Living Large in Small Spaces: Expressing Personal Style in 100 to 1,000 Square Feet

by Marisa Bartolucci

With a little imagination and creativity--and without hiring a professional--almost anyone can transform a small living space into a comfortable and stylish environment. Whether decorating a dorm... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0810991055
• ISBN13: 9780810991057
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 2.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Solace for Those of Us Living in Teeny-Weeny Places

I recently moved into a Of course, I had to force myself to pull it out and look at it, since I've been so immensely disappointed by almost all of the books on the subjects of "small" spaces (probably because most of these books define small as 1,000 to 1,999 sf) and since I'm interested in more than just pretty pictures.Lo and behold, this book, which is largely wonderfully detailed photos of real people's real small spaces (including a 100-sf dorm room and 2 couples with babies living in less than 500 sf), is inspiring in the most practical sense of the word. It's reassuring just to know that other people in the universe reside in sub-1000-sf quarters.While it is true that many of the featured small-space livers are artists/designers of some sort, with skills that the average Jane doesn't have, I see it less as a book whose ideas you'd want to copy and more of a book whose ideas you'd want to emulate, and I quickly found several good ideas I could apply to my own spaces. Plus, I'm not even half-done just going through it and absorbing the minutiae of each photo and each apartment.The best part(s)? No fancy-schmancy lofts (with the exception of one converted factory space) and no excessive and gratuitous photos of Wolf ranges and Miele dishwashers. I couldn't find it used, but I can't feel too much regret about buying it for full price.

Great for Useful Ideas

This may be the best book out there right now on dealing creatively with small spaces. Most of the others I have seen feature gorgeous Manhattan or European lofts, or are the homes of architects and designers. They are eye candy, but not much help.This book is quite inspiring, however. It's unfortunately short on sources, giving only a brief list of featured designers at the back, but the pictures are clear and the little accounts that go with them are written by the people who actually live in the apartments and they offer some useful ideas. And when a book acknowledges that some of us do live in less than even 1,000 feet, that's a book that's operating on a level of reality I can appreciate, because I live in 544 feet. Some of the apartments in the book are much smaller. I finally feel a little validated.Another thing I like about it is that it's not a coffee-table- book size: it's manageable to hold and look through, even standing up. It is organized by size, from smallest to largest.Definitely worth a look.

Best Book for Small Space Decorating

This is far and away the best decorating book for small spaces I've read. It's 400 pages, with 400 photographs, and it explores 33 small homes from 100 to 1,000 square feet. My favorite aspect of this book is that the spaces presented are in the United States. I have found that most small spaces shown in specialty books are from Europe or Asia and so lots of the ideas don't translate too easily. The apartments/homes are presented in order of size. Each home contains a very readable description pointing out a wide variety of design ideas, decorating techniques and how each tenant achieved what he/she wanted in a home despite it's limitations. I'm so pleased I bought this book!

Nicely photographed and interesting

As a studio apartment dweller, I'm drawn to books on living well in small spaces. I've found that many are aimed at those who own their own space and have unlimited budgets. While some of the apartments featured in this book clearly fall into that category, others are a bit more realistic, focusing on the renter who doesn't have the ability to knock out walls and raise ceilings. More of a 'this is what this person's apartment looks like' than a how-to or suggestion guide, I still picked up some good tips that will translate to my apartment. Many of the apartments featured do seem to lean more toward the modern look; FYI if you know that's not your thing. I gave the book five stars because I think it does very well what the title suggests: it offers good photographs of different living spaces sized 100 sq feet to 1000.