Blueprint Small

by Michelle Kodis

Overview

When it comes to deciding on the size of a home or living space, one question must be asked: How much space is enough? Americans often relate "enough" space to dimensions, rather than to how a space will really be enjoyed. In Blueprint Small, Michelle Kodis examines small spaces (each 1500 square feet or less) from a wide spectrum of locations, budgets, and individual styles-each chosen because they illustrate that scaling back in size doesn't have to mean scaling back in comfort, spaciousness, or beauty.

From a sleek urban apartment to a funky mountain home to a renovated beach house, Blueprint Small reveals how smaller homes invite rather than overwhelm, comfort rather than alienate. The projects offered here represent a variety of functions, locations and environments, combining the technical aspects of building and using small spaces with the stories of the people who live in them. Blueprint Small invites you to explore inspiring and imaginative ways to inhabit smaller spaces, and still live large.

Michelle Kodis is a freelance writer and editor based in Telluride, Colorado. She is the author of Love Scents and The Telluride Cookbook; she has also written for The San Francisco Examiner, The Oregonian, and Backpacker magazine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423619406
Publisher:	Smith, Gibbs Publisher
Publication date:	03/24/2003
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Michelle Kodis is also the author of the Gibbs Smith title Blueprint Small: Creative Ways to Live With Less. Since receiving her master of science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1991, she has written about a broad range of topics, including architecture and design, science, the environment, health and medicine, business, and cuisine. She lives with her husband near Telluride, Colorado, and is currently at work on additional architecture/design books for Gibbs Smith Publisher.

Read an Excerpt

From page 10:

Something caught my eye one day as I was flipping through a real estate magazine. One of the properties featured encompassed some 36,000 square feet. Included in the home's floor plan were ten bedrooms, fourteen bathrooms, a master suite, an indoor pool, a theater, a wine cellar, a guesthouse, caretaker's quarters, and parking spaces for more than ten vehicles. A few weeks later, I cam across an article about a 295-square-foot home built on a postage-stamp-sized lot in Tokyo. Lauded for its resourceful use of extremely limited space, this house vividly demonstrated that a comfortable, livable home is not necessarily born out of square footage. The contrast between these two dwellings is clear, but beyond their differences in size we discover something ultimately more provocative: What is enough space?

Table of Contents

Introduction 8

The Joys of California Living 12

A Cost-Efficient Caretaker Apartment 34

An Elegant Suburban Retreat 52

Tranquility Above the Crowds 66

Something Old, Something New 86

A Fresh Angle 104

Trailer Park Living with a Twist 116

A Neighborly Development 136

A Small Addition Makes a Big Difference 158

A Contemporary Slant on a Traditional House 172

How to Find an Architect 188

Resources 190

Editorial Reviews

A smartly designed volume, thick with striking photos of cozy quarters, Blueprint Small walks readers through the homes visually while telling the stories behind them. Extensive design plans are included, along with details on the architects and designers responsible.

Rocky Mountain News - Jay Dedrick

...a well-focused look at a variety of stylishly modern living environments..

Metropolitan Home

A smartly designed volume, thick with striking photos of cozy quarters, Blueprint Small walks readers through the homes visually while telling the stories behind them. Extensive design plans are included, along with details on the architects and designers responsible.
— Jay Dedrick

Rocky Mountain News

Blueprint Small ... is a small book that asks a big question: If American families are getting smaller, why are we building bigger homes? Author Michelle Kodis traveled the country to find homes of 1,500 square feet or less that prove scaling back in size doesn't mean scaling back in comfort or beauty. The featured homes cover a range of styles and budgets, including a home in Aspen you have to see to believe. The book also provides easy-to-read blueprints of the homes.

Better Homes & Gardens