Customer Reviews

Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Length:: 2:27 Mins

I just did not get it. Take a moment to look at my review...I flip through the pages. Form your own opinion by watching the video :)

~XOXO~

Decorating books could be divided between the ones that instruct, and the ones that display. Terence Conran began a different way of discussing how people live in spaces, and AT has been different in that it shows how people live in apartments -- which aren't just small spaces. They are, by definition, smaller parts of a whole space -- a building, a street, a neighborhood, a city. AT led the way for thinking about functional living in apartments - and the entire line of 'landing strip' furniture now available would seem to be their doing.

This book, Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces, unfortunately, doesn't do that -- it shows little snippets and still lifes organized by room (bed, bath, living, etc.) without showing floorplans, and entire spaces. (With the possible exception of the G-R storage space outside the door to their apartment which mentions how they keep the space neat in deference to their neighbors.)Its more decorating porn than erotica: it shows you what someone else does, with no way to draw on those ideas -- rather than excite your own senses about what's possible for you and your space.


For example, the old Gillingham-Ryan pad (as shown in "Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Design Solutions") was an object lesson in so many ways: rethink materials for their function, not purpose; expand one area (kitchen) and minimize another (lr) - but together, the sum is greater than the parts. In the bedroom, you need a place to sleep, and a place to store things -- but you don't necessarily need space to walk around.


It's unfortunate -- for all that AT has to say about living in (relatively) small spaces that this book misses the point. Much of what it DOES offer is said elsewhere, and often: get rid of clutter (your stuff)/hide wires/ light colors expand and dark colors. Really: do we need a book to tell us that mirrors can enlarge space?

It's too bad, because, for me, the previous book is a bible: it shows complete apartments, describes who lives there, shows floor plans, etc. The Small Cool contest as shown on AT's website did that, as well. But this book is like too many others: great photos filling lots of pages, and little more.

Gorgeous pictures, of course, as with all AT books. Also as with all AT books, a tad too light on pics of overall setups and arrangments. I'm not against knick knack collections, as they do help complete certain styles of rooms, but I don't go to the AT website, or buy the AT books, to see closeups of other people's knick knacks. I'm there for ideas for solutions that other people have come up with, such as how to make a daybed serve as a couch in the living room...how to decorate a quirky alcove...innovative storage solutions, and so on. I'd prefer if AT would put out more "how this was done" step by step explanations, and more diagrams of some of the great ideas others have come up with.
But I also realize that part of AT is showcasing not just other people's creative ideas, but their personal spaces, thus the closeups and detail shots of the people's personal items.

I'm not as cranky about all of this as I sound - it's just that AT is a fabulous resource for small space solutions, and I personally would prefer more info and diagrams, etc., because I am constantly in search of exactly that.

I appreciate the fact that others are willing to showcase their homes in the first place, because in my opinion, there's not a website out there that is better for getting help and ideas for small space living than AT.

Unless you are the sort of person who is thoroughly incapable of thinking outside the box and have never lived in a small space before, this book is useless. There's nothing groundbreaking, terribly creative, or especially inspiring in these pages. Don't waste your money. Seriously. You'll find far more interesting stuff on the Apartment Therapy site and around the web... and probably in your neighbors' apartments.

If you've just moved into an apartment or small home where space is a consideration, this book is well-organized by room to give you tips on how to maximize your space in stylish and inventive ways.

From entrances to bedrooms to kitchens to baths, it has real life examples of what innovative individuals have done to find extra storage and living space in limited quarters. The styles featured tend to be young/urban/eclectic and contemporary but the same principles can apply to European and American country/cottage styles. It's perfect for those who like to buy second-hand, antique and flea market styles.

It's a great introductory book if you've just moved into a small space and want inspiration on how to utilize the space effectively while making it comfortable, welcoming and putting your own personal style stamp on it. If you go to apartment therapy's blog website, you can preview pages of the book there to see if the book is to your liking. If you like the apartment therapy blogs and other apartment therapy books, you should enjoy this book for small space ideas. It's a great resource for ideas--such as the loft over the kitchen/eating area featured on the cover--that should spark a few of your own ideas.

Great as a picture book. Not so helpful from a resource guide (which is what I was hoping for) on obtaining items that you might find useful for your own small space. Also would have been better if they explained if spaces came the way it shown in the pictures, or there was some renovations involved. If it was the latter, what was the before and after, and the associated costs. As someone who rents and not owns, it useful to know what can be done in apartment spaces vs. condos. It does however, make for a good coffee table book.

My husband and I moved to a small rurual home after living large in a big suburban home for many years. Holy cow! It was really hard to cope with a 1200' downsize. This book, although written with apartment living in mind, lent some excellent ideas about arranging furniture, displaying art and precious family items--and all important, storage. This book is more useful than the "not so large home" books, which are often about homes that are really quite spacious.

The great thing about this book is that it really is a good place to start when thinking of all the things you can do to redecorate your place. When ordering this book, I looked forward to its release seeing how I read Apartment Therapy daily on my blog reader. When I received the book, I was glad that it had all sorts of great ideas put into one place. If you're thinking about doing some decorating or reorganizing of your space, this is a great book. It has a lot of variety.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that it isn't all that specific. It could use a great more detail with its ideas and could show some more steps for each idea.

I have a 1150 sq ft condo and I have 8 bookshelves for my books and files and the overflow is is all on the floor. The pictures of all of the wall shelfs in the book gave me the idea tha one more giant book shelf would take care of my storage problem until I can get some custom made shelving made.

Got this for my husband for christmas. He's a big fan of the canadian magazine House & Home, & it was recommended in there. He loves it! Only drawback for book, he says, is that there's not as large of a variety of pictures as he would like.. a lot of repeated spaces, too.