Product Description

Family lifestyles in the United States have changed, but home designs haven’t necessarily kept up. Wendy Jordan offers fresh, practical ideas for converting both private and family spaces — including kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, and decks — into places where kids (and adults) can enjoy their home environment to the fullest. Each section of the book covers a different area of the house, from bedroom to playroom, kitchen to tree house. Detailed photos zoom in on storage and design ideas that make a good room even better. Sidebars list tips on planning, materials, layouts, and lighting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1163731 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-15
• Released on: 2001-05-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

From Library Journal
These books are aimed at anyone interested in designing children's bedrooms and kid-friendly houses. Jordan considers every room of the home when discussing children's needs, including bathrooms, storage rooms, and outdoor and indoor play areas, and also shows how to incorporate children's activities into the family room and kitchen. She also presents a larger range of bedrooms for children from babies to teenagers than is found in Jemima Mills's From a House to a Home (LJ 1/01). L vy considers all aspects of designing a child's bedroom, including lighting, furniture, floor and wall coverings, and window treatments. This book's strength is the large number of color photographs depicting designer-created rooms, accompanied by a discussion of how the child's needs and desires have been incorporated into the design. Projects are interspersed throughout, but illustrations are not included. A list of resources is provided in both books. The Kidspace Idea Book is recommended for its overall treatment of decorating for children, with Kids' Rooms as a well-illustrated companion if needed.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Inspiration, yes -"how to change your space in a day", no
This book's title is just what it offers inside ---lots of ideas to create spaces kids will love. However, I was expecting to find ideas I could implement right away - like making our mudroom more functional for kids, etc... but the book isn't really geared towards that. If you are building a new home or would consider renovating one, you'll find tons of ideas (and beautiful color photos, not sketches) for everything from attic spaces, bathrooms, hideaways, playrooms, special activity rooms, homework centers, family rooms, kitchens, outdoor playspaces and more. Also, since most rooms/lofts/furniture appeared to be custom built, there's very little info on where to buy or how to make them.

Bottom line - you'll find wonderful ideas and inspiration - but not detailed plans. This isn't an easy "rearrange-the-room-in-a-day-to-make-your-home-more-kid-friendly" project book, nor is it one you can follow if you're on a tight budget. But it's a "must-have" for renovations and custom built homes.

Ideas to spark imagination
This book is geared more towards people building a new, custom house or remodeling, which is not what I expected. I was looking for decorating ideas without tearing down walls. In addition, it gives you a glimpse of the room and leaves the rest up to the imagination. The book assumes you're working with an architect and interior decorator and they'll take care of the details. It is packed with amazing kids room and has sparked ideas of my own for my decorating his playroom.

Great book, IF you plan to refinance your mortgage!
This book is packed with wonderful ideas for kid-friendly rooms, and includes lots of large, colorful photographs. "Idea Book" is an appropriate title - no instructions are given. However, unless you are a professional builder or architect, or are willing to refinance your mortgage to pay for a professional, most of these ideas will remain ideas. Some of the painting ideas and color schemes could be useful for someone who is on a budget and is looking for a change.