Books are great options for Christmas gifts. Property24 speaks to Angela Gibson from the Bookshelf website to get the lowdown on the best-selling and most interesting home-related titles currently on the market.
1. All New Bathroom Idea Book
By: Sandra Soria
(Taunton Press)
There's no doubt: the bathroom is the most renovated room in the house. Loaded with over 360 full-colour photographs from today's leading designers and architects, All New Bathroom Idea Book is the one-stop design guide for homeowners and contractors working with any budget or style.
2. All New Kitchen Idea Book
By: Joanne Kellar Bouknight
(Taunton Press)
With some 370 colour photographs from today's leading designers and architects, this book will help you create a kitchen for any style and budget. A complete guide, the All New Kitchen Idea Book includes new appliance technology and cabinetry, fixtures and faucets, doors and counter materials, sinks, pulls, built-ins, and bookcases.
3. The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!
By: Carleen Madigan
(Storey Publishing)
In the information-rich tradition of "Storey's Basic Country Skills," here is a reliable compendium of advice on how to feed our families using plants and animals raised at home.
4. Black & Decker The Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair
By: Jennifer Gehlhar
(Creative Publishing International)
This updated edition is presented in a larger portrait format for better visual clarity. All the features that made the original book a bestselling bible of home repair are still present, including more than 2 300 colour photographs and detailed step-by-step directions.
5. Book of Lofts
By: Simone Scheifer, Julio Fajardo and translated by Matthew Clarke
(Evergreen)
Lofts are apartments that are generally built into former industrial buildings. They have their origins in the New York of the 1950s. This book provides 55 lofts from all over the world, from huge industrial to small business spaces. It is rounded off with more than 600 illustrations, architectural plans and computer graphics.
6. Candice Olson on Design: Inspiration & Ideas for Your Home
By: Candice Olson (author) and Brandon Barre (photographer)
(John Wiley & Sons)
With her trademark humour and sense of fun, Candice Olson shares design secrets and dozens of practical tips to help readers plan and execute successful room makeovers. Included are decorating ideas, tips, and advice to update and reinvent living rooms, bedrooms, basements, and more.
7. Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What's Holding You Back
By: Brooks Palmer
(New World Library)
Written in a lively style and punctuated throughout with inspiring anecdotes and practical tips, Clutter Busting is an inspiring, upbeat guide to the spiritual, creative, and practical benefits of controlling clutter.
8. Color Idea Book
By: Robin Strangis
(Taunton Press)
This beautifully designed, fully illustrated book makes it easy for anyone to express themselves though colour. An award-winning interior designer goes beyond simple paint schemes to show how the combined colours of walls, trim, furniture, fabrics, and accessories can give every room a unique personality.
9. Concrete Countertops
By: Fu-Tung Cheng and Eric Olsen
From designing and forming to colouring, trowelling, and curing, this comprehensive guide explores one of the newest trends in home design - concrete countertops. 350 colour photos.
10. Country Living Merry & Bright: 301 Festive Ideas for Celebrating Christmas
By: The editors of Country Living
(Hearst Books)
The editors of Country Living present more than 300 enchanting ideas for celebrating the Christmas season, including fabulous tree-toppers and exceptional ornaments.
11. Cut Your Energy Bills Now: 150 Smart Ways to Save Money & Make Your Home More Comfortable & Green
By: Bruce Harley
(Taunton Press)
This book gives homeowners the basic knowledge, understanding, and incentive to lower their energy use and costs, and to create a more comfortable, healthy and durable home. Every tip and technique a homeowner can use to cut their energy use and save money will be numbered, delivering visual benefits even with a cursory flip-through of the book.
12. Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things: Featuring Vinegar, Baking Soda, Salt, Toothpaste, String, Plastic Cups, Mayonnaise, Nail Polish, Tape, and More
By: Reader's Digest
(Reader's Digest Association)
Save the day with more than 2 300 clever, ingenious, smart ways to use everyday household products - all guaranteed to save time and money. Readers will discover the untold value of hundreds of items from baby shampoo to pepper, vinegar to yoghurt and more.
13. Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials Into New Family Treasures
By: Amanda Blake Soule
(Trumpeter)
Filled with 33 projects made by reusing and repurposing materials – from vintage feedsacks, to old sheets and towels, and including some projects that children can help with, this book offers practical items that can be used in the home.
14. Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love
By: Julie Moir Messervy
(Taunton Press)
An Outside-the-Box Guide to Outdoor Living – Julie Moir Messervy walks the reader through the process of turning any property into the outdoor haven you've always dreamed of. Focusing on key concepts, Messervy presents breathtaking plans for remarkable front and back lawns, entertainment areas, and contemplative retreats, as well as innovative ways to create a better flow between the inside and outside of a house.
15. Living Off the Grid: A Simple Guide to Creating and Maintaining a Self-Reliant Supply of Energy, Water, Shelter and More
By: Dave Black
A how-to handbook to free yourself from the constraints of modern living – Dave Black describes alternatives for eco-pimping your home and lifestyle for independence, economy, and a more integrated way of life. Living Off The Grid is equally valuable for both the urban dweller vaguely concerned about the size of his or her carbon footprint, as well as the rural self-sufficiency enthusiast.
Pictures courtesy of:
Bookshelf
For more information click here to visit the Bookshelf website.
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