As real estate costs go ever higher, many of us are living in smaller spaces than we would like. In Small Spaces, interiors author Rebecca Tanqueray presents a wide variety of solutions to make even a studio apartment feel more spacious and comfortable. Many spaces can be expanded visually through color or lighting, in others, Tanqueray explores the organization of space, storage and the use of multi-functional furniture. The inspirational spaces showcased in Small Spaces are documented thoroughly with beautiful photographs and floor plans, to inspire you in the process of enlarging your own space.
Starting with Making the Most of your Space, Rebecca shows how clever use of color, lighting or other elements makes for a coherent home with a feeling of space. The Zones explores the organization of space, including areas for living, cooking and eating, working, bathing and sleeping. A Space Savers page at the end of each section captures key points. Finally, Solutions, tackles the elements to the compact home - including dividing space, using color, lighting and texture and clever storage and furniture.
Small Spaces will help you create a more uncluttered and serene home that works.
Date Published 5/1/2003
Ratings
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: AUSTERE I found this book to be very disappointing. The pictures feature rooms that the average person, particularly one with children, cannot relate to. I am referring to rooms where the couches are so boxy and smooth, they seem made of cement. There are no pillows on them, no coffee table. The walls are white and blank, the chairs look like something the Jetsons would use. Worst of all, it really does not convey anything about small spaces that is original - ie: turning an armoir into a portable office, or using a trunk as a coffee table. The homes are so austere, so entirely void of any sign of life, that space seems hardly an issue - everything is so blank and sterile that one could assume there exists an over abundance of space for these sorts of people because they don't have anything!
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: An inspiring and practical book We are in the process of renovating our apartment, and I found this to be a very useful book. I have read it through several times and keep going back for ideas and inspiration. The apartments featured are inspiring and really are small -- not like those found in some other books. I especially appreciated the floor plans for the apartments and the detailing of hidden storage. While some of the suggestions are fairly standard, others are quite innovative. Unlike the previous reviewer, I found plenty of ideas that are useful for a family with children and lots of spaces that looked quite comfortable and cosy as well as some that were more inclined toward the minimal and funky.
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Inspiring and Practical We are renovating our apartment and this is one of the most useful books I have found. I have returned to it many times for ideas and inspiration. The apartments featured are inspiring and are actually small -- unlike some of the apartments in other books I have read. Some of the ideas were fairly standard in the literature on small spaces, but others were quite innovative. Unlike the previous reader, I found there were lots of practical and comfortable ideas for families with children. I especially like the floor plans and detailing of hidden storage.
Rated By: Carol
From: Calgary, Alberta
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Comments: Can't stop flipping through it I live in a modest size condo, and my brother has recently purchased one as well. So I was more looking for some good books for my brother, but I couldn't put this one down, and ended up buy another copy for myself.
Rated By: Carol DeChant
From: Chicago, IL
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Comments: #4 out of 7 "small decor" books ranked I ranked this 4th best of 7 "decorating small spaces" books I bought. One unit featured in it had enough useable ideas for me that it justified its price. Pros: great photos & blueprints; variety of sizes (300-1,000 sq ft) & tastes shown. Cons: European-NY exclusivity (more on this in my NOTE in review of "Small Apartments"); many featured homes shriek "interior designer," i.e., all about aesthetics rather than liveability (pebble floors, molded plastic chairs, etc.). Speaking of impractical: one of the 8 featured homes is a modernist London dwelling, 11-and-a-half ft. wide, seven stories high, with one room per floor. She should have decorated the owner's elevator, as that must be where he spends all his time.
Rated By: E. King
From: Charlotte, NC
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Comments: Inspiring book w/great photos & ideas For all us wannabe designers, this book is inspiring and educational. The photos really give you an idea of how all aspects of a space work together. I especially liked the author's emphasis on storage solutions, which anyone on any budget can take advantage of (though this book tends to focus on apartments that were designed from scratch). As with most of these books, it's mostly apartments that are analyzed, but the book does include a rowhouse that is decorated in a (shock!) tradition style instead of contemporary, which I found refreshing. Not the kind of book you'll read cover to cover, but one you'll pick up and find something new each time.
Rated By: jooka
From: finland
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Comments: Less is More One of the best interior design books I enjoy over and over again is Smallspaces. Photograhs are good and interiors are very inspirational and interesting. This book shows you how you get most of your space even its small. After you have read this book you might wonder do i need bigger apartment (if you're dreaming about it) at all?
Rated By: Beth Hartford-DeRoos
From: Jackson, California
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Comments: More like living with a lot of stuff in a small space Read the title really careful and you will see that it is not about living simply in a small space, but more like living with a lot of stuff in a small space.
Since I was seriously looking for a book on Zen or Danish, Swedish simple design in a small space I wanted to check the book out. Thankfully for what I was looking for there were enough examples like The Zones chapter where Zen simplicity examples abound.
Same for the chapter titled Solutions where toward the end of the chapter some nice examples are shown and written about.
Also like page 137 onward where the author lists dozens of resources on where to get more information on examples shown in the photographs.
As real estate costs go ever higher, many of us are living in smaller spaces than we would like. In Small Spaces, interiors author Rebecca Tanqueray presents a wide variety of solutions to make even a studio apartment feel more spacious and comfortable. Many spaces can be expanded visually through color or 
