Review of American Farmhouses: Country Style and Design (Hardcover)

I grew up in California agriculture and the houses selected for this book bare little resemblence to Western farmhouses.All the houses are from east of the Mississippi, mostly East Coast and very old.There is one Texas farmhouse from the Civil War era.

It seems that the design strategy of the owners has been to restore the old farmhouse ambience with older style elements.In California we try to reach the ambience of the farmhouse but with modern elements and techniques.If this is your objective then the book is still interesting but it won't give you much direct inspiration.

I rate it three stars because the author forgot that the western US has its own farmhouse style and we happen to be American also.A more appropriate title would have been "Colonial American Farmhouses".

- jim



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Review of Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Design Solutions (Hardcover)

Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Design Solutions by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan is eye candy for those of us interested in home decorating.

In the introduction, Gillingham-Ryan writes: "More than just a physical shelter, the home is both a second skin that protects us from the world outside and an emotional center that nourishes us and supports our innermost dreams. He also writes: "A healthy home will nurture and support you."

I absolutely agree with both statements.

The author believes that: "It's your home--design it for you!"

With that in mind, each apartment has it's own distinct personality and we get to read about the occupants of each apartment.

While I really enjoyed the book, it does lack one thing, which is why I gave the book 4, not 5, stars. It lacks general tips on how to decorate. I recommend Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet as a companion to this book, because it provides hundreds of tips on how to decorate, clear clutter, make your home green, and more.

That said, Apartment Therapy is very inspirational and real. The apartments feel doable and lived in--not like unattainable glossies in the home decorating magazines.

A floor plan and basic information, like square footage, is provided for each apartment which is smart, as photos alone can't convey the layout of a home.

Next, there is a description which includes information on the occupants, their style and more. I enjoyed reading about the people and it made thedecorating choices make sense.

Great photographs.

A survey was included for each section and included the following: style, inspiration, favorite element, biggest challenge, biggest embarrassment, biggest challenge, proudest DIY, biggest indulgence, best advice, fream sources. FUN to read.

Each apartment also included resources which is always great if you see something you want.

Real people real stuff.

Next,



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Review of Holistic Home: The Homemaker's Guide to Health and Happiness (Paperback)

Based in south-west London, Maxine Fox is a complementary health therapist and holistic design consult who works with her clients to resolve their physical, emotional, and spiritual stress through a holistic approach. In "Holistic Home: The Homemaker's Guide To Health And Happiness", Fox addresses how anyone's residence can work against their emotional and physical well-being, and how that same residence can be transformed to support and enhance the lives and well-being of those who live there through the careful application of holistic life principles. From cleaning up the premises from chemical contaminants, to eating properly, to the use of color, and more, the health supporting aspects of any home and life style can be improved. Of special note is the section devoted to Active Healing and addresses the issues of community, market-place, the global environment, 'Animal Magic', gardening, 'The turning of the Year', the cosmos, and 'The Self/The Whole'. Enhanced with references, a bibliography, and a 'user friendly' index, "Holistic Home" is a welcome addition to the growing library of Alternative Medicine & Life Style titles, and is especially recommended for non-specialist general readers wanting to incorporate holistic principles into their lives and homes.

Product Description
Both the physical and emotionalmakeup of a home are consideredin these affordable ideas forimplementing holistic design indomestic life.The use of natural building materials, the selection of organic foods and cleaning supplies, the need for comfortable clothes and furniture, and routines for health and safety are covered in the first section of the book, withaesthetic and spiritual comforts taking the stage in the complementary discussion oftherapeutic design, color, and lightingin aroom. Ultimately, the choices made in furnishing a house reach beyond its four walls totouchneighbors, the community, and the universalspirit.

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Review of Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure (Paperback)

As a reviewer previously noted, there really isn't anything new here. But like a chef who takes ingredients we are well familiar with and combines them to give us a new experience, so too does Maxwell. There are the little gimmicks--calling people warm and cool, talking about the house like a body when he could just say he's writing about attending to repairs (bones), arranging and organizing the stuff in your space (breath), figuring out the functions of each room (head) and decorating (heart). But this is not a meal of last night's leftovers. Instead it is packaged into another gimmick: the eight week cure. There's a lot to do in your eight weeks: and the work seems unbalanced. It starts out slowly (throwing out one thing, making lists) and ends slowly (preparing for a party) but in the middle there's almost an impossible amount of things to do. But it's all laid out. There are worksheets and practical tips to begin. Maxwell has taken all the steps to transforming a living space and laid them all out sequentially. This book is about more than just fixing up your place however: Maxwell aims to change and enrich your experience of your home. And that's the spice that makes the book worth consuming.

This book is also something else. It's a primer for a web site and blog. It sets out the vocabulary and explains the aims of hundreds of people who have already participated in the first on-line cure. Like Marla Cilley's Sink Reflections, the book functions as a portal to the collective on-line experience. There are no lush photographs in the book.They are on the web site.

More than anything, though, Maxwell writes his prose well and in such a way that one feels inspired to tackle transforming one's home and experience in it. I'm not in a small apartment in the city---but a small house in a city whose burbs are ever expanding outwards. I don't need to start cooking at home--as he recommends--but taking those wonderful morning baths he advocates. It'll be a challenge to implement the cure for my home and it will take longer than eight weeks. Nonetheless, he has inspired me to do all he counsels and for that reason I recommend the book.




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