Extending your home? New kitchen or bathroom? Planning to decorate?
If you're taking on a job like this you need to know three things - can you do it on your own; how long is going to take; and most important of all, how much is it going to cost.
This book tells you the answers. With simple-to-follow guidance on all your home improvement projects it tells you:
.the time the job will take
.the costs of the materials
.how difficult it's going to be
.and what a professional is going to charge to do it for you
.Make sure you get value for money
.Budget for your home improvements
.Do It Yourself or use a professional - helps you to decide

This book captures a rich part of our textile history. With over 300 delightful photographs, it presents an array of vintage and antique tablecloths from the '40s and '50s. The brightly colored fruit and flower designs, Mexican motifs, ivy and foliage prints, and Pennsylvania Dutch-influenced patterns are sure to whisk you back to Mom's or Grandma's kitchen. Also included is a section on specialty cloths, and pricing and captions appear for each item shown. How could anyone resist this terrific resource for collectors, antique dealers, designers, and all who love and appreciate vintage fabrics and textiles?

Once confined to backwoods cabins and hunting lodges, rustic furniture is being recognized today for its primitive ingenuity and beauty. Craftspeople around the country are recapturing the techniques and visions of earlier craftsmen who recognized the beauty of natural materials and functionality of common-sense design. They merged the two in styles of furniture that were perfectly suited to their rugged environments. Now these wonderful rustic creations are finding their way into some of the finest homes and most elegant galleries. Larry Hawkins specializes in twig mosaic furniture. Twig mosaic utilizes the great variety of color and texture in the bark of twigs and trees to create wonderful patterns on the surfaces of furniture. The results are fantastic pieces of furniture, destined to take a predominant place in any room setting. Larry takes the reader/craftsman step-by-step through the process of creating a tiered clock. The techniques learned along the way can be applied to any number of furniture forms, many of which are shown in the gallery. Every step is illustrated with a full color photograph and a precise description of the processes involved.

'The emphasis that Scandinavians place on the home being a source of happiness and wellbeing is one we identify with. We believe that everyone should have a home they don't want to leave!' Award-winning bloggers and instagrammers Reena Simon and Rebecca Lawson are renowned for their love affair with all things Scandi. In their first book, Scandi Rustic, they reveal how to create a home that takes elements of Scandinavian design and introduces rustic natural materials and textures to create a Scandi-inspired interior that is cosy, relaxed and inviting. Come with Rebecca and Reena on a journey across the UK and Europe showcasing the very best in Scandi Rustic homes. Whether you live in an urban apartment, a country cottage or a blank canvas new-build, this relaxed, sustainable, modern rustic style will work perfectly for your home.

Following the critical and commercial success of Pattern and Ornament in the Arts of India, Henry Wilson has turned for this companion volume to a single theme. But what a theme: the variety of floral motifs in the exquisitely wrought details of India's architectural wonders is boundless, and one can only marvel at the way in which the basic elements of wood, stone and plaster have been transformed into masterworks of decorative art. From the illustrious Mughal Empire during its greatest period of monument-building and artistic creativity to the time of British rule, which brought with it an unprecedented period of peace that allowed great wealth to be concentrated on the arts, the richness of India's architecture is overwhelming. Henry Wilson's fine photographs reveals the skill, patience and pictorial imagination of the many thousands of craftsmen who have turned to floral motifs and rendered them with precision and life-enriching creativity. Juxtaposed with the photographs are Wilson's own graphic transpositions of the designs - a wealth of detailed drawings, all created by hand but with a stencil-like clarity that helps us understand the original historical patterns. The result is an invaluable sourcebook that will appeal not only to those interested in one of the world's oldest civilizations and greatest cultures, but also to anyone seeking inspiration for their own graphic creations.

This is a revised and expanded edition of a highly successful reupholstering book that has sold thousands of copies. It gives step-by-step instructions with 350 clear and detailed photographs to show how to rebuild that dilapidated chair or sofa to look like new. The author explains what tools and materials you will need, and offers expert advice about which types of fabric are best for your needs. The author then leads your through specific steps with text, photographs and captions to reupholster your chair, couch, or hassock. The result is furniture you are proud to own for years to come, and you did it all yourself!

Room stenciling is more popular today than ever before. This book illustrates 140 historic ornaments spanning the past century. Examples of colorfully decorated spaces provide additional inspiration, with floral and geometric, light and bright motifs. Detailed directions make the techniques a pleasure to use. With inexpensive tools and materials, this is a reasonably priced hobby that you can discover anew here!

Your client has decided to move out of the city to a country property. But they want to create a stylish, urban home in their new rural idyll. As a designer, it can seem difficult to recreate a metropolitan style while working within the more confined parameters of the country. This book shows you how to create a sophisticated scheme while also understanding the practicalities of designing for rural living. This practical and attractive design guide, including inspirational case studies, gives a fresh perspective on designing for country homes, explaining how to integrate contemporary style while engaging with current concerns such as how to design for sustainable building and wellbeing. Individual chapters cover various key rooms around the house with design ideas and practical tips to make them both comfortable and workable, as well as beautiful spaces. The design element of this book explores materials and finishes as well as styling that stand up to country life, the importance of using local materials and crafts people where possible and being aware of the architecture of the house and how it fits with the rural context. Case studies from a variety of exciting interior designers illustrate how following practical guidelines need not result in an uninspiring interior, but can result in an eclectic, contemporary finish.

An intimate glimpse of the artistry of two women whose beautiful, evocative, and carefully curated interiors are crafted from what they find around them. Zoe Ellison and Alex Legendre have created a beautiful shopping and interiors experience with their unique store i gigi - a haven of beautiful gifts and unique pieces for your home. The muted, earthy colour palette is chic and modern and yet utterly timeless, allowing their pieces to fit seamlessly into any home. In this, their first book, they share their secrets and open their hearts as they describe the journey they have taken, what makes them tick and their philosophy, friendship, inspirations, ideas and interiors. i gigi is a destination store, selling the idea of a beautiful yet practical and achievable lifestyle. Their interiors feature reclaimed and revamped pieces and rooms that have been created on a shoestring. With stunning photography throughout, this is a truly fascinating look into their world.

Wallcoverings have moved far beyond the classic floral wallpaper. New designs and new techniques are opening up a whole range of inspiring possibilities for inventive wall treatments. This book brings together the best ideas from an international roster of architects. Included here are wallcoverings with reliefs, textures, and fabrics, along with advice on how best to incorporate repetitive patterns, neutral touches, and artwork: everything is possible. The book contains practical information and how-tos to help you get started and personal insights from interior designers who are eager to use wallcoverings and share their tips.

Green Home explains how to 'green up' your life with an array of houseplants, and has been a bestseller in author Anders Royneberg's home country of Norway. Living with plants can enliven and enrich your surroundings, promoting feelings of relaxation and well-being. But where to start with curating that vital indoor collection? Green Home features all the green plants Anders has collected in his own apartment of 50 square meters - over 100 plants - and how this inspires him towards greener, more balanced living. With a guide to houseplant types, hints and tips on how to get your plants to thrive and also on how to integrate them into your home decor scheme, it's a plant book with added personality.

You can set your table―or you can ’scape it.

When Bugsy Drake stepped onboard the yacht as Second Stew on Bravo’s Below Deck Med, she showed the world the magic of tablescaping. With the help of some unconventional centerpieces, a few artfully folded napkins, well-placed lighting, and a generous sprinkling of décor, tablescaping is the art of transforming a meal into an adventure that your guests will never forget. Bugsy’s gorgeous, over-the-top themes have captivated guests and earned her legions of devoted fans. Now she’s ready to share her passion and talent for creating unforgettable dining experiences, honed during nearly a decade working on the world’s most exclusive yachts and private islands.

Featuring step-by-step instructions for building your own enchanting events, The Art of Tablescaping is packed full of inventive ideas and design hacks, on-the-job stories and lessons learned. Get inspired by some of Bugsy’s most iconic tablescapes, from rustic outdoor gatherings to glam-as-all-get-out soirees, then follow her tips for getting your own party started.

You don’t need to have the superpowers of a Chief Stew to make a simple dinner party into a lasting memory―just your creativity, a sense of fun, and a few tips from the Queen of Theme herself.

Take a chronological tour of bath and powder rooms and watch as they evolved from converted closets to luxury centers for leisure and relaxation. 20th Century Bathroom Design by Kohler is an invaluable reference to the best in bathroom design during the twentieth century. More than 400 images are presented here, drawn from advertising and designer rooms created for the nation's leading plumbing manufacturer, Kohler Co. of Kohler, Wisconsin. Included are the unforgettable images from the groundbreaking advertising campaign, "The Bold Look of Kohler," as well as the wonderful artwork resulting from a century of arts patronage. That art has extended to Kohler's products as well, samplings of which are shown here, including painted designs for toilets and sinks, matching tiles, and master- crafted wooden bathroom vanities. Hundreds of the early products are pictured and identified to help homeowners and collectors identify their antique plumbing. Photos and artwork also provide a tour of bathroom design through time, portraying state-of-the-art rooms that pre-date World War II, and picturing post-war styles that scream '50s, '60s, and '70s. Plus, there's an entire gallery of contemporary bathroom design with nearly 150 photos.

Architectural solutions & designs to optimize the spaces in your home without spending a fortune. Architect Laura Jane Clark, from the BBC and Netflix smash-hit series Your Home Made Perfect, has spent over 15 years designing, remodelling, and building homes with budgets that range from modest to enormous. THE HANDBOOK OF HOME DESIGN distils Laura's wealth of experience and enthusiasm giving you an accessible yet detailed guide to design, empowering you with the tools and knowledge to shape your home how you want. Throughout your home design journey, whether large or small, Laura takes you each step of the way from understanding your home, reading a plan and writing a brief, right through to sketching your own design and having the confidence to get what you want on the building site. Packed full of tips and tricks, inspiration and technical know-how, THE HANDBOOK OF HOME DESIGN is like having Laura by your side, showing you how to design practical yet beautiful spaces, get more storage into your life and create the home of your dreams. Laura Jane Clark wants to democratize the whole concept of residential architectural design and empower you to redesign your spaces by giving you the language and ability to confidently communicate your vision, get the most out of your design and ultimately love your finished home. Whether you are a long-term homeowner, first-time buyer or simply visualising your dream space, no matter what your budget is, this unique insight into Laura's process allows you to achieve both the design you want and the home you need. www.lamparchitects.co.uk Instagram: @laurajaneclark_

Here is a collection of 370 gorgeous color photos to pour over and ponder: images to inspire dreams. Full-color pictures of hundreds of beautiful kitchens will help you sort out the details and create your own unique cooking/dining/entertaining environment. All the elements of beautiful kitchens-flooring, cabinetry, windows, walls, lighting, appliances, surrounds, backsplashes and more-are pictured and discussed. Individual chapters will help you find the right look, exploring current trends from exotic to country, formal to feminine, antique to modern. Imaginative solutions for showing off collections are explored, as well as ways to open up the kitchen to wonderful outside views. There are lots of ideas for creating gathering places for family and guests alike into the hearth of the home. A special chapter on the small kitchen illustrates solutions for homes with limited space, and a resource guide at the back of the book will point you toward award-winning designers and top-notch manufacturers. This is an invaluable resource for anyone planning to remodel an old kitchen or build a new one and a great reference book and sales tool for any kitchen design professional.

London is the world's leading creative hub, aided by the winning combination of British sophistication and capital cosmopolitanism - not to mention the energy generated by the Olympic Games - and talents from around the world make the city their home. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the spaces in which they dwell. The thirty-four houses in Creative Living London are arranged by location - West to East - taking in the city's grooviest, on-the- edge neighbourhoods, from Shoreditch to Shepherd's Bush, London Fields to Hampstead Heath. Whether in a charming mews cottage, converted piano factory, even a revamped fire station, London's creatives are injecting funkiness and bright ideas into their highly individualistic and inspirational interiors.

Bestselling knit designer Jorid Linvik makes it easy with hand-knit patterns for hats, mittens, gloves, and socks-over 40 delightful projects, overflowing with Jorid's undeniable talent for designs bursting with warmth, charm, and colour. With easy-to-follow charts and step-by-step instructions, it's never been simpler to keep a kid cozy with warm, colourful accessories they'll want to put on! Inside, find basics for planning, sizing, and making adorable socks, hats, and mittens for children, arranged by theme in matching sets; a bountiful collection of pre-charted patterns that includes timeless classics like stripes, zigzags, and polka dots ... and fun-and-funky delights like dancing ponies, hooting owls, joyful giraffes, and more; and blank charts for multiple sizes and types of projects, to make it easy to keep up even when kids' interests are changing as fast as their shoe size.

Achieve your dream home through the simple power of organizing. When people first move into a home, they have grand visions for the space. But time passes, and drawers, closets, and cabinets fill until there?s no space to put things away. Suddenly, everyday tasks are dreadful. A few years later, when people look around, the home they dreamt of is far from the reality. In Love Your Home Again, mother-daughter organizing duo Ann Lightfoot and Kate Pawlowski teach us how to manage our homes in a way that is modern, kind, and effective. Through their signature systems of decluttering, organizing, and maintaining, Ann and Kate guide readers through the steps needed to resolve the issues behind the excess stuff and create the literal space to consider what they really want from their home. This is a compassionate and practical guide to reimagining the home of your dreams.

With this book in one hand and a brush in the other, you can learn how to transform everyday furniture into something special, all for the price of a pot of paint. Annie Sloan is a paint legend and one of the world's most popular experts in the field of decorative painting. In Colour Recipes for Painted Furniture and more, Annie presents 40 new projects and ideas, showing you the easy way to update tired furniture and transform your home. Working with her own range of chalk paints, Annie shows how to mix colours and how to achieve certain looks. Whether your taste is for colourful boho chic or restrained Swedish hues, cosy and comforting rustic shades, a modern and contemporary approach or an elegant French look, here you will find a project to suit you. Start off by mastering the simple art of colourwashing, and work your way up to transfer printing, gilding, stencilling and glazing. There are even instructions for dyeing fabric using paint. As well as painting furniture, the projects range from a staircase painted in a rainbow of colours to stencilled walls, transforming floors with a coat of paint to dyeing linen curtains and even painting a vintage chandelier. Throughout the book, Annie offers expert tips, techniques, shortcuts and guidance, showing you the easy way to create a stylish home.

In the New Bohemians, LA-based designer Justina Blakeney defines the New Bohemians as creative individuals who are boutique owners and bloggers, entrepreneurs and ex-pats, artists and urban farmers. They embrace free-spirited, no-rules lifestyles and apply that attitude to all areas of their existence, including their homes. With little distinction between work and play, the new boho home often includes an office, art gallery, showroom, photography studio, restaurant, or even a pop-up shop. The New Bohemians explores 20 homes located primarily on the East and West coasts. Exclusive interviews with the owners, as well as 12 DIY projects created by Blakeney and inspired by objects found in the homes, offer insight into achieving this aesthetic. In addition, each home is accompanied by an Adopt-an-Idea section that offers general decor, styling and shopping tips for easy duplication in your own home.

One of two most anticipated rooms of a house (the other is the master bathroom) is the kitchen. It's the interior space where most value can be added during a sale and the space that most homeowners, whether selling or not, wish to make the heart of the home. The kitchen is not just a place where meals are created: it is a place for fuelling the body, mind, and spirit. A space reserved exclusively to functionality a few years ago is now one of the most important meeting and socializing points in the house. What was an isolated space is today a showpiece integrated into other rooms. Here are over 100 amazing and contemporary kitchen designs to suit all sizes, shapes, and ages of house.

In 40 Ways to Fold a Napkin you will discover 40 ways to turn your meal into a tablescaped event, worthy of an Instagram post. From simple folds that can hold cutlery to elegant knots, quirky envelopes and more, your event will instantly become more refined and classy. There are even some special folds for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and more. From birthdays to DIY weddings, dinner parties or just a Friday night at home for two, this stylish guide is for anyone who loves to entertain. Make every meal an event by folding your napkins.