[.uk] Small House, Big Style (Better Homes & Gardens) (ISBN 0696211807)

Marvellous:
What a fantastic book....if you live in a small house as I do..1450 sq ft...you need to read this book. Paula so gracefully...& consistently encourages us throughout her book that small is beautiful...& you CAN have the gorgeous well decorated house you crave without letting size get in the way. Her creative ideas are astounding backed by multitudes of small house make-overs brimming with inspiration that's actually useful to those of us who are not rich..yet would like to have the nicest furnishings we can afford. She starts the book off with the premise that we need to STOP dreaming of a bigger house...& start getting bigger inspirations...which is exactly what this book accomplishes so successfully. I no longer long for a bigger house...& I'm in the process now.. of making my small house ...beautiful in every way. Hats off to you Paula for a job well done...wish more decorating books were as grass roots as yours...& delivered what they promise as yours does.

Don't waste your money!:
The majority of the photos are of cluttered, out of style room designs and decorating. Disappointing.

check it out at the library first:
I THOUGHT SOME OF THE ROOMS LOOKED NICE, BUT THE BOOK BASICLY SHOWED YOU WHAT THEY COULD DO WITH A ROOM, NOT REALLY ANY GREAT IDEAS FOR YOU TO TRY ON YOUR OWN. I GUESS I WAS LOOKING FOR A HOW TO BOOK AND THIS WAS NOT IT. SOME OF THE IDEAS LOOKED EXPENSIVE.

Not my style:
I was not impressed with this book. I suppose I should have just gone to the store so that I could have glanced through it before I purchased it. While there were ideas for small houses, they were very specific to the style of the house. (modern, traditional, eclectic, etc.) So, if you have a house that fits the architectural style, maybe this would be a good book to get. I felt that while the pictures were nice, and it was interesting to see what people do with their space, this did not give me any usable ideas for my own 1500 sq. ft. home. (or anyone in my neighborhood really) I am sure that people around the nation share some of the architecture of these houses, but not many. There is one house that is built in San Diego County that sits on a triangle-shaped piece of land. The architect designed the house specifically for that space. I am not sure this idea would help anyone unless they had a triangular piece of property. So, if I was anyone looking at this book to purchase, purchase it used, or check it out at the library, or go look at it at the store first.

Big ideas in small packages:
Bigger is not always better. It's refreshing to find little houses that live big while embodying style and comfort. This book has aged well. My first copy got water damaged, but my design library just wasn't complete without it, so I reordered. Good thing. All these years later, many of the interiors still feel fresh. Even if the furnishings or wainscotting in the cottages seem dated to you (I think they seem classic in context), the floor plans and basic ideas are good. It's particularly fun to see creative solutions for storage challenges. But, the absolute best reason to buy this book are the teeny, tiny closet-sized houses on handkerchief sized lots. Must see to believe. Brilliant!