A "pull it all together" approach that builds on time-proven criteria for improving/optimizing just about anything in your life. The book walks you through a straight forward process of assessing youre current environment (home) and inventory (house), developing an end-state vision, creating a manageable project plan with a straight forward work break breakdown structure (with specific tasks) and budget. lt;br /gt; lt;br /gt;The most intriguing part of this book is that the approach adapts to your budget constraints and subsequently prioritizes your plan. Based on the premise that you probably have some great stuff - only you can define what is great in your world - it provides a methodology to get rid of the stuff that isnt and create an environment builds on your best, sometimes just fixing what you already have. As a painful, yet appropriate analogy: You wouldnt have a face-lift and ignore an abscessed tooth - but many people will do that in their homes (buy a painting when the faucet has been dripping for a year). lt;br /gt; lt;br /gt;The book has some basic style guides and rules of engagement for putting things together. But the result will clearly be a reflection of you. lt;br /gt; lt;br /gt;The book is not something that will allow you to dog ear a page so you can run down to a design or home center and say "I want it to look like this". There are lots of books, magazines and web sites that you can pull from if thats your goal. You will end up buying stuff - to be sure - but at a minimum your purchases will be instep with what will work in your home. lt;br /gt; lt;br /gt;BTW: Im working with 5000 square feet and this book applies equally to large spaces. lt;br /gt
Those of us who live in New York City are used to trying to make the best of costly, cramped, and less-than-ideal apartments. This book provides lots of ideas that will help you transform your walk-up into that little piece of home you yearn for. Highly recommended.
After reading some of the reviews I bought the book. Unfortunately, I feel like I wasted my money because it failed to give me what I needed: good basic ideas to make my small apartment look better and somewhat stylish. Instead, the author offers some pretty cheesy-looking ideas that would be good for a dorm room. For anyone who needs more, look elsewhere. This book should have been titled "Closet Therapy."
