Furniture Books

Great book the first and second book! Gives ya chills and spooky enough to wanna leave the light on at night! I highly recommend.

I highly recommend this book! I love antiques and have always believed that previous owners leave an imprint on their beloved possessions. Ed is an expert storyteller and this book weaves its spell around you and makes you not put it down until you have read it cover to cover. Sometimes you laugh sometimes you get the chills from the stories within this book. For those of you who just might have a possessed possession of your own this book confirms what you have known all along...

What more possessed possessions? and more promised? What fun. Is there a spirit world haunting us, teasing us and guiding us? This book could make you believe. I've read the first and now the second and found it fun reading, but not necessarily something you want to read before you go antique shopping. A Maine reader

This book is well written, concise, and easy to follow. It is especially good for first-timers as the authors take you through many steps most beginners do not consider.

This book is excellent! The author shows you step by step what you need to do to reupholster your piece of furniture. I used this book and was able to quickly learn what I needed to do to reupholster an old chair I own and looked like I bought a new chair from the store when I was finished. Since then, I have had family and friends asking me where I bought the "new chair!" I recommend this book to anyone wishing to do the same.

Although a book could never substitute seeing first hand, how upholstery is done, this book provides very detailed information. The photos are dated, but the process of the work is not and very clearly explained. Definitely a good reference book to have for anyone learning upholstery who might need additional information.

Some of the furniture in this book is pretty amazing, but I was disappointed in the end, and unfortunately, I bought three of his books so it was compounded. Much of the furniture is rustic casework, decorated fabulously with twigs and bark, but still casework as best I can tell. If you're looking for artistic inspiration, you're not going to get a hint of construction details! Many of the chairs and beds are also pretty "straight"--lots of hickory stick furniture.

The antler work is nifty. The staircases are amazing. The photography is good. There're just too many right angles for my taste in "rustic."

Very well composed and illustrated rustic furniture examples on large high quality pages. Great examples from the best in the business, most being aquaintances and friends. My wife and I also live and work in the Adirondacks, build furniture and have an art studio, but not yet to the standards of these "guys".

Mike and Marion Kratky
Northville, NY

This coffee table book is a magnificent visual tribute to the rustic artists who dedicate themselves to creating "exquisitely handcrafted home furnishings and decor straight from nature". The photographs by the author are stunning and provide a rare visit to some multi-million-dollar homes. This is a wonderful book to display and to share with family and friends. As with all of Ralph Kylloe's books, the production is top-notch, the text is informative and thought-provoking, and the photography is awe-inspiring!

I am the illustrator of this book. It was selected for inclusion in Bank Street College Children's Books of the Year, 1997, and also Pick of the Lists (1996) American Bookseller Magazine. It is very popular with visitors to my studio. If you are visiting Mill Valley, California, please visit Susan Cummins Gallery to see more of my work. Thank You Amazon for making it possible to search for books by the illustrator's name. It has not possible to do this at my local bookstores.

I disagree strongly with the Booklist reviewer's opinion of Renee Flower's illustrations. The illustrations are indeed bright, but they are fun, unique and a refreshing departure from the usual fine art style, museum-quality paintings (read: dull) that grace the pages of one too many children's books. Rather than detracting from the poems, they enhance the quality of the book by capturing the mood and spirit of each poem. All too often, children's books are serious, stodgy things. Flower's illustrations are extraordinarily fun, and so is this book.

So glad I discovered this book for my 3rd graders... great for the first week of school. We found all the describing words and one student noticed the "Picasso" illustrations! Lots of similes -- which of course we found as well. Really a DARLING book...

Seasonal Home teaches the reader to bring the outside in season by season. I agree with a previous reviewer about the lack of hows and whys, but the images certainly make up for it. A great part of the Essential Style Guides series. A+

For quick "visual" ideas, this book offers creative ideas for the home. With its "seasonal" format, it takes you through the four seasons with imaginative ideas for each phase of the year. What was lacking, in my personal and professional opinion, was detailed accompanying text to describe the how's, and how-to's, of the photos shown.

"The Seasonal Home" by Kristin Perers is a refreshing approach to creating an environment in a home that is strictly confined to the God-given natural gifts that everyone receives whether rich or poor. Leaves, shells, plants wood products, or cast-off furniture seem to come together to enhance the rooms with a simplicity that is quite moving. I say hooray for the publishing of this lovely little book with such reverence for the basics without frills. Young people whether married or single will love it.

I am new to scratch boat building and this is a basic book about it. It has many helpful hints that are very usefull. It is a beginners book. Easy to read and understand.

There are a lot of forums on the NET that describe in detail on how to scratch-build, but I was looking for something basic.

An excellent book.

I find the book a good introduction to the concepts, but a bit lite in detail.

I purchased this book several years past. This Amazon.com reviewer is an avid ship modeler. I use this book nearly constantly. I give this book five stars.

Now, this book was written in 1993. So, there are no web sites for reference nor is there a more recent write up. If a person is interested in making a scratch built ship they should surf onto the steelnavy.com web site. Steel Navy is known as one of the best web references for ship building. Museum quality ships from the world have pictures on that page. If you want American warship plans then surf to "Maryland Silver". They have nearly all of the ship plans of the modern Navy. Furthermore, they have plans for most of the pre-1880 (modern Navy) ships. Last, a fair source of ship plans is Ebay. One vendor on Ebay sells quite warships and Great Lakes vessels. If you are making a modern ship and need fittings the web sites to check out are H&R Products, Blue Jacket Ship Models, and The Scale Shipyard. All three web locations have lots of fittings for ships.

Now, back to this book.

This book covers all necessary steps for a ship modeler. The first chapter is on getting correct plans. If your plans are off then what is the point? The second chapter covers making the keel, ribs (frames), and then planking the ship. The rest of the chapters follow in logical progression. The chapters vary from rigging your model if you have a sailing ship to building a superstructure for a modern ship. Note, there are two complete sets of plans in the back of the book. One for a sailing ship and another for a simple cargo steamer. I didn't build either because this modeler makes battleships.

Speaking of battleships, the book gives quite a bit of information on constructing a South Carolina class battleship. The South Carolina class is semi-famous in model circles. The first ship of the class, BB-27, the USS Michigan, has extensive model construction articles written about it in this book. Now, the chapter on Cage Mast Construction is about the only major book that has been published that covers this topic. Cage Masts were found on every battleship made in the USA from about 1910 to 1920. Cage Masts are seen on many of the battleships, like the USS Tennessee, at Pearl Harbor. So, it's very good that a major book tells how to make a cage mast. Note, the chapter on Cage Mast construction will advise a builder to make a jig for the mast. Furthermore, it's advisable that no cage mast be made that is smaller than 1/144th scale.

The book also gives advise on the cutting of wood, plastics, and metal. Furthermore, there is suggestions by the author on what type of wood cutting machines to buy, such as a table saw, and what sort of finishing tool to purchase. The hobby of ship modelling is a lot easier if you have a Demel tool.

The book had lots of little helpful items. It give basic instructions for making a deadeye. Port holes, very necessary for a making a convincing ship, are covered in this book. If you don't want to follow the advise you can get fair portholes from either H & R Products or Blue Jacket.

The only thing that isn't really covered in this book is making a boat radio controlled. You'll have to get another book if you wish to RC your beloved museum quality ship.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have. This book should be studies by any body who wishes to make their first scratch built model. Note, there are no large scale commercial models of Great Lakes steamers or Pre-WWII battleships. So, if you want to build a nice model battleship of the USS Florida you'll have to get the plans from Maryland Silver, the fitting from H & R Products, and read this book to learn the knowledge necessary for making that model.

Best wishes, fellow ship builder, on reading this book. You'll enjoy your purchase. I look forward to hearing about your question on steelnavy.com .

This book is worth all five stars.

This a mighty fine book it is full of very good illustrations.It is a book recommended to me by my carving instructor who has used it as referance for years.Well worth the money a trully great book for any one wishing to learn more about carving birds

This was my first real book on carving birds out of wood. This book is very easy to understand with lots of information for the beginner. Lots of pictures with step by step detailed instructions on carving, detailing, and painting 10 songbirds. Ernie covers more birds in this one book then any two books I know. GREAT BOOK, GREAT TEACHER!

Written by Roger Schroeder, this book is a summary of Ernest Muehlmatt's carving techniques that takes the reader through the steps of carving song birds using a power carver. Mr. Schroeder's writting style is difficult to get used to. He uses many un-necessary adjectives to describe the process of carving. Much of the first part of the book is devoted to reviewing Mr. Muehlmatt's personal opinions in bird carving. The reader gets a sense that Mr. Muehlmatt is quite egotistical. Nonetheless, the book does go over a few techniques useful to aquire for both carving and painting birds. Although geared toward people who use power carving tools, much of the information can be used for those who utilize knives and gouges. The second part of the book includes patterns of some common song birds and a pictorograph showing how each one was carved and painted. This turns out to be the most useful part of the book. Overall, readers will gain some knowledge of song bird carving and painting and a lot of insight into the thought process of Ernest Muehlmatt, albeit at the expense of sifting through the cumbersome writing sytle of Roger Schroeder.

A great source of ideas with goood direction & intruction. Some tools required may not be accessible though. Good photos and extended ideas for the end projects.

An excellent book to do those outside projects!

Good resource that covers a lot of relevant projects for the beginner or the advanced. I like that it has colored pictures which are easy to follow. I would definitely recommend this book to a first time home buyer.

I have had this book for a little over a year now, and I have a feeling that I will keep this book for many more to come. When I first opened this book up I was really impressed with the look of the majority of the projects. The directions are very easy to follow. Overall I think this is the best book I have picked up on this subject. As a subscirber to Family Handyman magazine this left me just as impressed as the magazine does.

The Family Handyman Magazine Editors do an excellent job of compiling useful infomartion in an easy to understand format. This book provides great instructions on how-to projects that will benefit the homeowner and that could potentially add value to the home. There are also "idea" sections that are inspiring and creative.

This book is fabulous for those who are into making their own furniture.. it has some quite good tutorials of how to make your own cupboards, closets and shelving systems..

Its more about 'practicallity' rather than creative ideas..

I just think the title is misleading as I was hoping to find some new ideas for a walk-in closet..

I purchased this book along with a few others while on Holiday in Australia. This title was, by far, my favorite. Mr. Howard is a gifted storyteller. Set in Sydney, a group of 20-something friends face the stuggles of day-to-day life with humor and an unwavering bond of friendship. It was one of the few titles I've read where I cared what happened to each character. There are a few laugh out loud moments - well written by Mr. Howard - as well. The main character is charming, and I found myself cheering for his success. I could not turn the pages fast enough. I eagerly await Mr. Howard's next book!

This is the story of Dec, Smithy and Jeff; three best friends spending their days drinking beer, watching TV and smoking dope.
As Jeff moves to change the equilibrium by applying for a job, tragedy strikes which leads Dec to consider his future. Armed with inside information, Dec attempts to use this new found knowledge on his quest to have a new life.
But can he keep the old one too?

Street Furniture is a very Australian book; but the characters could be from any suburb of any major metropolitan city. They are readily identifiable and easy to like. I fell in love with Jeff straight away and we all know a Smithy and a Dec.
And while the story occasionally meanders, it is also quite funny and the ending uplifting.

Matt Howard is no Patrick White, but he does make his characters believable and extremely likeable.

If you are not a big reader, but like to pick up a nice easy read over the holidays or on a rainy afternoon, this book is definitely for you.

I've just finished reading 'Street Furniture' and I can honestly say it's one of the best books I've read in ages. It's a funny and engaging account of a young guy growing up in the Western suburbs of Sydney. He has reached 29 without ever having a job and suddenly decides to try for one he overhears being discussed in a pub.

Highly recommended!