Residential Interior Design: A Guide To Planning Spaces [Paperback]

Since I am the first reviewer of this valuable book, I feel an obligation to give it its due and tell you what you can look forward to. I'm so glad I found it before I started a major remodel, including moving my kitchen - which will result in re-arranging the main living areas!

This book opened my eyes to the many important concepts and details of basic layout design that can easily be overlooked or poorly planned in building a home or remodeling one. Mistakes here can be costly or impossible to fix so I wanted to make sure I don't make any major blunders before my final layout design is complete.

Ch 1: The INTRO
Briefly discusses how homes have changed over the years and points out that bigger is not always better. Quality over quantity is stressed instead of just making huge rooms in McMansions.
In addition to each chapter's main topic, Ch. 1 introduces the 5 common subjects that are discussed for each area of the home at the end of each subsequent chapter:
Ergonomics & Required Clearances
Organizational Flow
Related Codes & Constraints
Electrical & Mechanical
Lighting &
References

Ch 2: ENTRANCES & CIRCULATION SPACES
Covers Foyers, entry areas and vertical movement such as stairs and where they should be placed for maximum benefit and minimum horizontal footprint.

Ch 3: LEISURE SPACES
Living rooms & great rooms, media rooms, dining rooms & home gyms are discussed. Traffic flows and furniture arrangements are presented with multiple options and diagrams.

Ch 4: KITCHENS
I consider the kitchen the most important room in the house so I found this to be the most important chapter, by far! The authors identified 13 different very basic kitchen configurations in small, simple block illustrations. They are so easy to grasp that you can quickly see the many possibilities in designing a kitchen. It was an "Aa Ha" moment for me.

The authors discuss the different ways we can cook and they make you think about how you want to entertain - or not - and whether you are a one-person cook or appreciate help and multiple work spaces. They discuss traditional and modern work flows and entertaining in the kitchen while you cook. There are 20 detailed layout diagrams INCLUDING ACTUAL MEASUREMENTS to consider, all the while showing the positives & negatives of each. They even include wheelchair design issues, if that is a concern for you. Cabinets, fixtures, and appliances are included, though briefly. The focus is always on layout.

Ch 5: BEDROOMS
Ch 6: BATHROOMS
Ch 7: UTILITY & WORK SPACES
Ch 8: SAMPLE PROJECT AND RELATED DESIGN DRAWINGS

Ch 9: BASIC RESIDENTIAL BUIDING CONSTRUCTION & STRUCTURE
This covers the 2 basic platforms a house can sit on: concrete slab, and wood platform - another issue to think about if designing from the ground up. Then it delves into plumbing, doors & windows, roof types, fireplaces and stoves.

THE APPENDIXES: have a lot of information involving side issues of green design, wheelchair dimensions, outdoor kitchens, European cabinets, seated & standing work surfaces and desks.

MY SUMMARY:
I believe this is a college textbook - written so anyone can understand and learn the basic concepts a good space-plan designer should consider.

If you are lucky to have hired a top-notch architect or designer, maybe you wouldn't need this book. But I feel even the best architect or designer might not ask the right questions to know exactly what to design for your family. He or she might overlook something that is very important to you. You won't know the possibilities, what you might be missing to make your home the best it can be, if you don't read this book.

This is a good resource book for anyone working with designers. My son works in installation and design of kitchen and bathroom countertops made of granite and quartz stone. He liked the way the book was laid out.

The book was at my doorstep 2 days after ordering it! I will definitely order from Amazon again! Very pleased with the book!

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