By Design; Read, Watch, Click
By MARY-LIZ SHAW
ON THE SHELVES
How to Live in Small Spaces. By Terence Conran. Firefly Books. $29.95.
Design expert Terence Conran details the art of living small with this collection of ideas mostly from Europe, where the natives have less living space and have devised ingenious ways to make the most of it.
There are, however, some intriguing examples of small-space living from New York and Los Angeles.
As expected, many of the designs incorporate lofts, either as simple sleeping platforms or as multipurpose lounging spaces or offices. The book’s strength is in its providing many examples of these kinds of spaces, often photographed from many angles, to give the reader a clear understanding of how the various spaces work and why.
Conrad emphasizes the planning necessary to pull off a multipurpose space. A small living area requires lengthy and meticulous consideration of how it will be used, now and over time. The book includes schematics to explain the planning process for certain case studies at the back of the book, for example, but these seem too simple to be intended as step-by-step solutions. Rather, they are there to stimulate the reader’s imagination to find the best way to use a given space.
ON TV
“Hidden Potential” on HGTV
A show that gives potential homebuyers a glimpse of the jewel in the stone.
In this program, with new episodes airing at 8:30 p.m. Mondays, host Brandie Malay takes homebuyers to three houses, all needing renovation.
Design expert Barry Wood then uses computer generated imagery to show the buyers the “hidden potential” of each house if it were renovated to modern standards. Buyers then select which house they want based on what the designer shows them.
Tomorrow a man searches for a house in his hometown of Centreville, MD.
ON THE WEB
remodeling.hw.net
The online site of Remodeling magazine has articles on how to handle most remodeling projects. The site is run by the Hanley-Wood network of construction industry Web sites, so some articles may be skewed to favor certain construction materials or contractors. But most of the information provides a useful starting point for renovation projects.
– Mary-Liz Shaw
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