that often are sheet rocked enclosed, but instead are used to make the bed work better as well.
Or all the examples of spaces between studs in all rooms that can be designed to hold CD's. books, cooking items, files etc. All discretely as well. O of my favorite bathrooms is featured beginning on page 90 where clean space lives up to its name. Loved this example so much I am making it my own.
Rated by buyers 
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Compact living reads like a college text . . . you'd rather be doing something else but know you've got to read it to pass the class. That's how I see this book. It wasn't one that grabbed my attention from the beginning (a main criteria for me with books) but sticking with it unto the 32nd page (The Living section) made it worth the purchase. It gives great information such as the use of pattern in painting - it eats up visual space quite greedily. Also, on creating space - think in threes (redecoration, reorganization, and lightning). But I would have loved to see more real-life examples, less wording and more practicality. If you're a new apartment owner, I'll recommend "First Home with Style," it's perhaps the best home design book I've bought so far.
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