Crater Lake National Park: A Global Treasure Review
Crater Lake is one of Earth's most precious jewels. Ann and Myron Sutton have captured the beauty and majesty of this awesome place, with breathtaking images and richly descriptive text.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Handmade Modern: Mid-Century Inspired Projects for Your Home
Handmade Modern: Mid-Century Inspired Projects for Your Home Review
Seventy–two step–by–step projects for modern do–it–yourself home and office design, by world–renowned designer Todd Oldham.
Love the look of mid–century, modern, retro design, but don't feel like dropping two weeks' pay on an Eames chair? Todd Oldham shares his passion for mid–century modern homes with over 72 do–it–yourself projects for anyone who loves crafts and longs to add character to every corner of their home.
Each project is charted through step–by–step photos and instructions until the fabulously mod end. Other projects include home–computer face–lifts, Xerox wallpaper, aluminium lighting fixtures, and cosy shoe–storage systems. In additional to Todd's brilliantly engineered projects, the book comes complete with a tutorial on modern home design in the form of sidebars and short essays throughout –everything from that now–famous Eames chair to the case–study houses of the 1950s.
Handmade Modern promises to revolutionise the way the reader looks at his or her own home and capacity to beautify a space. Chic, accessible, and fun, this is the achievable new look of modern home design.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The English Country House: From the Archives of Country Life (Country Life Magazine)
The English Country House: From the Archives of Country Life (Country Life Magazine) Review
The English Country House takes a look at the architecture and interiors of sixty-two stunning houses in a range of architectural styles spanning seven centuries—from the medieval Stokesay Castle to the newly built, Lutyens-inspired Corfe Farm—brought to life through the world-renowned photography library of Country Life. More than four hundred color and black and white illustrations provide an insight into the architecture, decoration, gardens, and landscape settings of these houses, which are set into their architectural and historical context by the accompanying text and extended captions.
The book provides an entrée into the houses to which Country Life has had privileged access over the years, many of which are still private homes, often occupied by descendants of the families that built them. Punctuating the book at intervals in the form of booklets on rich, uncoated paper are six essays by leading British architectural historians that set the English country house into its social context and chart the changing tastes in decorating and collecting, the development of ancillary buildings, gardens and landscapes, and finally, its influence in the United States.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Caribbean Houses: History, Style, and Architecture
Caribbean Houses: History, Style, and Architecture Review
Caribbean Houses is a lavishly illustrated account of the development of historically significant houses in the West Indies. Author Michael Connors, a West Indian decorative arts scholar, examines venerable houses that remain as a testimony to the rich history and vibrant lifestyle that was, and continues to be, an important part of Caribbean culture. The book is divided into five chapters, one for each European heritage: the Spanish Antilles, the Dutch Leewards, the English Islands, the French Lesser Antilles, and the Danish Virgin Islands. An authoritative text sheds light on the area’s rich architectural and interior design history and gives the reader a unique view of houses that combine the tradition of European styles with the vernacular island forms and decorative motifs. The lavish new photography captures the stunning exteriors and provides a rare look into the interiors of these historic houses, with exotic tropical hardwoods, indigenous stone, and a blending of local crafts and handiwork with antiques and contemporary furnishings. With the disappearance of so much of the Caribbean’s historic domestic architecture, the colonial residences that still exist represent an important historical record of the Caribbean’s material culture.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Japanese Garden Design
Japanese Garden Design Review
The Japanese garden designer, like the poet, creates a theater for the wind to speak, and asks only that we listen. This book presents the essential concepts that garden designers have employed through the centuries and the knowledge necessary to create these living sculptures, these sacred spaces, these ethereal and graceful gardens of Japan.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
American Bungalow Style
American Bungalow Style Review
America once had a love affair with bungalows -- and it's being rekindled coast to coast. This elegant book showcases exceptional examples and features a catalogue of period furnishings.
With a flaming fire in the cozy hearth, a comfortable Morris chair, and soft, natural colors everywhere, bungalows have long embodied the ideal of the American home. At the turn of the century they took the country by storm, providing well-designed and well-priced shelter nationwide. Bungalows revolutionized residential architecture in America and grew into a beloved symbol of domesticity by offering stylish yet affordable housing for the average person. Today whole neighborhoods of bungalows are being saved and restored by people who appreciate the simple and natural lifestyle made possible by these small houses.
Beautifully illustrated with more than three hundred color photographs, "American Bungalow Style" presents two dozen American houses that capture the bungalow spirit. Many are Arts and Crafts in style, others show a touch of Spain or colonial America, and all exemplify the charms that enticed thousands of bungalow buyers during the form's heyday from 1880 to 1930. Among the bungalows included are examples by famous architects from Frank Lloyd Wright to Bernard Maybeck, as well as Gustav Stickley's own log cabin retreat. Many are the work of anonymous but skilled builders, and some were ordered by mail.
Bungalows may differ widely in style and size, but they have in common a simplified natural lifestyle made possible by these small houses.
Beautifully illustrated with more than three hundred color photographs, "American Bungalow Style" presents two dozen American houses that capture the bungalow spirit. Many are Arts and Crafts in style, others show a touch of Spain or colonial America, and all exemplify the charms that enticed thousands of bungalow buyers during the form's heyday from 1880 to 1930. Among the bungalows included are examples by famous architects from Frank Lloyd Wright to Bernard Maybeck, as well as Gustav Stickley's own log cabin retreat. Many are the work of anonymous but skilled builders, and some were ordered by mail.
Bungalows may differ widely in style and size, but they have in common a simplified plan that places most of the living spaces on one floor. They are typically one or one and a half stories high, low in profile, and fitted with lots of built-ins and all the conveniences of their time. On their own piece of land, with a garden in front or back and space to park a car, bungalows provided the privacy and independence that many Americans favor.
The idea that simplicity and artistry could harmonize in one affordable house spurred the bungalow's popularity -- a rare movement in which good architecture was found outside the world of the wealthy. Bungalows allowed people of modest means to achieve something they had long sought: respectability. With its special features the bungalow filled more than the need for shelter. It provided fulfillment of the American dream.
A fully illustrated appendix features more than one hundred furnishings suitable for bungalows and Arts and Crafts houses. This special catalogue section highlights modern reproductions of tables and chairs, lamps, textiles, wall coverings, tile, and hardware that look right at home in bungalows old and new, commodious and compact.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Arts and Crafts End Table/Nightstand Mission Style: Downloadable Woodworking Plan
Arts and Crafts End Table/Nightstand Mission Style: Downloadable Woodworking Plan Review
You won't have to look far to find the perfect spot in your home for this multi-purpose table. Here, we photographed it as a nightstand, but other uses might include: telephone stand, occasional table, plant stand, or entry hall table. Its timeless beauty is matched only by the pride you'll feel when you're finished building it.
Measures 18" wide, 15-1/8" deep, 29-1/16" tall.
About WOOD Magazine downloadable plans
- For error-free construction, each downloadable plan includes a bill of materials, a cutting diagram, a detailed supplies listing, and, when necessary, a mail-order buying guide for hard-to-find hardware.
- For a clear idea of how our projects go together, each downloadable plan includes an exploded-view drawing with helpful details. All drawings are done professionally by the WOOD Magazine staff of woodworkers and illustrators.
- Large color photos and step-by-step instructions show exactly how we built the project in the WOOD magazine shop. We build each project ourselves to work out any bugs before you ever get the plan.
- Detail drawings and step-by-step illustrations provide necessary dimensions and machining processes you'll need to make the building process as straightforward as possible.
Note: This is a downloadable woodworking plan. All other materials must be purchased separately.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)