Five inspired books to help maximize your small living spaces
1. Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small Cool Spaces. Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, 303 pages. $35.
Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, a hugely popular teacher and interior designer, started Apartment Therapy in 2001 as an interior design service.
He helped people in New York transform their small apartments, both owned and rented, into functional and creative retreats.
He continues to offer practical solutions by providing thoughts on using open storage and bookshelves, planning mini-offices and creating functional nurseries when a young couple start a family but may not have the cash to buy bigger living spaces.
2. 500 Ideas for Small Spaces, easy solutions for living in 1,000 square feet or less. Kimberley Seldon, 240 pages. $29.95.
Kimberley Seldon is an award-winning interior designer, decorating editor of Style at Home magazine, and the executive producer and host of the television series Design for Living.
She covers the gamut of living big in small spaces: from ideas for the living, dining and bathrooms, to home offices, kids' rooms and outdoor living spaces.
She offers dozens of design tips for making close quarters appear spacious and inviting.
For example hooks, which easily double as wall storage, should be set three feet above the floor to make to make it easy for a child to hang up their jackets and five feet for an adult.
3. Essential Small Spaces, The Back to Basics Guide to Home Design, Decoration & Furnishing. Terence Conran, 112 pages. $24.
Terence Conran, a designer, retailer, furniture maker and restaurateur, provides practical info and creative inspiration to show that just because living space may be limited in scale, it doesn't have to be limited in style.
He breaks down functional planning, using design features such as compact stairs, partitions and screens and skylights.
4. More Not So Big Solutions For Your Home. Sarah Susanka, 154 pages. $27.95.
Architect and author Sarah Susanka has been credited with revolutionizing home building with her philosophy of rightsizing your home for the way you really live.
Her philosophy is to downsize the home by one-third, using the savings to put in finishing touches, from lowered ceilings to lots of built-in cupboards.
The book is packed with practical solutions to everyday home design challenges. Topics range from how to design a breakfast nook to creating space for an extended family.
-- Postmedia News
