IKEA, Ethan Allen, and HGTV may have plenty to say about making a home look right, but what makes a home "feel" right? Is it the objects you've col...
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reviews
Dec 13, 2008
Shelah
rated it: 
In House Thinking, Gallagher takes us on a tour of her New York brownstone, breaking down how each room in her house is used today, and how rooms of this type were used in the past. It's an interesting idea, but I think that Gallagher's take on it falls short-- mostly because it really needs pictures. She'll go on for pages and pages talking about some modern architect's interpretation of a child's bedroom, for example, but a photo or two of that bedroom would have given us the same information
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Jul 28, 2010
sleeps9hours
rated it:
Pretty rambly, but some interesting tidbits here and there.
p. 5 architect Grant Hildebrand wanted to identify the man-made equivalents of that archetypal meadow bisected by a brook and edged by trees that so deeply attracts us. With colleagues at UW, including the geographer Jay Appleton, the biologist Gordon Orians, and the psychologist Judith Heerwagen, he eventually distinguished five characteristics—prospect and refuge, enticement, peril, and complex order—that enhance our expe More...
p. 5 architect Grant Hildebrand wanted to identify the man-made equivalents of that archetypal meadow bisected by a brook and edged by trees that so deeply attracts us. With colleagues at UW, including the geographer Jay Appleton, the biologist Gordon Orians, and the psychologist Judith Heerwagen, he eventually distinguished five characteristics—prospect and refuge, enticement, peril, and complex order—that enhance our expe More...
Feb 22, 2010
Pattie
rated it: 
A review of how we use and live in out dwellings, with a focus on how we interact with the space (as opposed to how we decorate it). I have to agree with the reviewer who said that it needs graphics - either drawings or pictures - to help make some of the points more clearly.
It felt like a good jumping-off place, but not a complete package. I would, however, recommend it for people who are starting house-hunting, or planning major renovations, because it will start you thinking a More...
It felt like a good jumping-off place, but not a complete package. I would, however, recommend it for people who are starting house-hunting, or planning major renovations, because it will start you thinking a More...
Jan 12, 2010
Ashley
rated it: 
Home is "the place where, when you go there, they have to take you in." - Robert Frost
I *loved* this book - I'm not even sure where to start! It was full of so much information and ideas and has challenged me to re-think different areas of our living space. What's the use in something looking appealing if it doesn't work for me? It's silly, really.
One of the first topics Gallagher tackles is McMansions, quipping that "they offer more generic calories than More...
I *loved* this book - I'm not even sure where to start! It was full of so much information and ideas and has challenged me to re-think different areas of our living space. What's the use in something looking appealing if it doesn't work for me? It's silly, really.
One of the first topics Gallagher tackles is McMansions, quipping that "they offer more generic calories than More...
May 08, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
This book is an interesting mix of architectural history and current-day reporting on the new field of environmental psychology. I enjoyed the book because it did provide insight into elements of our current living situations, although, like previous reviewers, I did find the book lacking. For example, the book could have used pictures; there are some wonderful explanations of houses (or parts of houses, to be exact) that would have been enhanced by an illustration of the same. In addition, I f
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Mar 13, 2009
Tim
rated it: 
I enjoyed House Thinking, a rambling visit through the rooms of the American home seeking their environmental impact on how their occupant's feel. My review will likewise ramble, because I lack the concentration to provide a unity which I am not sure the book has.
Each chapter contains history, a reflection on modern values seen in the various rooms, and selective encounters with experts who stand against the herd of home improvement TV shows. Her reliance on architects and expensive More...
Each chapter contains history, a reflection on modern values seen in the various rooms, and selective encounters with experts who stand against the herd of home improvement TV shows. Her reliance on architects and expensive More...
May 31, 2007
Kathryn
rated it:
A journalist by trade, Gallagher delves into the realm of environmental psychology to craft this room by room analysis of how American houses have changed over the last two hundred years. She explores how the spaces in which we live our lives (the most important of which is the place we identify as "home") affect our moods, relationships, and even our health. I started reading this when contemplating a large scale addition onto our house, and it really got me thinking about the impor
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Oct 06, 2008
Beth
rated it:
I loved this book. I just came across this reveiw I wrote a year + ago(?).
The importance of where and how we live is often overlooked. When you
welcome a guest into your home, you welcome them into an expression of
yourself. Does your home support and encourage the way you wish to live?
Does it allow for escape and refuge? Or is it filled with piles of
papers, wasted space, and an ill-fitted, overstuffed couch that defeats
your daily domestic and personal More...
The importance of where and how we live is often overlooked. When you
welcome a guest into your home, you welcome them into an expression of
yourself. Does your home support and encourage the way you wish to live?
Does it allow for escape and refuge? Or is it filled with piles of
papers, wasted space, and an ill-fitted, overstuffed couch that defeats
your daily domestic and personal More...
Aug 30, 2008
Marin
rated it:
I loved this book. I'm in the process of moving to a matchbook-sized Manhattan apartment. Over the last couple of months, I have had to take a really careful analysis of how I use the space in which I live, so this book came at the right time for me. I'm fairly confident, however, that it would interesting and helpful to just about anyone, sort of like "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Everyone lives in some kind of a space, after all, and the book is organized in a way so that, if you're
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Jan 12, 2011
Nance
rated it: 
I really believed I would love this book based on the cover. It is quite hilarious that the NY Times book reviewer called it "unpretentious" because that is exactly the impression I got from Gallagher. She wrote in a manner that drove me crazy. I agree with the other reviewers who said that pictures or graphics would have helped this book tremendously. Gallagher also should have separated her topics more with headings because she jumped around so much within the topic of each room. Thi
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May 18, 2009
Phoebe
rated it:
In-depth exploration of one random but interesting topic = my favorite kind of pop-psychology non-fiction. This is no Martha Stewart! Turns out that interior design is one of the most important influences on a person's life, affecting everything we do and how we feel about ourselves. This book was enormously helpful for my home-buying process, and also for thinking about the changes I can make to my apartment to enrich my life.
Feb 06, 2012
Angela
rated it:
This book had some fascinating parts, but it really, really could have used illustrations. To read an entire book about the look and feel of architecture, including descriptions of particular buildings, and have no pictures, really makes in hard for the reader to stay engaged with this book. I think with good illustrations, this could have been a 4 or 5-star book for me, but without, I really had trouble making it to the end, even though I generally like the author's writing style.
Jul 29, 2011
Not at all the quick, light read I was hoping for. I felt like I was taking an architecture class I had no real interest in taking. There were some interesting historical tidbits along the way, but nothing very useful. I just couldn't get through it.
Dec 02, 2009
Sylvia
rated it:
"The well-thought-out home has much less to do with a piece of prime real estate or the latest decorating trend than with its responsiveness to deep evolutionary needs, personal preferences, and cultural influences that we're often only subliminally aware of."
Sep 08, 2010
Carrie
rated it:
I enjoyed this from start to finish. I loved that it was a history of home with how she applied it to her own house. You can read one room or just a few pages and pick up when you have time. Well researched and well written.
Apr 23, 2010
Helena
rated it:
I never thought about how place, particularly the home in which one lives, could shape one's behavior and emotions. Very interesting to learn about. Also gives me some good ideas for things to consider if we were ever to build a house.
Mar 25, 2009
Jenne
rated it:
I don't know if it's fair to mark this down for not being the book I wished it was. I heard the author interviewed on a podcast, and I got the impression that it would be about how to use the spaces in your house to achieve maximum comfort and awesomeness.
Instead, it was really about the history of homes in America, and how the ways we use different rooms has changed over time. Which was interesting, but just not what I really wanted to read about.
Instead, it was really about the history of homes in America, and how the ways we use different rooms has changed over time. Which was interesting, but just not what I really wanted to read about.
Jan 18, 2012
Stacy
rated it:
this would have made such a better book had it been a study of how rooms and the separation of rooms and their activities have changed, even in the past ten years. it was more of a diary.
Mar 07, 2009
Micki
rated it:
Absolutely excellent and thought-changing book about how the house is organized, and how it came to be that way. Great for people who are looking for a new home, or planning their own.
Sep 04, 2010
Wens
rated it:
Promising premise and beginnings, some interesting ideas, but Gallagher seems to plunk in bits of research to suit her purpose, veering the book to close to pop research.
Sep 23, 2009
Anne
rated it:
A really interesting read that reminds me of one of The New Yorker's lighter, and longer, reads. Some of it is pretty obvious and some quite thought-inspiring.
Jan 05, 2012
Found at TCPL while looking for other book by author - concept sounds interesting
May 12, 2010
Cindy
rated it:
This reads like someone's poorly edited research paper. It's a mish mash of quotes and facts with very little connecting it to the chapter it's found in (each chapter being devoted to a space in the home, e.g., kitchen, bathroom, etc.), never mind the book as a cohesive whole. Certainly, some of the anecdotes are interesting, but it's just all over the place. Like, what does this have anything to do with...anything? And there are typos. A published work should really never have one typo let alon
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Mar 09, 2008
Elisabeth
rated it:
An interesting look at the way that the spaces we live in can enhance or detract from our quality of life. Also discusses how houses have been designed historically and how designs have changed because of social changes.
She also discusses how changes in technology and housing preference have affected our community interactions. It's kind of sad to realize how isolated we have become in America, and how little attention we pay to how we could help the poor by better urban and rural pl More...
She also discusses how changes in technology and housing preference have affected our community interactions. It's kind of sad to realize how isolated we have become in America, and how little attention we pay to how we could help the poor by better urban and rural pl More...
Apr 13, 2007
Victoria
rated it:
Architecture meets psychology meets history meets pop culture. If I had read this book in college, I probably would never have majored in history or, eventually, education. As you read, you find yourself looking around the house, wondering how space shapes your personal and emotional well-being and what that says about our culture. Once you get past the 'psych 101 and I have every syndrome' sensation, you find yourself observing the everyday much more closely.
Dec 15, 2008
Mary
rated it:
House Thinking gets inside the mind of the personal satisfaction involved in home living. Often it simply talked about the history of home development that illustrated today's reasons for living as we do, but it did have quite a few flashes of light where I had "aha" moments concerning my own current and future home/ambience planning. Some chapters were fascinating; others were snoresville.
It has no pictorial examples of the concepts outlined.
It has no pictorial examples of the concepts outlined.
