Remodelista

Remodelista is a darn good book.My wife and I are 12 years into a 30-year home remodel. We're both design hogs, and we butt heads all the time over the house, but we both love this book.Julie Carlson's plants her aesthetic flag squarely in the neighborhood of Ernest Hemingway, Scott Alexander, Rem Koolhaas, and kin: use simple, well-made things, present them openly, not too many. Her values are stated clear-as-day on pages one and two. Read those on-line. If you don't share them, skip the book.If you do share those values, the book offers a rich trove of ideas, diving deep into twelve beautiful, not fancy, homes of like-minded people with surprisingly different, thought-provoking perspectives on well-made space. Each page pops a single design idea from a cool home with links to practical resources to execute it. Some are expensive, some are not. It's just plain fun to thumb through.Physically the book is simple, weighty, and elegant, reinforcing Ms. Carlson's point. When we have company we put it on the coffee table. Otherwise it migrates from desk to nightstand to ahem, bathroom.If you're working on a remodel and value clean design, Remodelista is a must-read.

"Remodelista" I tend to read over and over, a house or a room at a time or the Top !00. It's fascinating, and while I cannot afford any single room renovation right now, I admire those who can express their personalities through interior decoration. The Top 100 products list and descriptions are brilliant, mesmerizing--what a bucket list that is! Tiina's blue, white, and black Finnish house is fascinating; Julianne Moore's dark kitchen is interesting (she has a sculpture of her torso in it!), and the renovated Victorians are gorgeous in both the United States and Britain. I plan to acquire a few of the Top 100--starting with the wooden toilet brush in a French metal bucket.

So many good ideas in this book, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of content here. Many well put together, creative and artful rooms that provide a lot of inspiration. There is a lot of white and Scandanavian style throughout the book but other styles are represented as well. This book is definitely to be used as inspiration and it doesn't necessarily provide thrifty solutions or cheap product ideas (although there are certainly some). It's very easy to skip around in this book, or skim through and look at pictures or read a bit more in depth. I'll for sure be picking this book back up now and again as a reference guide as I decorate our new house.

Rodelista, both the website and the book set a certain tone and style. If anything, I would fault it for the lack of variety. The editors obviously have certain styles which they prefer and it gets a bit boring. Some of the practical advice is helpful, but it's mainly about looking good in the present fashion. I take issue with Julianne Moore who is lookong for others who think about interior design in the same way she does. It's more interesting to see a wider variety of approaches, and a more techinical aspect of things rather than where one can buy this or that. We all have the internet.

Design cognoscenti know Remodelista.com as the go-to inspirational site for clean, elegant, livable modern design. This book indulges the reader with the same aesthetic in gorgeous big color photos. Even if you have a shelf full of architecture and interior design books, the Remodelista look is different, so this will be a favorite addition.What sets this book apart even more, though, is the thoughtful, interesting, and detailed guidance it gives about how to go from inspiration to action, and achieve the Remodelista look in your own home. It's full of wonderful ideas on how to approach each room in your house, and how to mix high and low to create a beautiful and unique space.

I own many, many design books. Some I flip through once or twice and infrequently go back to them. Others I come back to time and again. This book falls firmly in the latter category. For now, it lives on my bedside table. I've read through it and am still absorbing all the great photos, tips, and practical advice. I love the mix of high and low and the value placed on sturdy, functional objects that are often things of beauty. Purposeful simplicity reigns. This has become my go-to resource as I finalize a remodel of the main level of my home.

I love this book but two things did not work and I deducted two stars. This thing weighs a ton which detracts from its usability and makes it more of a coffee table book, rather than a book to really sink ones teeth into and read cover-to-cover. How about a beautiful trade paperback box set with three volumes? The other issue is too few page numbers. The brand is really about functionality, and as such I should be able to navigate the book easily.

It is, hands down, the best design book I've purchased in a long, long time. It is on the same level as the Design*Sponge book. If you care at all about interior design, have a home renovation project and most certainly if you are a fan of the website by the same name, you need to own this book. This is quite a book, at nearly 400 pages. Do yourself a favor and read the review by Eco-Friendly Feng Shui Designer on October 28, 2013 titled 'Practical and Inspiring'. I couldn't have said it any better myself, and I couldn't agree more with that reviewer.