Ultimate House Book (ISBN 1840912863)

The Ultimate House Book by Conran et al.:
This book is an excellent reference for decorating a private home. It describes flexible living quarters, work at home and family quarters. There is a basic budget model, as well as provision for more elaborate and expensive customizations. The work contains an extensive materials directory which is useful for deciding upon the material components and pricing structure. Both form and function are described in detail. There are contrasting arguments for employing vulcanized rubber, plastics and marble. The book is excellent if it is utilized wisely in connection with planned home designs.

One of the few house design books you need:
Book store (and Amazon) shelves in the architecture section are filled with coffee table books with large pictures of homes we can never afford to own, or homes that look more like a museum show case than a place where people actually live. This book is different. It gets you in the right mind set for starting to think about designing your own home. Practical, with lots of images that contain useful suggestions. Start with this book, then buy others. This edition is a comlete re-write from the version I bought in 2002.

great book:
great resource information mostly for UK though (i think) pictures and ideas are solid i just like to skim thru it for ideas everything you can imagine related to the home is in there somehow