Showing posts with label tiny home movement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tiny home movement. Show all posts

Small Space Style: Because You Don't Need to Live Large to Live Beautifully by Whitney Leigh Morris (2018)

, 30 Jan 2023

This book is a mixed of I'm showing you my tiny home, get ideas for a tiny minimalist home from me and my pals, and let's do some pretty DIY.
 
WHAT I LIKED
> The edition of the book is awesome. Wonderful photos and illustrations, DIY tips and ideas.
> The book is clearly and simply written and well structured.
> This is a good startup guide if you want to live in a tiny house or just have a tiny home and want to take advantage of any space available. There are many ideas and tips that I can see adopting in my place, even though my home is average, not tiny. 
> I think this book can be really useful to renters, like me, who sometimes struggle to use a small apartment to its potential.
> I love the overall Boho decor, the mix of neutral tones and white, the airiness and lightness of the spaces, the basketry and pot plants and very much everything.
> This is a good repository of ideas that I can use to update a small property. Many of the ideas are simply cute and very practical and can be implemented in tiny or not tiny spaces.  
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
> If you watch tiny-home videos & blogs on the Internet, you'll have the tips and ideas in this book ready available. In other words, nothing new on the horizon. 
> This book seems targeted to a young crowd, some things like loft upstairs would be a problem for some people with disabilities, knee problems or if you have a broken leg. 
> The space is great for singles or young families; if your children are in their teens, not sure whether this tiny place ideas would need of an overhaul.
> The Boho style might not resonate with everyone.
> The studio and home office section is really underdeveloped. 
-- Yes, for sure we can do most things from our laptops nowadays we can have a hole library on Kindle or digital format, but many of the things the author says apply to her and her life and I don't think represent many people who actually work from home and need way more stuff than a laptop in their tiny home. 
-- Taken, we all, me especially, have a thing for pretty stationery and have too many pencils, pens, markers, or whatever, so we can all reduce the junk. 
-- Now, what about if your work from home involve doing some craft or photographing things you make, or painting on paper? Just to name some obvious things.
-- Ditching the office chair is just a bad idea if you spend 8 hrs working at home, because I've been there and that killed my back. 
-- Re ditching the printer, that's another not so good idea. It's great aiming to something that is small and that can be concealed. However, if you need to print A4 paper, there is a limit to the smallness. Also, why would I ditch my printer to go and print some pages to the local library, when, if, I did that, I wouldn't have the freedom to print many pages at my own time without having to take the car or public transport to go to a local library to get 2 sheets of paper printed; like it takes 5 minutes to switch the printer on and print 2 pages; how long would take me to go to my local library? Way more. What about if I need to print something on a Sunday. Like a basic good quality printer is actually super cheap and you can store it anywhere. 
-- Some professions require of reference materials or specialized books that aren't always available on digital format. I can borrow them from my local library or purchase them, but those are going to be on my studio and are often a few.
> The author says in the Introduction that she's not minimalist or part of any movement, but her home and tips all lean towards minimalism and her home is definitely tiny. 
POOR DIGITAL EDITION
> The lettering contrast is deficient in some parts of the book, too faint to be comfortably read on on my 15"-screen laptop at 100% resolution. It's only possible to read it without squinting when I use 150% or full-screen mode.
> The font size is overall too small to be comfortably read without magnifying to 150% or full-screen mode. 
> The table of contents don't display on the side bar. 
> The Index of Contents is not linked to the content area. 
> No bookmarks possible in this edition, which certainly defeats the purpose of having so many tips on each page that I would like to bookmark for future reference.
> Due to the previous  issues, the book is not practical or much usable on Kindle, so I'd rather have it on hard copy. 


IN SHORT
OK book. Nothing new on the horizon of tiny homes. Pretty photos and cool ideas. One of those few books that I'd like to have on hard copy.  


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