Lifestyle Book Reviews

Book Review: Home: From Concept to Reality

By Sandy Amazeen Sep 4, 2007, 3:12 GMT

Known for her clean, modernistic style, Hoppen invites readers to examine their personal preferences and lifestyles before launching on their own remodeling or building projects. With full color photography plus concept and design plans, Hoppen shows how she transformed her 4,035 sq ft living space into a New York style loft apartment. Key considerations are outlined in detail for an assortment of homes along with mistakes to look for and avoid along with solutions that help illustrate the how the design process works. Readers are encouraged to write a brief and fill out a detailed questionnaire to determine exactly what is important before becoming their own interior designer. From concept to reality, working up room boards, staying within budget and becoming your own project manager, Hoppen spells out exactly how to go about the process of designing and creating your dream home from blueprint to final brushstroke. Many excellent examples of proper furniture selection and placement, lighting options, floor treatments and artwork are presented as Hoppen demonstrates how to create a personalized, functional home tailored to the owners needs.

While many of the homes showcased in this book clearly reflect Hoppen’s crisp taste, she has presented the basics of concept design in a simple, straightforward manner making it easy to apply them successfully to other styles. The photography is top-notch and key to showing the effects of texture, space and light. Overall, this is a nice volume for the talented do-it-yourselfer and a great place to start daydreaming about that perfect living space.