RESOURCES

Home Remodeling Library

Want to learn more about home design and remodeling in general? Here are some books we recommend.

Click on the title to order the book at Amazon.com.

Green Building

Green from the Ground Up: Sustainable, Healthy, and Energy-Efficient Home Construction by David Johnston and Scott Gibson   Eco-friendly housing used to be thought of as expensive, ugly or just plain weird. Now it's becoming common. David Johnston and Scott Gibson offer guidance on environmentally sensitive home building in Green from the Ground Up: Sustainable, Healthy, and Energy-Efficient Home Construction. The book helps builders and homeowners create houses that conserve natural resources and are energy-efficient and healthful. It's packed with information, tips, illustrations and case studies that offer wisdom earned from experience.

Design

The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live

by Sarah Susanka

Since first published in 1998, this book's simple message—that quality should come before quantity—has started a movement that is changing the way people think about the American home.

Visit her web site www.susanka.com or www.notsobighouse.com for more information.

The Ultimate House Book

by Terence Conran

Featuring over 600 photos to guide and inspire, The Ultimate House Book offers an invaluable, comprehensive compendium covering everything from buying to building, improving to decorating, furnishing to fitting out.

Houses and Gardens

by E. L. Lutyens

The classic book of 1913 which helped establish the name of Lutyens in British domestic architecture. It was written by the then architectural editor of 'Country Life'. This book is a handsome reprint of the one that is still very much in demand over 80 years after its publication.

Dream Porches and Sunrooms

by Michael Snow

Porches extend living and entertaining space, as well as create a sense of welcome and an appealing transition from indoor to outdoor. In this book, homeowners are invited to discover the simple pleasures these additions can bring to their life by envisioning the various design possibilities available as well as gaining an overview of the porch creation process.

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction

by Christopher Alexander

The second of three books published by the Center for Environmental Structure to provide a "working alternative to our present ideas about architecture, building, and planning," A Pattern Language offers a practical language for building and planning based on natural considerations. Extraordinarily thorough, coherent, and accessible, this book has become a bible for homebuilders, contractors, and developers who care about creating healthy, high-level design.

Community

The Company We Keep: Reinventing Small Business for People, Community, and Place

by John Abrams

Rejecting the myth that short-term profits are the only indicator of business health and wealth, John Abrams shows how building a company to serve the needs of people (employees and owners), community, and the environment can be a successful business plan as well. Part entrepreneurial business plan, part guide to democratizing the workplace, and part prescription for strong local economies, The Company We Keep marks the debut of an important new voice in the literature of American business.