Anyone who's ever quailed at the thought of buying a two-by-four or suspected that his (or her) dwelling is breaking down out of spite will be charmed, educated and entertained by this delightful history and how-to of the house.

    It does all this through just four very simple mending techniques: exterior patches, interior patches, slow stitches, darning, and weaving. In addition, the book addresses the way mending leads to a more mindful relationship to fashion and to overall well-being. In essays that accompany each how-to chapter, Katrina Rodabaugh explores mending as a metaphor for appreciating our own naturally flawed selves, and she examines the ways in which mending teaches us new skills, self-reliance, and confidence, all gained from making things with our own hands.

    In Creating a New Old House, architect Russell Versaci shows you that it is possible to design and create a new house that looks and feels like it has always been there. Versaci explores how architects, builders, and craftsmen are reinterpreting the traditional American house. Through photographs and engaging text, discussions of history and craftsmanship, and sidelong glances at the workings of real old houses, Versaci explains how traditional houses go together and what gives them their unique design appeal. Features 17 new, old-style houses -- from colonials to farmhouses -- from all over the country Versaci identifies Eight Pillars of Traditional Design that create a solid foundation for combining authentic, traditional design with livability to create homes that feel old yet work for the demands of modern family living.

    It's easy and inexpensive to mix up effective, nontoxic alternatives using basic kitchen staples — baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, herbs, and borax — plus a handful of easy-to-find essential oils. Karyn Siegel-Maier offers 150 all-natural recipes for cleaning everything in your home — from bathrooms to bedding, carpets to cabinetry. The formulas are so simple that anyone can make them, but they are at least as effective as the commercial options. Try making your own Rosemary-Geranium Floor Wipes for electrostatic floor mops, Weekend Warrior Wicker Wash, Telephone Dirty Talk Tamer, Clear the Air Room Spritzer, or Lavender Lift Automatic Dishwasher Soap.

    It's about living simply – finding the essence of what makes you happy at home and creating spaces that reflect your needs and style. Filled with clever ideas and creative spaces it shows that you don't need a huge budget to create a beautiful home. This is Home provides examples and case studies of places with a global and timeless feel that haven't always been renovated in the traditional sense but are true homes.Featuring eight case studies from Australia, the US and Europe, and nearly 200 color photographs, This is Home will inspire you with beautiful, authentic places you want to be – today.Chapters include:The big picture: how to determine your decorating personality, and what's authentic for you.Starting over: let go of the past and create a home for the person you are today, with a focus on decision-making and the art of editing.Living for now: Work out a budget for your time and money using your values as a guide. Where you can spend and save when it comes to creating lasting interiors.The Art of ingenuity: Think creatively, not expensively, when it comes to making changes at home. Going beyond the usual suspects can help you to create a home that's distinctively yours.The poetry of space: Successful spaces are all about addition and subtraction, positive and negative. How to create balance within a room while reflecting your decorating style.The feel of a home: Create interiors that make you feel, and have an emotional connection. How to introduce decorative elements that make for authentic interiors.Surrounding spaces: Key ideas to consider when creating your place in relation to its environment - from the surrounding landscape to local community.Maintaining the focus: Ways to evolve what's important for you and keep focussed on your aesthetic and lifestyle.Happy renewal: How to keep your home fresh without exhausting or expensive overhauls.Rest and revive: How our homes can function as a place to rest our bodies, rejoice in our relationships and restore our values.

    Filled with evocative images of homes around the globe, the book illustrates how design game-changers are weaving age-old resourcefulness with new technology, creativity with sustainability to construct a more meaningful existence. We can think small (bringing more nature inside) or big (installing moving walls for multifunctional spaces), but the point is to rethink our design choices today for a more sustainable tomorrow. Beautiful and informative, Rethink reveals how to build a better world from the inside out.

    She presents the definitive guide to what makes houses look and feel right, revealing the dos and don'ts of livable home design. Hundreds of elegant line drawings--rendering the varieties of architectural features and displaying “avoid” and “use” versions of the same elements side by side--make this an indispensable resource for designing and building a timelessly beautiful home.

    Spark your makeover momentum with 50 no-fuss tips and discover how toget unstuck by embracing a style that is your very owntransform your spaces with simple color, window treatments, and furniture choiceslayer in personality and warmth with texture and patternsturn hard-to-love areas into favorite destinations with creative concealmentshighlight your family's story and lifestyle with accessoriesWhether you start with one tip or take these on as a challenge for the month, it's never been more fun (or possible) to create a home you can't wait to come home to. The Inspired Ideas collection is a series of books with easy tips and fun photos to inspire the areas of your life that matter most to you.

    Crafting sentences as dexterously as he does ceramic vases, Adler takes us on a whirlwind tour through gorgeously styled interior. Organized by type of furniture (bed, bookshelf, dining table, dresser, table), Adler divulges all the tricks and tips needed to artfully arrange anything in one’s home.

    Even if you have never been a farmer or a gardener, this book covers everything you need to know to get started: buying and saving seeds, starting seedlings, establishing raised beds, soil fertility practices, composting, dealing with pest and disease problems, crop rotation, farm planning, and much more. Because self-suf?ciency is the objective, subjects such as raising backyard chickens and home canning are also covered along with numerous methods for keeping costs down and production high. Materials, tools, and techniques are detailed with photographs, tables, diagrams, and illustrations.

    The joy of tiny house livingTiny house living is sustainable living: Tiny House Basics is an adventure in off grid living! In their debut book, tiny house living experts Shelley and Joshua Engberg show you how you can join the revolution to downsize to small space living without giving up everything you hold dear. This is not about downsizing drastically, or giving up a lot of your necessities. They show you how your life still can be comfortable and entertaining in a tiny house living environment. This is about redefining what a house is and mastering organization, location and happiness. You can still keep your closet full and pantry stocked.Tiny house living tips and tricks: As avid campers and off roaders, Shelley and Joshua present the best tips and tricks to help you enter the world of small space living. You will learn about: How to maintain a good relationship in a small space Practical downsizing for everyone Small space living with pets The pros and cons of off grid living and on grid living How to make your small space feel big Keeping your small space feeling fresh with practical storage solutions and design tips Equipping your space for entertaining Accordion/bi-fold style windows How downsizing and simplifying your life will allow you more freedom and time

    Good Things for Organizing shows how to live with stuff comfortably and creatively. In chapters organized room by room, Good Things for Organizing offers a wide range of ingenious ways to tame the clutter, from the basement to the garden shed.With sections such as "Cleamng Up the Countertop" in the kitchen chapter, "Linen Closet 10" in the closet chapter, and "Organizing Correspondence" in the home office chapter, the editors of Martha Stewart Living have tested all of the possibilities and have created perfect solutions to the most frustrating organizing problems. Included are projects for every level of commitment, from tidying the junk drawer to building the right shelves to display a beloved collection.

    Now he’s back with his proven Seven Layers of Design system to bring readers a lively blend of design theory and hands-on advice for fearless, fabulous decorating. Christopher Lowell’s Seven Layers of Design solves decorating dilemmas by encouraging readers to look at a room piece by piece, layer by layer, from the floor up. With his humor, wit, and charm, Lowell breaks down the Seven Layers of Design to lay the groundwork for simple, yet stunning, home design.Each chapter of Christopher Lowell’s Seven Layers of Design walks you through room makeovers with easy step-by-step projects; dramatic before, during, and after photographs; and useful sidebars that make decorating simple, fun, and rewarding.•Learn why you should never paint a ceiling white.•Create fabulous fakes using paint and plywood.•Increase the value of your home with architectural detail.

    Author Kim Leggett is the creator of City Farmhouse, an interior design business, pop-up antiquing fairs, and vintage store. She is also a legendary “picker” and favorite designer to celebrity clients (and country-style mavens) including Meg Ryan, Ralph Lauren, Sheryl Crow, and Phillip Sweet and Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town. In City Farmhouse Style, Leggett offers great style advice, breaking down the design vocabulary that makes for fresh country style (no matter the setting).   The popularity of farmhouse style has designers, home­owners, and fans in search of inspiration to create this look in all its rural glory. City Farmhouse Style is the first design book of its kind to focus entirely on transforming urban interiors with unfussy, welcoming, country-style decor.

    These are smart concepts you'll grasp in a single glance and brief caption: shortcuts and quick pick-me-ups, artful displays, visual tricks that create a sense of space, “sneaky” storage to clear the clutter, and simple DIY projects (like crafting a bed canopy with ready-made curtains). All the suggestions are practical, pretty, and easy to implement.