ABOUT ME > PERSONAL LINKS >> About Me :: Family :: Animals :: Land :: Building :: Jewelry :: Red Hair :: Virginia

We've built three houses in the last 10 years. People ask how we do it and what resources we find most useful. This is a list of the places online I visit to find a variety of products and services. Also see the land where we built this last house, finished September 2005.

Architecture

Sarah Susanka is the author of a series of terrific books on finding the right size house. The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live (which featured the original version of the last house design we built), Creating the Not So Big House: Insights and Ideas for the New American Home, Not So Big Solutions for Your Home, and her newest, Home by Design: Transforming Your House Into Home. She also has a lovely website.

Christopher Alexander also helped me understand architecture and space. My two favorites are A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction and The Timeless Way of Building.

Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design by Max Jacobson, et al (Hardcover) is very good.

Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England by Thomas C. Hubka (1986) is another neat book.

Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design by Max Jacobson, Murray Silverstein, and Barbara Winslow

With this house, we're more focused on creating a family-friendly environment. The article, "The New Family Home" from USA Today is a terrific primer. Family Living and Children's Spaces, both by Judith Wilson and Debi Treloar (Ryland Peters & Small Ltd., 2003 and 2001), are very good books.

Decorating

Home (Chic Simple) by Kim Johnson Gross, Jeff Stone, Julie V. Iovine (Knopf: 1993).

Also see Desk (Chic Simple) by Todd Lyon

Better Homes and Gardens Color-a-Room. Need to decorate or re-decorate? This tool allows you to change wall colors, fabrics, and flooring right before your eyes.

The Distinctive Home: A Vision of Timeless Design by Jeremiah Eck (2003).

Good Things for Organizing by Martha Stewart Living Magazine (Clarkson Potter, 2001)

How to Decorate : The Best of Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart Living Magazine (1996)

Landscaping

Better Homes and Gardens offers a variety of landscaping and gardening resources.

Country Living

Illumination in the Flatwoods by Joe Hutto

Fifty Acres and a Poodle: A Story of Love, Livestock, and Finding Myself on a Farm by Jeanne Marie Laskas. Also, see Laskas' latest book, The Exact Same Moon: Fifty Acres and a Family.

The Encyclopedia of Country Living: An Old Fashioned Recipe Book by Carla Emery

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow. (Storey Books, 2001)

Moving in or out

Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston

Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life: How to Use Feng Shui to Get Love, Money, Respect and Happiness by Karen Rauch Carter

Homes and Other Black Holes by Dave Berry. A fun look at home adventure.

Magazines

	Dwell features aesthetic home design that is modern, idea-driven, and sensitive to social and physical surroundings. Dwell helps intelligent consumers shape their own living spaces in ways that express beauty, simplicity, comfort, and new sense of openness. It also addresses sustainable housing, passive solar designs, cool methods, cheap methods, and interesting things for all. It's like Architectural Digest for the non-pretentious. Subscribe to Dwell.
	Natural Home Magazine brings together the best in home design and natural living. This bimonthly magazine provides practical ideas, inspiring examples, expert opinions and timely information about the circle of life that we call home. Featuring sustainable, healthy homes and the latest earth-friendly products and services, Natural Home is designed for today's growing market of eco-savvy homeowners. Subscribe to Natural Home
	Martha Stewart Living Magazine is one of our family favorites. While others enjoy mocking Martha, and she's sure had her share of problems recently, she (and her magazine) offer terrific ideas, styles, and inspiration each month. The magazine is itself, beautiful, and the recipes are straightforward, creative and delicious. The decorating suggestions can be a little over the top but always interesting. Subscribe to Martha Stewart Living.
	Throughout its simple, artful pages, Herb Companion shares the joy of gardening, cooking, and crafting with herbs, plus information on using plants for medicinal purposes and personal care. Subscribe to Herb Companion.