Review of How to Keep House (The Lost Art of Being a Man) (Paperback)

The cover makes you think this is sort of a joke book but it's really very useful for someone starting to take responsibility for their own space (be it their bedroom or a first apartment).Some of the directions are simplistic (ironing a shirt, for instance) and may require an experienced person to show them the first time but this book is helpful in getting one started.It may take awhile to get a young person to realize that like everything in life, good procedures and correct habits go a long way to making things easier to deal with and unless you can afford a maid or get someone else to deal with it, housework is one of those things that don't go away.


Product Description
Where's a man to turn when he needs advice on how to keep house? Martha and Heloise are all very well, but frankly, they see housekeeping from a slightly different perspective. Where women view cleanliness as next to godliness, men see a sparkling bathroom as a great way to get laid. In How To Keep House, Sam Martin takes the latter tack, treating housework not as a personal virtue, but rather as a matter of sheer practicality. Organized closets mean more room for more stuff. Cleaning out the fridge reduces the risk of food poisoning. Knowing how to repair a burst pipe beats finding a plumber at 3 a.m. Covering good things like cleaning, laundry, home organization, tools, and maintenance, the book is an indispensable companion for the 21st-century man who can network a bank of computers but who can't iron a shirt to save his life.

About the Author
Sam Martin lives in Texas with his wife, Denise, and son, Ford. He has travelled widely and worked as a tree planter in Ontario and British Columbia and a senior editor at This Old House magazine. He is the author of How to Mow the Lawn: The Lost Art of Being a Man, also published by Bloomsbury--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Review of Housekeeping Secrets My Mother Never Taught Me (Paperback)

This book is a lifesaver for me. Growing up, my family did the picking up and putting away around the house on a daily basis, and I washed dishes daily, but a housekeeper came in once a week to do the heavy cleaning. My mother ran a successful business, and didn't do much cooking or cleaning at home. Therefore, I didn't learn the way most women do - watching their mothers. Fast forward to my first apartment - hovering over my very own toilet, I wasn't exactly sure how to clean it. Joni Hilton works the house from top to bottom, room by room, explaining exactly what kind of dirt can build up in which places and how to most efficiently get rid of it. She even tells you her favorite cleaing products. Other housekeeping books are such boring Martha Stewart manuals that not only are they a drag to read, but they leave you feeling completely incapable of ever having a clean house. Joni Hilton's book is a quick, funny, light read, and her clean house is very attainable.



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Review of Flanagan's Smart Home: The 98 Essentials for Starting Out, Starting Over, Scaling Back (Paperback)

Like eco-friendly? Like buying things that are built to last? Useful? Non-cluttering?

That's what drew me to this book, I'm very into decluttering and I love having things that are built to last.

For each of her picks she gives a little history, and some background into why she chose what she did. She gives a review at the end of each chapter with a price range for each item and if she has a brand name she likes she lists that too.

Ideas I liked:
Some new spins on things I'd never thought about before, and she has a few of them. For instance:

A lamp timer instead of an alarm clock. Brilliant in my eyes, alarm clocks scare me in the morning.

A pop-up mesh clothes hamper.

One that I wasn't so sure about but now seems really cool is using a salad spinner for more than just spinning salad - if you buy a good one.

And there's more, such as getting rid of non-stick pans and going to cast iron, which lasts for ever!

I like that she doesn't skimp. Buy the best that you can, but be wise in what you buy. And you know, most things really aren't that expensive. That to me is something I really enjoyed about this book.

Cons:
There wasn't anything bad, but I'd want to research some of her ideas out myself before buying. There were a couple that made me go `eh':

A saltcellar, it's like one of those things Alton Brown uses to get salt from on his show `Good Eats'. If you don't have any kids then I can see having one; personally I think they're cool. But if you do have kids I can see salt flung here and there and little dirty hands reaching into it, ick, and she really downplays salt and pepper shakers which I guess is a personal thing.

Some that were personal preference, like an electric blanket. She has a sound advice in buying one, but I've never really wanted to own one so I don't see how it's essential other than lowering the heat at night but I have warm blankets that can do that without electricity.

I have to say it was a nice read, she has humor, she has her research, and she has sound advice. It makes you think.


Product Description
Purge the clutter. Outfit your home with care: The 34 essential kitchen tools. The 9 essential cleaning and fixing products. The 13, and only 13, things a bedroom needs to make it a haven of rest and privacy. Each item has been field-tested and rated for its environmental, social, and aesthetic impact. There is high-tech: the miraculous microfiber mop, the low voltage electric blanket, the truly responsive iron. And there is low-tech: the French press coffeemaker, the can opener, and the feather duster. Practical, entertaining, opinionated, Flanagan's Smart Home is a timely remedy for the age of excess. Above all, it's necessary. Behind the bath mat, soupspoon, sofa, and lamp lies a far deeper question: how to live.


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Review of Small Spaces, Beautiful Kitchens (Paperback)

If you like contemporary, modern, eclectic, and retro styles, this book is great to look at. If not, borrow it from the library just for the text. I have made more practical moderations to my original ideas from this book than any of the dozens of other books and magazines that I own.

For instance, I originally was set on installing a microwave/range hood combination over our stove. This book points out that having a microwave in this position is inconvenient, even dangerous since it is very high up and over an area that is frequently hot. Also, it is difficult for children to reach. Instead, a built-in microwave shelf in a different location makes more sense. The suggestion may not be as space-saving as my original plan, but made sense nonetheless. This coming from a family of four with an 11'x 8' kitchen.

The photos presented an assortment of styles, sizes, and cost-ranges although it leaned more toward high-end, contemporary, and larger than my kitchen.

I would have liked to see more photos with large key ingredients like refrigerators. I would have preferred to see more floor plans and actual room dimensions. Unfortunately, I have not seen a book yet that was strong in this area. I think that any decorating book that has the word `small' on it's cover should strive to include those details.





Product Description
Do you have an ugly duckling kitchen? If so, take this book and learn how to transform it into the pretty and practical swan it was meant to be. Whether your kitchen is galley-shaped, U-shaped, L-shaped, or just plain small, this hands-on workbook offers ideas for kitchens that suit every lifestyle, from city singles to growing families.

The kitchen is the heart of every home: the place where we gather with our families and friends; where we prepare and share food; where we work, entertain, and eat. But many kitchens were not designed with all these functions in mind. As a result, they are too small, too dark, and too cramped-when what we want is spacious, light, and comfortable.

With Small Spaces Beautiful Kitchens, you can change all that. In its pages, you'll learn how to turn your kitchen-no matter how small, how drab, how dysfunctional-into the kitchen of your dreams.

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