Downsizing Your Home with Style: Living Well In a Smaller Space

by Lauri Ward

No matter your reason for downsizing--whether you are moving from the suburbs to the city, or you are trading the larger family home for a smaller, more manageable one, or perhaps you are just looking to simplify life--the transition can be a challenge. When you're moving a lifetime's accumulation of belongings from a larger home into a jewel box, the task can seem overwhelming--and so can your emotions. How do you decide what to pack and what to part with? Where will you put the contents of your attic, basement, and/or garage? What if the ceilings are lower, the windows are smaller, or your living room rug would fill the entire space? How can you use the stuff you've got so that it functions well and looks right? Downsizing Your Home with Style answers all of these questions and more. A professional decorator in New York City for over thirty years, Lauri Ward is an expert in making small spaces both elegant and functional. From the initial evaluation of your new home to one year after you have settled in, she takes you through every step with detailed tips, lists of good buys, tricks of the trade, photographs, and anecdotal examples, so that achieving spectacular results is simple and affordable. Learn How Having less room doesn't mean that your home can't be even more stylish. Downsizing Your Home with Style shows you how to reduce what you have to the best and most loved, so that your new space can be even more special. After all, downsizing isn't about restrictions and sacrifice. It's about living more simply and calmly; it's about leading a richer life by having less.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Design, Reference, Adult

208 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[Janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up some good tips. None of what she said was novel or revolutionary, but that's fine; I was looking for practical advice. My brain isn't in a practical place, and I'm a pretty thick mover.

Her business buzzphrase is "Use What You Have", yet every section includes a number of new things you can buy. Her average client clearly has the wherewithal to hire her to help them downsize elegantly -- already I'm set apart from her target audience. Maybe I'll look for a book called "Goodwill: how to Rock at the Bottom".

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll admit this particular book wasn't what I expected from a home arrangement book. It has some good tips and it's specifically oriented towards people who are moving to smaller homes and want to arrange their furniture and living space in a such a state. It's not a bad read, but I'll admit I was expecting more on the level of arrangement ideas, organizational tips, more image samples that would show (rather than tell) of what measure to include in each of the various rooms of the home, and more information that wasn't out of date. There have been home guides I've perused that were written 15 or more years ago that have been timeless for the deocrating, arrangement and organizational value on a personal level for each room of the house, but this shows its age with certain references and doesn't quite deliver on the level of appealing to multiple types of audiences for the subject matter.

[Ms.soule · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of this book focusses on creating a "comfortable conversation area" which involves placing your living room furniture in a U-pattern with a coffee table in the middle. Tadah! Now you know! There are a few good ideas which save this from a one star rating such as utilizing space under tables with baskets and adding wheels to the bottom of functional and aesthetic trunks for storage that can easily be moved when neccesary. The two major topics I was looking for were totally absent though - children's areas & paperwork storage. No help from this book on those.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for anybody whether you're in the downsizing process or not. I learned that front halls should be brightly lit so as to be welcoming. That very day we had just lowered the fixture (when we found extra lamp cord inside), cleaned the globe and inserted a larger spiral bulb. What a difference these small changes made!

Also, the author said that a seating area around a fireplace e.g. should have all chairs within easy reach of the coffee table for ease in snacking and conversation and good lighting by every chair. only one mat should be used (under the coffee table e.g. as mats tend to fight with each other! Leave a path through the area, however. Done!

One final thing that I hope to implement is that items on a tub ledge look cluttered so one should attach a hanging shelf to the shower head for these items.

She said, as well, that one wall in a room should be left blank to rest one's eyes. I'll work on that!

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best thing I took away from this book was these lines from the intro:
"Downsizing is as much about making an emotional commitment to change as it is about figuring out where to put your furniture. It's about living more simply and calmly, making that choice in advance and living it in the future. It's about leading a richer life by having less."

Although I was looking for more emphasis on the "downsizing" (there's more on this in the final chapter) with less on the "style," I would recommend this book. It's very practical.

[Bonnie Brzozowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

picked up some good tips, but, even though she said her focus was on doing everything inexpensively, i still thought some of her suggestions were pretty costly. for example, she suggests that instead of refinishing a table you "simply" buy a marble table top to lay over it. if give or take $500 is inexpensive, then i'm oscar the grouch living in a garbage can.

[Linda C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book lived up to its title. It starts with evaluating and measuring your new space before deciding what to take with you. It covers re-purposing pieces as well as separating pieces into parts. There are lists of what things to take and what things to leave; multi-functional and storage being key elements. Lots of useful info here.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

. great ideas on how to repurpose furniture when moving to smaller location
. photos are horrible
. measure every space change: wall, nook, distance from window/door
. can store infrequently used items behind books on shelves >12" deep

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good ideas, particular for older people who are moving into a much smaller place. It was written in 2007, so there's no sense in my complaining that the decor is dated. But most of the examples shown are pretty unattractive to me. But this brought me up short:
"White or off-white paints are always safe, but if you simply must have color, consider a banana with gray undertones, icy gray-blue, greige (gray-beige), toast, mushroom, light green-blue, or a silvery green". That list hurts my soul. And "banana with gray undertones" may be the most dystopian paint color I've ever heard of.

[Liz Freed · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a simple guide for beginner minimalists and for those who aren't minimalists but need to pare down their life for various reasons. The advice is good, although the tone comes off haughty at some points.

Downgraded from 3 to 2 stars due to the poor quality of some of the photos: clearly shot with a regular camera by a regular person (which some of them were--see the introduction). For a hard-bound book, I'd expect better.

[Lynnea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very dated - and suggested keeping anything that has storage ability (anything with drawers or cabinets), instead of actually getting rid of things. Anyway, the intro had this great tidbit: "I want you to embrace it, approach the change positively, and think about what you'll be gaining, not losing. When you reduce what you have to the best and most loved, your new space will be even more special." p. xv

[Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots and lots of text and a few photos. Ugh.

This author has some good information, but she doesn't know how to put it into a helpful book.

To get to any nuggets, the reader has to slog through so much text that's poorly illustrated.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wasn’t my style. Probably some good advice for people moving into tiny homes, but seemed focused on elderly couples who have a lot of bric-a-brac.

[Kim Grayson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has helpful ideas and inspiration but it is fairly dated with illustrations.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

good ideas - I need more photos.....

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friends Tamara and Adam, among others, tend to follow the rule of "less is more" when it comes to their homes--something I struggle with. However, living in a 900 square foot house almost demands that I do it. This book has some very practical tips for downsizing--what to keep and why, culling your accumulated furniture, etc.--and is illustrated with tons of photos that show what rooms in a small house should look like.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should have read this before I moved. Now that I'm inthe downsized place mostof this information is too late. I did pick up a couple of tips but I like to look at pictures of otherpeoples beautifull organized tiny spaces and this was a little short on visuals. I highly recommend it, however, to anybody who's contemplating a move to smaller digs and wondering how to handle all their stuff in the transition.

[Jennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book offers a few items to think about that hadn't crossed my mind. Balance, considering pets, and white washing are all ways to work with what you have. Although useful I found this book fell flat. Pictures of mostly modern furniture and really none of rooms with major transformations lack in the visual display of what the book suggests. Worth a flip through but look elsewhere for application of suggestions.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought there was a lot of practical information in this book -- both on how to organize/repurpose what you already have, how to make small spaces functional and attractive, ways to find more storage space, and stuff to get rid of. Unlike a number of other home organization books, these pictures looked like places where real people lived! I'll definitely be looking at her "Use What You Have Decorating" book.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book offers good tips and ideas to downsize your home. Generally, I like more structured books with clearly-defined plans of action. Once piece of advice (from this book) that stuck with me and that I try to adhere to is to only keep in your home books that you loved and plan to re-read in the future, give away the rest.

[Jennifer Gelert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a few good ideas to downsize. I did not like the emphasis on modern and new. And the assumption that all who downsize have money to rebuilt, remake, etc. I will use some of the ideas on getting rid of stuff I don't use. But my decorating style is shabby chic/romantic

[Lauri]

I ran out of time and had to return this to the library. Some good tips on decorating though.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty paltry and obvious advice, but it got me thinking a little more clearly . . .

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few good ideas. I flipped through it in a matter of hours.

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good resource if you are planning to downsize. I liked that she mentioned how your pets might need to be acclimated to the new living space.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I expected. This book focused more on furniture to keep/throw and how to arrange furniture better. Basically geared towards people with big budgets.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing new but good to skim through if you are interested in downsizing.

[Lizette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good pointers: Dress a room the way you'd dress yourself. Find storage where there is none, etc., etc. I wish the pictures were nicer. Good quick read full of good advice.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much good advice for moving into a smaller space.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did a quick glance through, seems a tad dated now. Looks so much like the 90s did.