The Cottage Book: Living Simple and Easy

by Carol Bass

Book Overview

Simplicity, comfort, and intimacy define the cottage--and they are the hottest ideas in domestic design today, as seen in a host of new books and magazines celebrating the not-so-big house. The personal, easy-living style of the cottage has formed a compelling counter-trend to the overblown, oversize McMansions of the 1990s. Today, quality of place is more important than quantity of space, and no home style demonstrates that value more appealingly...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1584796782
• ISBN13: 9781584796787
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.9" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

The Cottage Book Living Simple and Easy

Let's be clear. These are not "cottages" in the true sense because the homes shown are really big and most are on beautiful lakes. However, the interior photos are bright and colorful, with plenty of great decorating ideas that can be adapted to smaller spaces. There are very good uses of recycled, repurposed items.

Finished it in a day

I finished this book in a day. I found it easy to read and very inspiring. Just looking at the pictures gave me ideas about how I'd like my home to eventually look. Not a how-to or a book offering advice - it's a book to relax with, enjoy reading and use as inspiration!

Simply the best.

Not so much a how-to book as it is a collection of homes to aspire to, The Cottage Book: Living Simple and Easy's combining of photographic examples and Carol Bass' prose transport the reader right into the cottages and their surroundings, with experiences beyond the visual alone. This is escapism at its asthetic best, a vacation-in-a-book. The title of the book is perfect, as are many of the featured rooms. Highly recommended for those who long to be close to nature and in touch with the past, with beauty all around as well. This is simply the best decorating book I've ever experienced. Inspirational!

Kudos for Cottage!

Fresh and "reader friendly". The varied cottages presented by Carol Bass have soul and depth of character. And, they have a usefulness, charm and vitality that makes you want to re-create those kinds of spaces for yourself.What does the American cottage, camp or bungalow tell us about what we add to our life when we have a little time to get-a-way? This book gave me a chance to peek into special homes that show a sense of multiple generations beautifully layered into one place at one time. What feels very timely today is the bold use of color and the variety of different styles and materials to make a place personal.The book is useful in creating a meaningful home.

Cottage Life at its Best

Reading The Cottage Book is a vacation in and of itself. Tons of windowsill sunlight, fresh indigenous flowers, classic patchwork bed quilts, exposed cupboards textured with china patterns from generations past and present, a perfectly positioned telescope, clothes line dried in the fresh air, vintage tablecloths draped over a table offering ice tea and croissants, and porches inviting us to spend a leisurely day enjoying the outdoors--all these things remind us that every cottage has a story worth living! Each cottage in this book is presented as unpretentious and practical, yet bright and beautiful, highlighting the simplicity, comfort, humor, and traditions found there. Particularly unique is the author's note of vibrant color introduced in each cottage room, either through unique fabrics or pieces or furniture. The book demonstrates clearly that the colors around us can have a powerful effect on our feelings and even outlook on life. A touch of vibrant color should be a basic element of any cottage home.