Gör-det-själv

A survey of the leading interior designers and architects who are collectively defining the city’s signature style.As perhaps the most diverse city in the world, Toronto is a veritable patchwork of cultures, styles, languages, and neighbourhoods—each with its own distinct architecture. With heritage rowhouses in Cabbagetown, glass towers overlooking Lake Ontario, narrow Victorian Bay-and-Gables in the Annex, grand Georgians in Rosedale, and wartime bungalows on the edges of the city, there truly is something for everyone. The interiors of these distinct home styles are no less unique, but, when taken together they exemplify the push and pull between heritage and modern sensibilities that has created a true design movement in this city on the lake.In Toronto Interiors, design writer Catherine Macintosh profiles 30 established and emerging local studios that are evolving the living spaces and streetscapes for the next generation of Torontonians. Whether bringing their talents to innovative renovations or new builds, these studios are crafting homes that are beautiful but not precious; homes that are made for how we live now. Within these deeply personal and highly functional spaces are moments of true creative brilliance—the artistic use of light, the seamless interplay between indoors and out, unique focal points, a careful mix of natural materials, and a delicate balance between old and new. The exemplary homes in Toronto Interiors feel at ease in their settings, adding to the city’s unique urban landscape.Toronto Interiors spotlights a moment in time when high design and individuality are expertly applied by designers challenging the status quo, inspiring readers to look at their own spaces through a new lens. Featuring 87 projects brought to life in stunning full-colour photography, Toronto Interiors is a book to both read and dream on.

These useful hacks for the backyard homesteader or gardener have a no-fuss appeal that stand the test of time. They offer practical solutions for the most basic tasks, from composting, tool storage, and fence building to making your own potting bench, firewood brace, soil sifter, or egg incubator.No need to run out to get the most expensive new-fangled yard and garden supplies; with just some basic tools and materials you can make exactly what you need to get by. If you have a few tools like a skill saw and a drill, you can build storage bins, a picnic table, lawn chairs, a rack for firewood, plant supports, cold frames, a compost box, and more. Store your firewood, care for your seedlings, and feed the birds. Create simple ways to organize your tools and grow plants and vegetables. Backyard chicken keeping doesn't need to be fussy either: make a chicken brooder, waterer, feeder, and even a poultry house. These cost-efficient projects provide a wealth of practical ideas for sustainable living, proving that the simplest things are often the most useful.

Plans, step-by-step instructions with photos, and an inspirational image gallery get you on the road to building tiny book-sharing structures for your community or neighborhood in How to Build Your Very Own Little Free Library.

Our buildings are making us sick. Our homes, offices, factories, and dormitories are, in some sense, fresh parasites on the sacred Earth, Nahasdzn. In search of a better way, author Jim Kristofic journeys across the Southwest to apprentice with architects and builders who know how to make buildings that will take care of us. This is where he meets the House Gods who are building to the sun so that we can live on Earth. Forever.In House Gods, Kristofic pursues the techniques of sustainable building and the philosophies of its practitioners. What emerges is a strange and haunting quest through adobe mud and mayhem, encounters with shamans and stray dogs, solar panels, tragedy, and true believers. It is a story about doing something meaningful, and about the kinds of things that grow out of deep pain. One of these things is compassion-from which may come solace. We build our buildings, we make our lives-we are the House Gods.

The Art of Chairmaking is the definitive guide to making Windsor chairs, with essential information on tools, materials and techniques. Windsor chairs, where the legs are mortised into the seat and don't form the backrest, are known for the striking elegance and comfort. This book is the perfect introduction to the art of making these distinctive chairs, clearly explaining every step, from selecting the right wood and setting up a workshop, to using a lathe to create ornate legs and how to form a perfectly shaped seat. With detailed step-by-step photography and clear construction diagrams, this book is a one-stop resource for aspiring and experienced chair-makers alike. The Art of Chairmaking includes projects for 5 classic furniture designs, including a 3-legged round stool, square table, simple bench, course armchair and comb back armchair.

Introducing "maximalism" as a garden design trend, here are 20 gardens where more is more Every gardener is familiar with the impulse to buy more plants, any plants, all the plants. And, increasingly, gardeners and designers want to invite a plethora of beneficial insects, pollinators, and biodiversity to their gardens. Having a maximalist garden is definitely aesthetic; yet it also brings vitality back to the earth, in an abundant expression of more.   Garden to the Max celebrates 20 gardens from across the US that embrace maximalism through joy and wonder, nonstop blooms, and abundant layers. The book is a feast of gorgeous photography by Bob Stefko, showcasing individual quirkiness, wild collections, and bold, personality-packed plant combinations that amplify the grandeur of each garden’s unique vision, packing in plants for their exuberant style and ecological benefits. Featured gardeners include an amateur ornithologist seeking to attract more birds, an event planner’s tropical paradise, a pair of city dwellers reducing their carbon footprint, an urban garden pioneer promoting pollinator gardens, or a life-long biophilic propagating endangered plants to nurture insects. Longtime garden writer Teresa Woodard shares stories of each garden and its fearless designers, the inspirations for their plant collections, and their hopes for our earth’s future. Information-packed sidebars full of standout plants and growing tips will inspire dreamers and gardeners to embrace their own passions. Garden to the Max gives everyone permission to bring the exuberant interior style into the garden and develop a spirited reverence for plants, celebrating joy and personality in the garden—to the max!

Learn to carve and paint expressive animal figures from simple blocks of wood! In this book, master sculptor Mio Hashimoto reveals the secrets and techniques behind her rustic, whimsical and lifelike animal sculptures. She teaches you the entire process of creating an endearing animal sculpture--from the preliminary sketch and wood selection, to the techniques needed to saw, sculpt and paint it. She even recommends the tools and materials to buy. The book provides 5 detailed tutorials with hundreds of color photos for the following animal sculptures: A Sweet Kitty with a curlicue tail and soulful eyesA Baby Penguin with downy feathersA Dozing Cat with its eyes pinched shut and its paws curled overA Bear on a Swing, ready to put on a showA delightful Donkey with a round belly and stubby legsAlso included are dozens of inspirational photos of wooden animals from Hashimoto's extensive portfolio. Learn to create a rough sketch and select a block of wood. Then, rough in the shape with a saw and carve the details with an array of chisels. Finally, learn how to paint your completed carving, preserve it and prepare it for display. You will be amazed at the results!

Your abode can be interesting, beautiful, timeless, and best of all, memorable, by centering it around you!