General Books - Page 3

The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home

Jane Brocket

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Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General AAS
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Needlework

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Jane Brocket delights in domesticity. Lively, curious, and creative, she takes inspiration from her surroundings, from art, literature, and nature, and expresses her passion through the gentle arts of needlework, cooking, gardening, and homemaking—and now through her writing. In The Gentle Art of Domesticity Brocket celebrates everything that is, and can be, wonderful about home life.

 

This gorgeous and unusual book, full of whimsy, warmth, and a wealth of stunning photographs, helps us to see domesticity with new eyes. Whether she’s knitting a tea cozy or baking jam tarts, crocheting a blanket or sewing an apron, Brocket fills her home with beauty, color, and fun. She transforms day-to-day domesticity into a realm of possibilities, both practical and imaginative—and encourages us to do the same in our own lives.

 

Rather than categorize readers as quilters or embroiderers, bakers or gardeners, Brocket embraces the idea that they may be all of these, and more. The key to practicing any of the domestic arts, she says, is to recognize the value of homemaking, overlooked skills, and ordinary things. This book’s glorious synthesis of style, DIY projects, and philosophical musings inspires us not only to emulate Brocket’s handmade creations but also to share her enjoyment of the simple pleasures of home.

The Home Energy Diet: How to Save Money by Making Your House Energy-Smart (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)

Paul Scheckel

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Home Design -> Remodeling & Renovation -> Energy Efficiency

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With rising energy costs, homeowners are beginning to examine the energy efficiency of their own homes, asking questions about where energy comes from and how much it costs, how to choose new appliances and what options exist for renewable energy.

The Home Energy Diet answers all these questions and more while helping readers take control of their personal energy use and costs so they can save money, live more comfortably and help the environment. Energy auditor Paul Scheckel first explores energy literacy, and then describes how your home uses-and loses-energy you pay for via:

Electricity
Hot water
Heating and air conditioning
Windows, walls and insulation

The Home Energy Diet involves readers in learning about their own homes by: measuring, metering, investigating and considering habits related to household energy use; learning how to quantify energy consumption and cost and making informed decisions about cost-effective improvements and upgrades. The book explores the misunderstood concept of efficiency versus cost by comparing fuel costs and equipment choices, including the possibility of using renewable energy for meeting home energy needs. This authoritative guide makes efficiency fun through personal anecdotes and humorous "tales-from-the-basement" energy misadventures.

Since energy efficiency is an investment that offers returns greater than Wall Street, readers can earn several hundred dollars every year just by following the advice in this book. As a bonus, many of the energy-saving strategies described can make for improved indoor air quality and healthier, more comfortable homes.

Paul Scheckel is an energy auditor who has visited thousands of homes, educating people about energy efficiency, cost-effective improvements and indoor air quality. With a passion for efficiency and renewables, he walks the talk by living in a solar-powered house and driving a car powered by vegetable oil in his home state of Vermont.

Inside the Not So Big House: Discovering the Details that Bring a Home to Life (Susanka)

Sarah Susanka, Marc Vassallo

Amazon Price: $14.93 List Price: $21.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Taunton Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $9.40

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Best-selling author of The Not So Big House Sarah Susanka teams up with architectural design writer Marc Vassallo to expand upon the message that has resonated with over a million homeowners and builders across the country: opting for personalized, well-crafted, thoughtfully designed spaces over superfluous square footage results in a home that comforts and nourishes those who live there. Susanka and Vassallo focus their lens on the tangible and sometimes intangible details that bring an otherwise ordinary home to life. Incorporating such details as dropped ceilings, built-in shelves, pocket doors, window seats, and well-placed alcoves infuses a home with the character of its owners and conveys a uniqueness that's mising in many homes built or remodeled today. From Rhode Island to San Diego, the 23 homes featured here illustrate exceptional attention to detail. Each offers inspiration for those building or remodeling to transform their home into an expression of all that is important to them.

Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Water and Space Heating Systems (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)

Bob Ramlow, Benjamin Nusz

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> How-to & Home Improvements -> Reference
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Heating water with the sun is almost as old as humankind itself, and it is done all over the world. Yet there are strangely few resources on the topic in North America.

Solar Water Heating fills this gap. It reviews the history of solar water and space heating systems from prehistory to the present, then presents the basics of solar water heating, including an introduction to modern solar energy systems, energy conservation and energy economics. Drawing on the author's experience as an installer of these systems, the book goes on to cover:

• Types of solar collectors, solar water and space heating systems and solar pool heating systems, including their advantages and disadvantages
• System components, their installation, operation, and maintenance
• System sizing and siting
• Choosing the appropriate system.

Since people often get turned off by the up-front cost, the book focuses especially on the financial aspects of solar water or space heating systems, clearly showing that such systems can save significant costs in the long run. Well-illustrated, the book is designed for a wide readership from the curious to the student or professional.

Bob Ramlow is the solar thermal consultant for the Wisconsin Focus on Energy Program. The owner of a renewable energy company, he has over 30 years experience with solar energy systems and is a founder and director of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA). Benjamin Nusz currently works as a solar water heating consultant and site assessor in Wisconsin.

Bunny Williams' Point of View: Three Decades of Decorating Elegant and Comfortable Houses

Bunny Williams

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An Affair with a House continues to be a top seller for STC, with more than 45,000 copies in print
Shows readers how to realize their own taste and design preferences

You learn from people with great taste,” says Bunny Williams. She should know. As a novice, Williams worked for legendary decorators Sister Parish and Albert Hadley, absorbing everything she could of their peerless design sense. Striking out on her own, she rose to the top rank of the interior design profession, where she has stylishly remained for the last 30 years. Now, it’s our turn to learn from her.

Part memoir and part how-to manual, Bunny Williams’ Point of View showcases many of the drop-dead chic but always cozily comfortable residences whose interiors Williams has designed during her astounding career. As Williams tells it, every design decision she makes is based on a bedrock principle: “Knowing what you value is essential.” Her conviction that every person’s home should manifest their personality guides her as she creates environments that fit each client precisely, “like a couture suit.”

By showing you how to plan and then accomplish that plan for each room of your house, Williams inspires you to take account of your own values—and to realize your personal vision of how you want to live. As she says about the book: “My point of view will help you discover yours.”

Stone by Design

Lew French

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Stone By Design 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Caught a TV article on Lew French - CBS Sunday Morning. What a fabulous
artist! I bought the book based on the show. The book was not as good
but not bad. It's still very interesting stuff with some beautiful photography.

Shows stonework can be true art. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is 5 stars all the way. Lew French shows his masterful stonework in the many photos this book provides. If you are interested in what can be done in stone and how stone can be used to create a "WOW FACTOR", this book is made to order.
Every other page has photos that are "WOW".
Is you love stone you need to see this book.

great book, wonderful photos 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

this is a wonderful book, full of amazing photos of a skilled craftsman
we will enjoy it for many years

Great Book! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This was a great book on the stonework that was pictured. My wife does stone work and this has given her many idea's!. Simply a lovely, interesting read and view, and I highly recommend it! The things he does with stone is simply amazing.

Editorial Review:

More than 125 gorgeous photographs showcase the beauty of award-winning stonemason Lew French's work in eight different homes, illustrating how rounded fieldstone, gray slate, rough granite, and even curvy driftwood can be incorporated into stunning pieces of functional art.

Creating a New Old House: Yesterday's Character for Today's Home (American Institute Architects)

Russell Versaci

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

back in time 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This book was very interesting to look at. The pictures were great if you like old style homes. The title is deceiving. I was looking for a more modern looking style but this book is still a looker but if you're looking to modernize an old home, I would recommend Colonials: Design Ideas for Renovating, Remodeling, and Building New (Updating Classic America) by Matthew Schoenherr.

Editorial Review:

Anyone who yearns for an older home--but is daunted by the prospect of owning one--will love this book. Through inspiring photographs and engaging text, the author describes what gives traditional homes their enduring appeal. The houses illustrate the creative work of architects, builders, and craftsmen who are forging the movement toward building new homes that capture an old-home sensibility.- 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 live new.- Features a vast array of new, old-house styles--from colonials to farmhouses--from all over the country.

Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home and Life

Laura Leist

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Don't pass this by !! 5 out of 5 stars.
43 of 43 people found this review helpful.

Very practical ideas to organize every room in your home. The before and after pictures were ideal. The author also addresses the need to have so much "stuff" and how to conquer it. An inspiring book!

Editorial Review:

Eliminate Chaos is a user-friendly system for organizing each room of the house, including the kitchen and pantry, closet, garage, home office, and childrens' rooms. The author’s ten-step system is presented in an easy-to-use, workbook-style layout. Full-color photos demonstrate the various stages of the organizing process, illustrating not just "before and after," but the realistic, messy, all-important steps in between. Leist’s method is based on the underlying principle that “it’s not about the stuff.” She touches on the psychological reasons behind clutter and not letting go — such as procrastination, denial, thrift, and family history — but her underlying premise is that being organized is an on-going process, not a one-day event. By learning to sort, prioritize, and make fast, rational decisions about their household goods, readers become more efficient and functional not just at home, but in other areas of life as well.

The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy: Achieving Energy Independence through Solar, Wind, Biomass and Hydropower (Mother Earth News Wiser Living)

Dan Chiras

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Popular Economics -> General
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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Home Design -> Design & Construction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The coming energy crisis caused by a peak in global oil and natural gas production will profoundly affect the lives of all North Americans. As the price of these vital fuels rises, homeowners will scramble to cut their fuel bills. Two options for meeting the upcoming challenge are dramatic improvements in home energy efficiency and efforts to tap into clean, affordable, renewable energy resources to heat and cool homes, to provide hot water and electricity, and even to cook. These measures can result in huge savings and a level of energy independence.

The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy tells you how. It starts by outlining the likely impacts of fossil fuel shortages and some basic facts about energy. It then discusses energy conservation to slash energy bills and prepare for renewable energy options. Focusing carefully on specific strategies needed to replace specific fuels, the book then examines each practical energy option available to homeowners:

Solar hot water, cooking, and water purification
Space heat: passive and active solar retrofits
Wood heat
Passive cooling
Solar electricity
Wind-generated electricity
Electricity from microhydropower sources
Emerging technologies-hydrogen, fuel cells, methane digesters, and biodiesel

The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy gives readers sufficient knowledge to hire and communicate effectively with contractors and, for those wanting do installations themselves, it recommends more detailed manuals. With a complete resource listing, this well-illustrated and accessible guide is a perfect companion for illuminating the coming dark age.

Dan Chiras has studied renewable energy and energy efficiency for three decades and has installed several renewable energy systems. He lives in a self-designed passive solar/solar electric home. An award-winning author of over 20 books, he is a sustainability design consultant who teaches courses on renewable energy, green building, and sustainability at Colorado College.

Black & Decker Complete Home Repair (Black & Decker Complete Photo Guide)

Creative Publishing international

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent primer 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I have had this book for over a year now. It has helped me with small projects like changing a light fixture and unclogging the drain to painting and hanging large pictures and an LCD TV, and to remove and plane down my door that always sticks. I have never been particularly "handy" but the pictures and step by step instructions are actually really good. The only real downside is that sometimes they expect me to follow from one step to the next with minimal instruction, and I cannot based on my lack of experience. This is far and away the exception, and most times I could figure it out anyway. It has inspired me to take on bigger and more complicated projects and I refer to it often.

Editorial Review:

The most up-to-date, complete, and useful guide to home repair a homeowner can have.

With more than 350 projects and 2300 photos, virtually every home repair challenge is covered.

Deluxe Edition includes a handy hardware chart

This new edition of the classic Black & Decker« Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair now includes a durable washable flex cover that makes the book ideal for use on the homeowners work site.

Added to this edition is a homeowners convenience kit, including peel-and-stick reminder stickers and labels to help you tag your calendar with home maintenance reminders, keep track of furnace and appliance maintenance, index your circuit-breaker box, organize your tool collection, and more.

• Includes more than 350 projects