Customer Reviews

New Built-Ins Idea Book: Media Centers Nooks & Crannies Window Seats Kitchen & Dining Areas Work Centers (Idea Books)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The two Taunton books that I've bought (Built-Ins and Trim) are excellent books. The images that are chosen are great, and really do give you ideas (maybe too many). The write-ups are succinct and straight-forward. I've bought 6-8 interior decorating/design books in the last few months, most are disappointing, but the New Built-Ins Idea Book is excellent. You will not be disappointed.

I want to install severeal built-ins in my older home, as space is limited. This book definitely gave me lots of ideas. The pictures are excellent and really provide inspiration - whether you copy exactly or adapt the ideas to meet your needs. Full of ideas and inspiration - not a how-to.

I felt the sample of this book was not a good indication of it's contents. Most of the built-ins shown in the book are from a Room-View with the built in partially obstructed and with little detail shown. I wasn't looking for plans to build, but I would have expected more. If you like the details level shown on the cover of the book, then this will be right up your alley, other wise, the book will probably fall short of your expectations.

To make the most of our new home, I was looking for ideas for custom made cabinetry and other storage options.
Although the style of quite a few examples are not to my taste, I still got enough ideas and inspiration. Also a plus; the book gives you tips for matching built-ins to the rest of the room, to get a coordinated look.
My favourite chapters: Passages (great storage options to be found there!!) Window seats (you will see small window seats as well as really large ones) Workspaces (they show you practical workspaces even in tiny closets) and Utility Areas. In the kitchen chapter I liked the small details, like the pantry and appliance garage.

Petra (from the Netherlands)

I own a collection of home design books and it is not easy to find a book with many great design ideas. This book is filled with great ideas and some beautiful designs. I find myself grabbing this book repeatedly. If you're thinking of creating some built ins this is a great book to own. I wish it was twice as thick!

I found this book to be very useful. Yes, some of the pictures have been used in other products, but that's to be expected in such a comprehensive series as Taunton's range of books. No big deal. In a few of the pictures, it is obvious that the pictures have been blown up electronically, and the quality suffers a little (such as on pages 14 and 28). The content for utility areas is a little "light on" but there is plenty for nearly every other area of the house.

I purchased my copy "new" through Amazon. It arrived well-packed, with the rear cover cut and the book marked as a "second" (the black felt-tip marker line across the top of the book). Amazon failed to respond to my complaint. No other book in that order was damaged.

I am referring to this book often in the beginning stage of a remodeling project. I especially liked some of the ideas for using the space under open staircases.

I love buying picture books from which to glean ideas. The pictures in this book are lovely and high quality, BUT they do not picture very many creative built-ins. I was expecting lots of pictures of creative nooks and crannies to incorporate in my future building plans. I was not impressed when I saw repetitive ideas (yes, a built in hutch in the dining room is nice, but not creative). I'd say from the entire book I found 3 or 4 pictures of built-ins that I'd actually like to duplicate. I will most likely be re-selling the book.

Taunton has a very good reputation for their publications so I thought this would be a great book to help me with several projects I will be undertaking. It was a disappointment. There was nothing innovative or unique about the ideas presented. The cabinet styles were either very basic or so custom they did not provide realistic options. If you are looking for innovative or creative ideas for a realistic cabinet project ... look elsewhere.

The description of this book is misleading. This is not a step-by-step guide to constructing built-ins, it's just a show-case of things built by master craftsmen. The so-called step-by-step part consists of the super-obvious, such as: 1st choose your design, 2nd choose your materials, 3rd choose your hardware. There is no how-to. Don't buy this book unless you already know wood-working or you'll just end up with glossy photos of spectacular built-ins you can't build yourself.