Discover renovation help at the bookstore
Home improvement guides: a closer look
If you doubt Canadians’ near obsession with home renovations — forecast by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. to hit $65.6 billion in 2013 — just visit the home improvement area of a bookstore. Countless volumes will guide the novice or veteran DIYer through everything from painting a ceiling to upgrading the electrical system.
Here’s a look at three recent publications. Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live Sarah Susanka, Marc Vassallo Taunton Press 336 pages, $27.95 (softcover) American architect Sarah Susanka has made a big career out of advocating for small houses. In fact, she’s often credited with initiating the small house movement, starting with her book The Not So Big House in 1997. Her book on remodelling shows how a home can feel bigger and more welcoming with small changes. Foyer feeling too cramped? Inject space and brightness by dumping the closet and installing a new door and a window. It’s way cheaper than adding square footage. Loaded with photos and floor plans, questions to help you determine needs and priorities and ideas on recycling materials, the book is meant to inspire you to do more with less. Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update & Show Your Home Some Love
Sherry and John Petersik Artisan Press 336 pages, $29.95 (hardcover) The perky factor wears thin, and some of the projects are dopey (do you really think you’ll still like that driftwood twig mirror in five years?), but this book has enough interesting, money-saving ideas for sprucing up your home to benefit many novice DIYers. The Petersiks are uber-popular home reno bloggers (YoungHouseLove.com) and their writing style is breezy and informative. Marshalling hundreds of photographs and illustrations, the duo shows how to make a no-frills photograph display ledge, turn an old door into a bed or headboard and customize a backsplash. Helpfully, each project is rated for comparative cost, difficulty and time required. Sidebars on using coupons, eBay and other cost-saving ideas round out the Petersiks’ gung-ho package. Renovation 4th Edition: Completely Revised and Updated Michael Litchfield Taunton Press 624 pages, $55 (hardcover) There’s little this tome doesn’t cover: planning renovations, roofing, energy conservation, window and door installation. Litchfield, a founding editor of Fine Homebuilding magazine and a renovator himself, includes current issues such as space utilization and building sustainably, along with such nuggets as using denatured alcohol to remove pencil marks from wood after you’ve marked and cut it. The downside for Canadian readers is this is a U.S. publication. Sections such as the map showing insulation values recommended for various geographical regions include nothing north of the 49th parallel.