Build It Simple: Practical Projects and Inventive Solutions for Home and Garden

by How-To Experts at Storey Publishing

144 pages, Paperback

Published July 8, 2025

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm admittedly fascinated with survival techniques. I have been since I read the books Cold River by William Judson and Survive! by Evan Lee Heyman as a kid. They sparked my interest in the things people can and will do to survive, and in old homesteading practices.

So, when I saw this book available on Netgalley for review, I had to take a look! This book is trove of practical projects to resolve common problems. The introduction states this book was written to save you money, time and resources by guiding you on how to make items for the house and home using some relatively basic hand tools.

The book starts with instructions for how to build some projects that will help you with other projects like a sawhorse, carpenter's box, and workbench. These earlier projects are more detailed and include drawings showing how to assemble them. Later projects (which include the likes of benches, storage bins, a solar dryer, macrame plant hangers, garden boxes and plant supports) regularly only offer up a drawing of the project and a description of the wood needed with the assumption that if you got through the first few projects then you can handle this.

Sprinkled throughout the book are charming colorful drawings that show happy scenes of home life with these projects in use.

My final word: This book is simple and exactly what it purports to be. A book of 50 relatively simple projects, mostly wood projects, that you can make for your home or garden. With some basic tools, minimal skill, and a bit of ambition, you can fill your home and garden with a bevy of homemade projects that can both bring joy and be practical and useful.

Follow my reviews on Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free review copy.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Build It Simple is a general collection of simple DIY builds for home and garden projects collected by the folks at Storey Publishing. Originally released in 1977 as Home Made , this reformat and re-release, due out 8th July 2024 is 144 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

It does have a cool, retro vibe, the book is illustrated (in color) throughout and the projects are basic, sensible, classics, like potting benches, Adirondack chairs, some bird houses, little garden tool shed on a post (see cover illustration) which could also double as a little free library, and even some macrame plant holders.

None of the builds have specific item or materials lists, and the tutorials are provided more as sources of inspiration than specific step-by-step instructions. Most of the projects are provided with some general measurements, but all are simple enough that most readers will be able to do a credible job of a finished (usable) project.

Four stars. This would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition, home use, gifting to a handy teen/tween, or for activity/makers groups.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes DIY books can be pretty intimidating. This book takes away a lot of that intimidation factor. I liked the simplicity of this book for most of the projects listed. However, it was a little TOO simplistic to be useful for other projects. The deck chair and the storage shed, for instance, felt a bit too much like giving me all the pieces of precut wood and a diagram of the final project, with no assembly steps listed to help, or even an exploded diagram. I feel like I would end up struggling through trial-and-error while assembling the pieces. The shed was particularly short on details, which I think is a big oversight for something that is structural. I know it's not a carpentry book, but I feel like a little more attention could have been given to helpful hints and "must have" info about structural stability. I guarantee that someone like me, without much carpentry knowledge, would end up with a shed that would fall down after a season or two.

For the simpler projects, this book is great. There are a lot of great little ideas that I didn't realize I wanted until I read this book. And they're simple little projects that don't require an in-depth explanation.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

[Laura M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and was so excited. I love all books by Storey Publishing I have read, and this is no different. This isn't a great book for city-dwellers. It's made for those that live on the land. It's got fabulous ideas, even for items they don't have blueprints for. (Why did I never think to use an old freezer for a root cellar??) Dehydrators, birdhouses, garden carts and composters..this book has it all. No slick photos - this book has drawn pictures which adds to the quaintness while still being helpful. I highly recommend this book.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy. I'm the fellow who would build the birdhouse in highschool shop and it would be barely suitable for Smurfs who like to live on the trashy side of life. I did attempt one project within the book and surprisingly it turned out relatively normal. Kudos to the presentation and walk-throughs. My only hesitation in making it a 5-star would have been a few video links.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are no actual instructions in this book. This is not for a beginner