Apartment therapy’s big book of small, cool spaces

689 Pages·2010·146.68 MB·English

by  Maxwell Ryan

Copyright © 2010 by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.clarksonpotter.com
CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with colophon is a registered trademark
of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gillingham-Ryan, Maxwell.
Apartment therapy’s big book of small, cool spaces / Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Big book of small, cool spaces
Includes index.
1. Small rooms—Decoration. I. Title.
NK2117.S59G56 2010
747—dc22 2009028199
eBook ISBN: 978-0-30798506-4
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-307-46460-6
Hardcover Design by Jennifer K. Beal Davis Photographs by Jim Franco
v3.1
With the parents’ bedroom in the loft upstairs, the childrens’ room glows with warmth below
in this very modern renovation.
For the people in this book who welcomed me into their homes and
for Sara Kate and Ursula who help me make mine
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
INTRODUCTION
QUICK ENTRANCES
A Few More Fast Entrances
COZY KITCHENS & DINING ROOMS
Thoughts on Small Dining Rooms
Thoughts on Cabinet Decor
Thoughts on Open Storage
COMPACT LIVING ROOMS
Thoughts on Bookshelves
Thoughts on Televisions and Stereos
MINIATURE BEDROOMS
Thoughts on Bedroom Colors
Thoughts on Bathrooms
SMART HOME OFFICES
A Few More Quick Offices
Thoughts on Desk Organization
PETITE CHILDREN’S ROOMS
Thoughts on Storage
Thoughts on Nursery Lighting
RESOURCES
THE LISTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THE HOMEOWNERS
INDEX

introduction
NOTHING YOU DO FOR YOUR HOME IS EVER WASTED.
I love figuring out how to make a room work. I have always been
obsessed with beautiful and comfortable homes, with trying to figure
obsessed with beautiful and comfortable homes, with trying to figure
out what makes them tick and helping to create them.
When I was about twelve, my mother told me I could do anything I
wanted with my room, and I spent months drawing elaborate plans
on paper. My bed was going to sit at the bottom of a smooth bowl
(early skate-park influence), at the top of a set of stairs; it was all
going to be made of plywood, covered with padding and carpeting.
As soon as my plans were done, I began working on improvements,
and my vision got more complicated and more fabulous with each
iteration. While my room didn’t actually change that much in the end,
my research had definitely begun.
Now I decorate and reenvision rooms for a living, and the more
spaces I’ve seen, the more I’ve become convinced that there are
basic lessons and common elements that make a room great—
lessons that are not hard to learn and that don’t require a substantial
amount of money to implement.