Customer Reviews

Handmade Modern: Mid-Century Inspired Projects for Your Home

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm not experienced with building furniture at all, but I don't find this book scary. It outlines the materials you'll need, dimensions, tools, and specifies meterials. I'm hyped to get ahold of and play with my first power tools in order to start on some of these projects. There are also sections on noteworthy designers and their styles, so if you aren't familiar with post-modern design you get a little bit of a history lesson as well.

The thing I'm most excited about is the guide to building floating-box bookshelves, as I certainly can't (and would refuse to) spend $1,600 on the designer bookshelf it mimics (*coughcoughBluDotcough*..."design you can afford," my ass!)

My big complaint is this book could have used more attentive editing. For example, on page 93, the last step of the storage bench instructions ends with: "Be sure that the" And that's it. How frustrating! Be sure that the what?? Crap! Now I'll NEVER be sure of...whatever it was! It makes me worry that there are other errors, perhaps in dimensions or other instructions, that I wouldn't notice until I'm in the middle of trying to build something.

Oldham's book is partially items that are similar to his 21st century mod line of furniture that started out in Target stores some years back and partially retro-inspired pieces. However, most just aren't so ... inspirational. This was released at the perfect moment, when retro was really hot. However, the book is short of ideas that are actually interesting - or attractive. The worst thing for a designer to have is a book that bombs so big that you can easily pick it up in a second-hand store. That's where you'll find this one.

I liked most of the ideas in this book. They are beautiful and look doable. The problem is space. Unless you have a garage or outdoor space to make the stuff in you will not be able to make most of these projects. The instructions could also be more detailed by adding information like "this type of wood" or "this type of light fixture". Still, there are a couple of fantastic ideas I will try like a lantern-looking lamp and a lap blanket. If I hadn't had a gift certificate, I would be dissapointed.

The projects look great, but intimidating. The materials would be pretty expensive (not counting the tools) & I would hate to mess up & I'm an accomplished diy-er! All the great projects are hard 4/5 skill level. Everything under a skill level 4 is kind of lame for lack of a better word.
Nice pictures to look at for inspiration though.

The projects in this book are not for amateurs, so I was disappointed. The idea of modern projects instead of the glut of cutesy cottage and traditional projects that fill most books and magazines today is great. But these projects require that you have a lot of tools and know something about using them. By the time I get all the tools and ruin a lot of materials in learning what to do with them, I may as well just buy ready-made furniture. I was hoping for more simple projects.

I read others' reviews and passed on this. Saw it in the bookstore and bought it right away. Great book, lots of fun ideas - if you can work a sewing machine and make accurate measurements, then you're in business. Super ideas that will be showing up in my family room soon.

i have had a great time making projects from this book. each step is photographed clearly so its easy to follow them.my sister and i made the ribbon pillows for our room and it came out really nice.also there is a nice write up on charles and ray eames that i enjoyed. this book is fun good luck!

The book features lots of projects that are easy to accomplish if you can sew and if you know some basic carpentry, but not many projects for the non-sewer and non-carpenter. I was hoping for more projects that were a bit easier to assemble from scratch from stuff I already have or for remaking thrift shop and chain store finds, etc.
The look is what I would expect from Todd Oldham, given what I have seen of his Target lines of home accessories and furnishings.
It is a good book, just not what I was looking for for cheap and easy home decorating ideas.

This is a neat book with some fun projects. The directions lack in detail, but if you have a basic knowledge of sewing/carpentry, you can fill in the blanks yourself for the most part. There are at least 3 sewing projects (ring stitched blanket, hand quilted pillow and patchwork stripe curtain) from the book that I plan to do, so the book was money well spent for me.

This book was inspirational, and I love Todd Oldham but some of the projects are a little complicated for someone w/o any carpentry skills or lack of work space. I would recommend "Readymade" instead.