[.ca] Small Spaces: Making the Most of the Space You Have (ISBN 1841724149)

Inspiring and Practical:
We are renovating our apartment and this is one of the most useful books I have found. I have returned to it many times for ideas and inspiration. The apartments featured are inspiring and are actually small -- unlike some of the apartments in other books I have read. Some of the ideas were fairly standard in the literature on small spaces, but others were quite innovative. Unlike the previous reader, I found there were lots of practical and comfortable ideas for families with children. I especially like the floor plans and detailing of hidden storage.

Can't stop flipping through it:
I live in a modest size condo, and my brother has recently purchased one as well. So I was more looking for some good books for my brother, but I couldn't put this one down, and ended up buy another copy for myself. Some great ideas, and good illustrations.

An inspiring and practical book:
We are in the process of renovating our apartment, and I found this to be a very useful book. I have read it through several times and keep going back for ideas and inspiration. The apartments featured are inspiring and really are small -- not like those found in some other books. I especially appreciated the floor plans for the apartments and the detailing of hidden storage. While some of the suggestions are fairly standard, others are quite innovative. Unlike the previous reviewer, I found plenty of ideas that are useful for a family with children and lots of spaces that looked quite comfortable and cosy as well as some that were more inclined toward the minimal and funky.

AUSTERE:
I found this book to be very disappointing. The pictures feature rooms that the average person, particularly one with children, cannot relate to. I am referring to rooms where the couches are so boxy and smooth, they seem made of cement. There are no pillows on them, no coffee table. The walls are white and blank, the chairs look like something the Jetsons would use. Worst of all, it really does not convey anything about small spaces that is original - ie: turning an armoir into a portable office, or using a trunk as a coffee table. The homes are so austere, so entirely void of any sign of life, that space seems hardly an issue - everything is so blank and sterile that one could assume there exists an over abundance of space for these sorts of people because they don't have anything!