My review follows this press release.
~Lisa
Dwell Well in a Small Space
A room-by-room ‘small space bible’ to
maximize living in minimum space
Whether
you’re downsizing your home or just starting out, professional organizing and
decorating author Kathryn Bechen will show you how to create a space where you
can live well regardless of the size. Dedicated to helping small space dwellers
thrive in their home for over 20 years, Bechen wants everyone to feel proud of
their comfortable and welcoming living space regardless of the square footage.
In Small
Space Organizing: A Room-by-Room Guide to Maximizing Your Space (Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8007-2028-5,
240 pages, January 2012, $12.99), Bechen compiles 20 years of real life organizational
tips and tricks. This ‘small space bible’ will help anyone transform cramped
space into a perfectly petite living space as Bechen goes room-by-room giving
design and organizational advice as well as taking on the extremely small
spaces of studio and basement apartments, loft and high-rise spaces and even
tips for RV living.
“A true home
is really about the size of your heart, not about the size of your space,” says
Bechen. She encourages readers to embrace living in a small space and assures
them that even the most teeny-tiny space can be transformed into a welcoming
environment to maximize the space – and more importantly, maximize living. Bechen tells clients to “always remember that
it’s far more important to have a spirit of hospitality and friendship as the
emphasis of your home, rather than neglecting to invite others to visit you
there just because you lack large rooms or expensive furniture.”
After reading
Small Space Organizing readers will
be able to:
-
Create a non-traditional entryway space
-
Find a creative space for a home office
-
Craft a spa atmosphere in a teeny-tiny bathroom
-
Design a nursery space to nurture a newborn
-
Find storage space that’s hiding in their kitchen
-
Downsize their living space successfully
Small Space Organizing will help readers
at every stage of life create an inviting home and maximize living. Everyone
from the newlyweds struggling to fit all their wedding presents into a small
apartment to empty-nesters with years-worth of sentimental possessions moving
to a smaller home can benefit from Bechen’s expert advice.
For the
reluctant downsizer faced with the daunting task of moving into a smaller
living space, Bechen offers encouragement and practical tips for the emotional
process. “It’s normal to go through an array of emotions during your downsizing
process,” says Bechen. “It helps to get through it by keeping your mind’s eye
focused on the end results of a lovely new right-sized home, decorated in a style
you love, in a neighborhood that’s just right for you at this new stage of your
life.”
Kathryn Bechen is an award-winning
professional writer whose articles have appeared in popular national and
regional magazines and newspapers. She specializes in lifestyle feature
articles and has also published several organizing and decorating e-books. The
lifestyle companies she founded, Organized with Ease and Kathryn Bechen Designs,
have served clients worldwide. Bechen has organized and decorated 13 personal
small space residences together with her husband Steve. They currently live in
their favorite small space ever: a 1,200-square-foot high-rise apartment in
beautiful San Diego, California. She blogs about timely lifestyle topics at
www.KathrynBechenINK.com.
Revell, a division of
Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books for everyday life. For
more information, visit
www.RevellBooks.com.
My review:
Kathryn Bechen is an award-winning journalist in the
San Diego area. She
specializes in lifestyle feature articles and has published several organizing
and decoration ebooks. She blogs about timely lifestyle topics at
www.KathrynBechenInk.com
After cleaning out my grandparents’ households, then moving
my parents and inlaws, I knew I wanted to leave less behind. This book has
fantastic tips and spaces for notes, as well as a treasure trove of resources.
I live in a big farmhouse now, but it was built in the
1850s—back when you hung your clothes on hooks and kept your couple of pots and
crockery on a shelf in the summer kitchen and wouldn’t dream of having a privy
in the house! Subsequent remodeling has
given me four closets, two bathrooms, electricity and indoor plumbing. The
kitchen is still the middle of the house with at least one door on every side,
so the cupboards are minimal. I could have used this book when I moved in, even
to this bigger home.
Bechen takes you on a trip around your house. Using examples
from her life of moving, as well as years of experience, study, savvy and
common sense, she helps the newly independent, the recently down-sized, the
mobile modern family think about lifestyle in practical means that also take
into account family mementoes.
She goes room by room to teach us to make the most of the
tiniest living areas, and creating separate areas in a one-room apartment. Have
no foyer, but always dreamed of one? Bechen shows you how to do it? Miniature
bathroom? Bechen gives you hints about creating a spa experience no matter the
size. Using small pieces of furniture creatively, nightstands, small dressers
and multi-purpose pieces are favorites, the author uses space in clever ways
for storage and décor that won’t seem crowded. I appreciated the area at the
end of chapters to make notes to meet my needs, as well as resources to find
the materials she discusses. Using clever rhyming alliterative headings, Behen
makes even downsizing from a lifetime of memories seem doable.
My only quandary is that I’m short, and so uncomfortable
thinking about using space vertically. Stepping stools take care of this, I
know, but for aging or unsteady folks, that’s not always practical. Otherwise,
Small Space Organizing is a fantastic tool for those on the go or thinking of
downsizing which I’ll be happy to recommend.
“Available January 2012 at your favorite bookseller from
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”
.jpg)
