[.uk] One Space Living (ISBN 0823033201)

Amazon.com Review:
One-space living is becoming increasingly popular, and it doesn't just mean loft dwelling. This contemporary book looks at every kind of single space, from a purpose-built London apartment to a Belgian beach house. Author Cynthia Inions advocates this kind of contemporary living as more suited to the less-formal lifestyles many people now lead. Inions points out the freedom and flexibility of manipulating space in this way, likening it to the traditional Japanese interior, but working the idea into more Western homes. She focuses strongly on use of light and architectural features. Her enviable showcase homes are displayed by Andrew Wood's photography. On a practical level, the book talks you through structural changes and asks if plans for demolishing existing partitions are realistic and, if so, how best to carry them out. Using the concept of zoning your space once you have opened it up, Inions advises separate zones for relaxing, cooking, bathing, sleeping, and working and explains how to make optimum use of your space according to your lifestyle. This book makes good use of case studies to illustrate one-space living, including the practical templates of floor plans. One of the most useful parts of the book is a chapter on storage, which is key to successful open-plan living. With a directory of stockists at the end, this is a comprehensive and attractive book that will be invaluable to anyone who intends to live in this style. --Karen Homer

Misleading Title:
If this book had been called "One Space Industrial Conversions" or something along those lines, it would easily deserve 4 stars. The spaces discussed are interesting to look at and the photos are beautiful, though they often fail to illustrate the idea discussed in the caption. However, there is no way this book lives up to its title -- there are brief nods to a beach apartment and a "purpose-built" apartment, but the other studies are conversions in huge, formerly industrial spaces. I found most of the designs lacking in human scale and full of bad feng shui (no, No, NO you DON'T sleep on top of your bathroom -- ick!), but that is not what the book is trying to address. This book badly needed to look at new construction -- single space houses using the not-so-big house concepts, for example, and loft redos in styles other than minimalist, pale, sheer, etc. There are some interesting storage ideas, and some extremely creative uses of a container truck in dividing the spaces in one project. I found the book interesting though incomplete, lacking practical information, and having a much more single-minded focus than the title suggests. It's an interesting supplement to an existing collection, but there are a dozen better books to get first.

Open plan living for the relaxed and creative mind:
Wow!!! My wife and I recently graduate college and moved to Arizona. After a year we found the perfect house. Well, with a lot of work it would be anyway. We proceeded to take out unnecessary walls, increase window space, and generally make the space more free and open. That was all done before we purchased this book. We had to piece together ideas on one space living from minimal sections in other books, and use a lot of imagination. This book has provided many ideas for us to open the space even more, I wish we had it from the beginning as it would have saved so much time. It is generally laid out in very useable sections focusing on the overall feel, sections on particular rooms (bedroom, bath, kitchen, etc.), and finally sections on storage, lighting, and other one space considerations, although these ideas are presented throughout. The book explores these ideas through case studies of wonderfully original and doable (i.e. on a reasonable budget) homes and apartments. It truly is the bible for one space living, every time we open it, it reveals new ideas on how to make our home provide a more relaxed and free environment, a place to get away from the stresses of working life. The book is written in a straight forward manner that clearly describes the wonderful pictures, and the feelings the elements within invoke in a space. It does not explain how to take out a wall and install moveable panels, however it explains why you would want to, and shows the results with clear pictures and explanations. It also provides creative solutions to everyday problems on storage and lighting, on fixing areas that feel cramped, and on making your home fit your lifestyle. If you enjoy open plan living or minimalist design, this book is indispensible. It will both cost us and save us a lot of money, as it regularly gives me new ideas to open and simplify our home further, and helps me avoid costly mistakes. It is also amazing the number of storage ideas the book containes both in word and picture. We would have happily paid twice the amazon price for the value we received. Great pictures for the coffee table, and great ideas for one space living. This book should be provided at move in with any open plan house or apartment, as the owners manual for one space living. Obviously we love this book! On a side note, if you still live in the traditional dining room, kitchen, family, and living room all completely separated by floor to ceiling walls and connected by a narrow hallway, you should also buy this book as it will make your mind feel like it was just released from the prison of your own house. It may change your lifestyle.

Wonderful book!:
This was one of my first design books dedicated toward single space living. I was not dissapointed! This book is aimed toward contemporary design, and the ideas are plentiful. The pictures are superb and the text is well written. In my humble opinion, everyone should have this book.

teatime book:
most of the cases selected are rather boring and except for one luxorious apartment, all the rest doesn't really strike your attention. the photos are nice, the text is fine, but the same projects are repeated here and there from different angles, for different causes, but they are the same "projects" or cases as they are called. the book is not expensive though and i think the price suits the content. but it is not more than a teatime book.

O.K.:
A sweet little coffee table book, with few ideas given. Nice colorfull and modern interior decoration pictures, good picture-text-drawing graphics... A book you can have on your table and look every now and then.