Best interior design books according to redditors
We found 184 Reddit comments discussing the best interior design books. We ranked the 114 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 184 Reddit comments discussing the best interior design books. We ranked the 114 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
The New Munsell Student Color Set
We used the 3rd edition when I was in school. Teaches you about the interactions between different colors and color and light, comes with color chips to help you understand the lessons hands-on.
I would buy it new so you know you're getting all the chips and none of the lessons have been completed yet (with glued-on chips sometimes)
There's also Joseph Albers' Interaction of Color. This was recommended to me for the purpose of having a better understand of color and color interactions, though tbh I haven't started reading it yet.
http://www.amazon.com/Human-Dimension-Interior-Space-Reference/dp/0823072711
ProfRobBob Youtube - This sir has great videos. His playlists are in order and very useful for Calculus. Loved his pre calculus playlist.
Patrick JMT - I could not have passed Calculus 2 without this guy. For the most part, his Calculus section is in order on his website.
KhanAcademy - Nice courses with problems available for you. Really easy to use and navigate. I worked through Algebra and only watched his videos on Trigonometry and Calculus.
Hope you get back on track buddy. Don't give up.
I self taught myself Algebra through Precalculus, here are books I used:
I really enjoyed Sarah Susanka's The Not-So-Big House which has a lot of good examples.
Also, the Small Cool 2010 Contest. I think these are mostly apartments, but I'm sure a lot of the same principles apply.
Here's a few:
Mid-Century Modern: Interiors, Furniture, Design Details (Conran Octopus Interiors)
Making Midcentury Modern
Mid-Century Modern Furniture: Shop Drawings & Techniques for Making 29 Projects
Handcrafted Modern: At Home with Mid-century Designers
I suppose you could wear a carpet:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spoons-Carpets-Appreciation-Kit-Caless/dp/1910931497/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511909712&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=witherspoons+carpet
An Essential Reading List For Designers
Source: www.tomfaulkner.co.uk
All books have been linked to Amazon for review and possible purchase. Remember to support the authors by purchasing their books. If there are any issues with this listing let me know via comments or pm.
Architecture
Communication Design
Fashion Design
Angela ButtolphEditors of Phaidon ?Furniture Design
Game Design
Graphic Design
Information Design
Industrial Design
(cont'd)
Here's a little list of best-sellers on Amazon and a few from this thread:
Mid-Century Modern: Interiors, Furniture, Design Details
Amazon link
I'm a big fan of Not so Big House by Sarah Susanka. The book doesn't really contain actionable information -- it's more about presenting and promoting her thesis that we should spend our housing budgets on well designed, well built homes with smaller footprints rather than using the same budget to build a larger house with worse design or materials.
I personally think you should use an architect if you have the budget. The knowledge they can bring to the process isn't really something a layperson can replicate well. If you do want to try designing your own, A Pattern Language would be an interesting read. It can provide some useful rules of thumb regarding specific design elements that you might not otherwise consider.
Also you should familiarize yourself with passive solar building design. If you consider the concepts when developing a design and choosing a site you'll be able to leverage them for cheaper heating/cooling at little or no additional design cost. Building a well-insulated structure (a big part of passive solar design) also makes for a more comfortable home in terms of thermal regulation, noise management, air quality management, etc.
It depends on what you consider cheap. Used options for all of these are available at very reasonable prices, though I don't personally think that the new prices are super high, though I do know of the more expensive books you've probably seen like the Wegner book for closer to a hundred.
http://www.amazon.com/Danish-Modern-Andrew-Hollingsworth/dp/1586858114/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-1&keywords=danish+modern
http://www.amazon.com/Eames-Gloria-Koenig/dp/3836560216/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-3&keywords=danish+modern
http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Interiors-Furniture-Details/dp/1840914068/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-4&keywords=danish+modern
http://www.amazon.com/Danish-Modern-Beyond-Scandinavian-Heywood-wakefield/dp/0764322168/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-7&keywords=danish+modern
This is the one I would get:
http://www.amazon.com/Scandinavian-Modern-Magnus-England/dp/1849754349/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1450038421&sr=8-5&keywords=danish+modern
There’s a book with pictures of quite a few of the: Spoon’s Carpets
Design of the 20th Century (Taschen)
http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/design/all/45407/facts.design_of_the_20th_century.htm
Mid Century Ads (Taschen)
http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/popculture/all/04461/facts.mid_century_ads.htm
Mid-Century Modern: Interiors, Furniture, Design Details
http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Interiors-Furniture-Details/dp/1840914068/
A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman
http://www.amazon.com/Constructed-View-Architectural-Photography-Shulman/dp/0847817776/
Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Acoustics-Modernism-Julius-Shulman/dp/B00366BBU8/
Tiki Pop: America Imagines Its Own Polynesian Paradise (Taschen)
http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/popculture/all/02897/facts.tiki_pop_america_imagines_its_own_polynesian_paradise.htm
Eames: The Architect and The Painter
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1972646/
And, believe it or not, Playboy issues are an excellent way to delve into design and culture of the 50s, 60s and 70s. From 1953 - 1979, Playboy published features and profiles on some of the most esteemed architects and designers of the 20th century.
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671824/how-playboy-magazine-helped-make-eames-and-mies-famous
An exhibit in the Netherlands in 2013 recognized their contribution to the popularity of modern architecture and design.
http://www.archdaily.com/276467/playboy-architecture-1953-1979/
http://www.bureau-europa.nl/en/manifestations/playboy_architecture_1953_1979/
Here's a scan of my copy of the issue with the famous feature with Eames, Risom, Saarinen, Nelson, Bertoia and Wormley:
http://imgur.com/a/9759s#0
The melding of several disciplines whose common thread is that the subjects/speech communities speak related languages is a sign of how advanced (or less charitably: oversubscribed) Indo-European studies are compared to studies of other languages. For Uralic languages, it's just nowhere close.
You'll probably need to read several books or monographs involving Uralic languages and the speech communities to get some semblance of an answer to your questions about the history of the ancestors of today's Finns, Estonians, Hungarians, Saami, Udmurts et al. It won't be found in a neat package (nor is it necessarily valid to infer that linguistic affinity suggests that the speech communities can be then homogenized or abstracted into some cohesive group - excepting perhaps for speakers of Proto-Uralic, and even then this is tough to gauge).
In the end, you might have to go trawling for stuff in academic journals. Try your luck with the following (N.B. not all of the articles in these publications are in English if that's the only language you know):
I would not want to live there. Big open spaces like that look gorgeous but actually tend to make me (and most people) uncomfortable. As an example, when you go to a restaurant would you rather sit out in the middle of the floor at a table or in a booth? I have some friends who live in big McMansions where everything is oversized - huge doors, high ceilings, etc. They're impressive but they're not all that comfortable.
I'm not the only one saying this. I think Christopher Alexander talked about it in A Pattern Language and I know Susan Susanka talks about it in The Not So Big House.
A cathedral would be great for entertaining and partying (in fact isn't the limelight in NYC in an old church) but the scale is all wrong for a home.
Publishers like Schiffer and Taschen are pretty good places to start. Many "1950's furniture" books can be quite repetitive and tend to focus on well known makers and designers. I would suggest getting a classic such as this, and move on to more specialized areas, such as catalogs.
Websites such as this, or this are helpful and fun. Sites such as this, show restored furniture, allowing you to see the potential in vintage pieces.
This is a good question! We have some recommendations in the booklist. I'll just copy them here and expand on them a bit plus add a few.
I find Lauren Liess' book, Habitat, very inspiring and helpful. She breaks down rooms to their basic elements and does a great job of discussing different materials as well.
are you talking about placing the granite in a mold and then pouring concrete to fill up the rest of the mold?
if that's the case, i would place the granite in the mold so that the polished side is exposed when the counter top is taken out of the mold.
http://www.toolocity.com/5-jx-shine-wet-diamond-polishing-pads.aspx
click that link and you will find the pads you will need to polish the counter top. read the description "For granite and concrete."
for tops poured upside down in molds, i line the molds with a smooth formica type product and normally start polishing with a 400 grit pad. this will initially dull the polished granite but as you increase the grit, you will eventually get it close to back to the smoothness it is now.
I have done concrete counters and finished them at 3000 grit. it's glassy smooth but not as shiny as polished granite which i believe is finished all the way up to 8500 grit. i have 6000 and 8500 pads but have never used them. you could in theory just polish the whole top to 8500. the problem there is going to be that the concrete will not have enough 'tooth' to accept a topical protectant but their are solutions that soak in to protect. i have never used a protectant, i just keep them coated with mineral oil and let the chips fall. i like the patina. just be careful not to get lemon or lime juice on the concrete. fugly white stains that take forever to leach out. wine is somewhat of a problem but leaches out fairly quickly.
read up on the polishing process. it's messy as hell as you have to keep the pads wet. if what i have interpreted your project to be, it's totally doable and i think it would be an interesting outcome. whatever you do, pour a practice piece first and get the polishing process down before you start on a counter top sized piece. good luck.
http://www.amazon.com/Concrete-Countertops-Fu-Tung-Cheng/dp/1561584843
get ahold of that book somehow and it will answer a lot of your questions.
So as promised here are the majority of materials/tools I used to make the counters. I used the stain instead of actually coloring the concrete as I was worried about getting inconsistent coloring since I was doing multiple batches.
Now, my mistake I made which turned ok after the fact was that the concrete became too dense for the stain to penetrate. Despite using the sawzall to try and vibrate the air bubbles out from the bottom of the concrete but I was not able to get all of them out so there was pin holes on some of the counters. So I made a slurry as recommended and filled in all the holes and then sanded the high spots down. So when I stained the counters the areas that had been filled with slurry took to the stain very well but the actual concrete only became a darker grey. I communicated with a staff from ConcreteSolutions and they were very helpful in trying to get the stain to penetrate the concrete. I stained it probably 3 times and then just left it as it was and now I really love how it turned out despite not being as planned. Its almost like a black and grey leopard spot on most of the counters, the island area was the last poured and had hardly any air bubbles so its more solid color…
I let them sit and harden at least a week before I flipped them over and started sanding away. I did not want a exposed aggregate look so I had to be careful about sanding too much…
The stain and sealer work great and like the other user said, liquid just sits on an it and doesn’t not penetrate.
If you have any questions ask away- I had lots of friendly people help me on other forums and was very thankful for their help….
Chengs Book
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1561584843/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_3p_dp_1
Sealer
http://concretecountertopsolutions.com/products/sealers-and-polish/z-siacryl-14-sealer/
Polish
http://concretecountertopsolutions.com/products/sealers-and-polish/z-counter-shine-polish/
Dye/Stain
http://concretecountertopsolutions.com/products/stains-and-integral-colors/z-aqua-tint-dye/
Nylon Fibers
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000COCDCM
SUPERPLASTICIZER
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/161011304020
Diamond polishing pads
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AB1UMOW
Variable speed polisher
http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers/7-in-10-amp-variable-speed-polisher-60626.html
Print. They are:
https://www.amazon.com/Uralic-Languages-Routledge-Language-Family/dp/0415412641
https://www.amazon.com/Uralic-Languages-Description-Influences-Orientalistik/dp/9004077413
https://www.amazon.ca/Survey-Uralic-languages-B-Collinder/dp/B0006C1E3E
There's this pdf, too:
http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/SW.pdf
you have a good start and it's always fun to sketch by hand and figure out how space works.
I know a lot of people here have said to pick up computer programs but I would start with learning how to scale and proportion first and the best way to do that is by hand. The computer is an amazing tool and can help tremendously but there is no replacement for hand sketching.
Check out some books by Francis DK Ching, they are a really good resource. Specifically Form, Space, and Order and since you seem to like laying out space also look at Interior Design Illustrated.
These aren't the end all be all resources but they are great for getting started and also show what a really well done sketch looks like.
Good luck and keep posting those sketches!
(Well, look at me, getting wordy, too... ) For just starting out, I think you're coming along just fine. The pieces you bought obviously satisfy you, and that's what's important. And it makes for a great mancave, as I see it. I totally kooked out over the brushed chrome and squared edges of your receiver--without being able to read the pic, I knew that was a Marantz, a most supreme '70s symbol all by itself. So you missed a technical mark a few times--mixing styles is a very cheeky/quirky/cool thing to do until you score all those perfect pieces you're looking for.
I can tell you're looking for the right lines, but without having lived through the different eras, you're unstuck in time. That precious dinette shows you're aiming at the '50s--but there were many different design movements at work then, some of them still holdovers from the ruffled, homey look of the '30s. The Mid-Century Modern aesthetic itself is a very particular thing, and to confuse matters, its elements were later swiped and incorporated into successive styles without regard to the MCM design principles. So it's easy to be misled when you glimpse an echo of something that evokes an MCM line or uses a distinctive material or some other deceptive marker.
For the most part, MCM designs have a sort of organic, fluid grace to them--even designs that are very solid and geometric seem to have a light, weightless quality. It managed to hold its own during the '60s, but when filtered through a '70s dynamic, the future-forward parabolas and horizontal lines of MCM designs became blockish, angular, and clunky, then everything made in that decade all collapsed into a massive, dark Mediterranean rumpus room with a puke-green shag rug... Let's just say mistakes were made.
If you want to acquire an expert eye like lobster_johnson, do some research into the history of MCM design. Get a sense of the the basic structural lines used in the furniture design of Charles and Ray Eames (inside poop that took me too long to catch on to: Ray was Charles's wife, and it's pronounced "Ames" wink), and then study their architectural designs, because those are the intended backdrops for their Mid-Century Modern furnishings. The Eameses and other Modernist architects created open spaces that require furnishing that is both dramatic yet understated, spare and minimal with those predominant horizontal lines. Visualizing a piece fitting in one of these houses by Richard Neutra, for instance, could be a good mental exercise to help you weed out the anachronisms from the real deal. A mancave in one of those houses would look like astronauts hung out in it.
You're lucky to have a lot of resources to guide you. Back in the pre-internet late '80s when I first got into it, I had Cara Greenberg's MID-CENTURY MODERN. It's more of a coffee-table book (haha!) with really nice visuals and a general but very informative overview of different designers, but it taught me what to look for. But lucky you can sniff around online, and googling any new names and design movements you find along the way will yield more info. And /r/Mid_Century is a unique resource that's also interactive--you already know that if you're smart enough to ask questions, you'll get a world of answers.
And keep in mind your collection won't always be confined to only one room. Who knows? You may decide to gain the skill sets to recreate some of the classic MCM designs yourself, by carpentry or through some medium like 3-D printing.
Bet he owns this as well https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spoons-Carpets-Appreciation-Kit-Caless/dp/1910931497
Sixties Design A fun romp through the sixties curvy day glow design bent
Eames: Beautiful DetailsDefinitive Eames Book.
Industrial Design Raymond Loewy My favorite all time designer.
Infrastructure by Brian Hayes Not Sexy, but necessary.
Industrial Design A-Z, Taschen Everything by the letters.
PreFab HousesGood, if dated a little on prefab potential
1000 Chairs Bible of chairs
Things Come Apart They destroyed it beautifully for you
Trespass Street Art photographed and credited
Type Vol. 2 The Taschen site-order version comes with a digital code for Hi-Res digital downloads of each plate. Not sure if the amazon version does. Still worth it either way.
D&AD 11 All the D&AD books are a real tight look at that years best and worst commercial work.
Logo Design 2 I'm sure this has been updated, but good enough and much cheaper now.
DDR Design I have a soft spot for bolshevik propaganda forced into design.
1000 Retail Graphics It is what it says it is, not much more. Good for brainstorming, but not really inspiring.
Crouch's book is more popular than specialist history. £60 is at the lower end of the academic price bracket, when the specialism is immense and audience is tiny the price rises sharply.
Try this;
Human Dimension & Interior Space: A Source Book of Design Reference Standards https://www.amazon.com/dp/0823072711/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_P7JKDbNFQAK60
http://lennonconson.blogspot.com/
The above link is a reading list I made for adults to rigorously learn mathematics from the beginning.
If your goal is to just learn it fast.
Do these two books.
Schaums-Outline-Elementary-Mathematics-Outlines
Pre-calculus-Demystified
You should be able to test into calc 1.
Better to look at her book. It's more up to date.
The slab on the left in the picture was left in the shop by the previous occupants. I'm interning here this summer and was told I can do whatever I want with this, but I'm interested in figuring out what it is. It doesn't smell or taste like anything I've used, partly because it's really dry and doesn't smell like much at all at this point.
Apparently my boss was told it might be poplar by someone who left it, but it doesn't look or feel like poplar at all and I've never seen poplar that wide. It's much darker and not quite as woolly as any poplar I've used, so... any other ideas? It's possible it came from anywhere, but we're in mid-atlantic United States if that makes a difference in swaying your input.
We consulted the wood bible to no avail.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
edit: I won't be able to get more pictures until next week, so if I need some closer-ups or anything to help, I'll reconsult next Wednesday or Thursday.
There’s a book. It’s fantastic!
*I really like the wallpaper idea. You could do either a darker color around the middle are and then a brighter color on that top piece...or vice versa.
Pimp my cube
[Here] (http://www.amazon.com/Original-Flip-It-FI001/dp/B007OM862Q/ref=pd_sim_e_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=0V91PRR2FMSSTQ17N8MF) is a nice little way of letting your coworkers know where you are
and
[Here] (http://www.amazon.com/Cube-Chic-Kelly-Moore/dp/1594741050/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1398890199&sr=8-7&keywords=office+cubicle+accessories) is a cute little book on cubicle decor!
Pimp my cube
I thought this was pretty cute for on your desk!
This would be fun for hanging pictures!
And this probably has more creative ideas than I do! :D
Pimp my cube !
I'm doing the same thing and a combination of Pre-calculus Demystified and PatrickJMT videos has been serving me well
I was reading my Uncles copy of a wood book over Christmas. I was extremely surprised to see on each wood's page, there was a box in the lower corner that listed the hazards associated with each wood. An alarming number of them said nasal cancer! This was news to me. I'll never turn another piece without at least a facemask or respirator on.
edit: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1770850139?keywords=all%20about%20wood&qid=1452183595&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1
i think it was that book
“Precalculus demystified” gives a pretty solid overview of the most common/applicable parts of precalculus. There are a lot of problems with step by step solutions so that you can check yourself at any point. If you’re looking for a proper math textbook, I have a few in mind, but they generally aren’t self-contained (i.e. you would have to purchase a separate solutions manual). For the GMAT this would probably suffice.
https://www.amazon.com/Pre-calculus-Demystified-Second-Rhonda-Huettenmueller/dp/0071778497
The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 35 with Interior Designer Betsy Helmuth
The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 35 with Interior Designer Betsy Helmuth
Betsy Helmuth (@BetsyHelmuth) is an interior designer & decorator in New York City. Her company, [Affordable Interior Design](http://AffordableInteriorDesign.com "Affordable Interior Design"), offers exactly what is says on the tin. Over the years, she's designed rooms in over 1,000 apartments, allowing her to create a systematic approach to working with busy clients.
Betsy's latest book, [Big Design, Small Budget](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1629145491/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1629145491&linkCode=as2&tag=busycreator-20&linkId=YEQ6A4MDS267QNPK "Big Design, Small Budget"), is available Dec. 11, 2014. Pre-order a copy and give it this holiday season to the interior design geek in your life.
Our conversation centers on the eccentricities of New York City apartments — and apartment-dwellers — as well as the systems Betsy has used to build a thriving business.
Get the episode:
Lol, sorry for the unsolicited infodump! I mean, I could see that you were writing "realistic" in scare-quotes and said it might be "almost" viable, so I didn't really think you believed munitions armor was like tinfoil, I just kind of got carried away in correcting any misconceptions that any third party reading this might have. I swear, I'm such a hopeless windbag that it's harder for me to write 200 words than 10,000. XP
As for my sources, I was an intern in the department of arms and armor at a major museum for two years, and in addition to looking at all the stuff on display I have read some good material in books and online. I also learned a smidgen of armor-making while I was in college.
If you haven't seen it already, a very good introduction to medieval armor in general is Mike Loades' [Weapons that Made Britain] (https://youtu.be/7qHpoeYyfl0) episode on armor. I recommend Tobias Capwell, who's written [Masterpieces of Arms and Armour in the Wallace Collection] (https://www.amazon.com/Masterpieces-European-Armour-Wallace-Collection/dp/0900785861) and [Armour of the English Knight, 1400-1450] (http://www.wallacecollection.org/shop/books/specialist-books/armour-of-the-english-knight-1400-1450-by-tobias-capwell). You can see him in some TV programs such as [Metalworks: The Knight's Tale] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYd9_vUn7-E), and this recording of his lecture "[Building Medieval Plate Armour: An Operator's Guide] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COAIQPsgZWY)".
Getting into the more detailed stuff, Dr. Alan Williams is the leading expert on the metallurgy and hardening of European arms and Armor; he's written some books including [The Knight and the Blast Furnace] (https://www.amazon.com/Knight-Blast-Furnace-History-Metallurgy/dp/9004124985), and he often appears in other stuff such as the TV documentary [Secrets of the Viking Sword] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTlmrAh1oHI). [Knyght Errant] (https://www.youtube.com/user/neosonic66) is the YouTube channel of Ian LaSpina, who does very detail-oriented videos about the construction and ergonomics of late medieval armor. This French video, "[Le combat en armure au XVe siècle] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hlIUrd7d1Q)", is kind of a demo reel of techniques for fighting in armor. More detailed videos about fighting in armor come from "[Pursing the Knightly Arts] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw7PPvXKlz0)" and Dierk Hagedorn's [Hammaborg class] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S_Q3CGqZmg) on the subject. If you wanna see how reproduction armor is made, check out [Eric Dubé] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gvuo5Xmcp0) and [Jeffrey Wasson] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgzQiO9liNw) on TouTube. Check out Matt Easton's [Scholagladiatoria] (https://www.youtube.com/user/scholagladiatoria) videos too.
There are two primary ways of doing it: cast in place, and molded. For a desktop you probably want to make a mold and drop the top onto the desk. If the existing surface has weird crap all over it, (like a messed up wood surface,) you might cast in place instead of seating on top of it. In any case, you have to be careful doing anything less than about 1.5" thick. I use rebar in the concrete, but in thin pieces you have to use hardware cloth (metal,) chicken wire, or expanded metal mesh. I use "remesh," a very widely spaced, square mesh.
To make a mold, you'd use melamine (plastic) coated MDF board. You need to work on a flat, level surface that you can bang on. You need black silicone caulk to seal the seams of the mold.
The process is a fair amount to explain in a reddit comment; I highly recommend the book by Fu-Tung Cheng as well as his video. (I can send you a DVD if you want.)
In a mold, the bottom is the top, so you could round the corners by putting a heavy bead of silicone caulk and smoodging it (technical term) into a nice, rounded profile. If pouring the top in-place, you could pull the side pieces off early (before the cement is fully hard) and pull something like a plastic bag down the edge, rounding it over.
There are many points to cover in the process of pouring concrete, but one that's often overlooked is your floor. Some large, 2" thick counter tops my gf & I made weighed about 450 lbs when finished. Make sure your floor can handle that. (and your desk!)
So... Mold: melamine board on the bottom, melamine strips for the sides, held with screws (pre-drill holes!) or corner brackets. The bottom (against the melamine) will be your top. Silicone seal all seams, or water seeps out. That's bad. Concrete needs moisture to cure, and your corners will be all dry and crumbly. Pour in place: Like a mold using your desk as the bottom. The top surface will be your top, so you can trowel or diamond-sand as you like.
Either way, you should also agitate the wet concrete. It settles it and causes air bubbles to rise to the surface. That can be as simple as banging on it with a hammer/mallet or lifting the whole work surface with a lever & dropping it back down. (Must have a solid floor for the lever approach.)
I recommend using Quickrete 5000 high early strength. Cures faster than regular concrete. Cures to full hardness in 28 days, usable in ~2 days.
So... I've probably raised more questions for you than I've answered. One good thing to do is to buy a bag or two (it's cheap--~$5/bag) and do some small practice molds. Even in buckets. Get the feel for troweling and sanding.
I also recommend Cheng's concrete sealer. It isn't cheap, but it's worth it. I use inexpensive Quickrete pigments for color.
I'm happy to answer questions, and seriously, if you want the Cheng DVD, just PM me an address. It's full of great info.
Okay, I'm not going into architecture really but I would like to have some advice. I'm in illustration and I'm looking on learning how to design and get the fundamentals of architecture. I'm pretty decent at perspective (I'm in technical illustration) and I mainly want to learn the thought process. Some books mentioned in this thread are pretty interesting and I'm contemplating on maybe buying one or 2. Although before I do I was wondering if anyone can enlighten me on these books I've found on my own but unsure about the quality:
http://www.amazon.com/City-Shaped-Patterns-Meanings-Through/dp/0821220160/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373412339&sr=1-1&keywords=The+City+Shaped%3A+Urban+Patterns+and+Meanings+Through+History
^ This books seems really promising, but of course the price puts me off a little (I plan on buying more than one book) anyone have this book? Seems really great for inspiration and learning how cities develop.
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Architecture-Francis-D-Ching/dp/1118142063/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373412493&sr=1-1&keywords=Introduction+to+Architecture
^ again another promising book but the price Q.Q Same issue as the other book above. Feedback is appreciated.
http://www.amazon.com/Architectural-Graphics-Francis-D-Ching/dp/0470399112/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373412567&sr=1-1&keywords=Architectural+Graphics
http://www.amazon.ca/Interior-Design-Illustrated-Francis-Ching/dp/1118090713/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=9P9QTDTSZXLG&coliid=I248RXWWVDQ6NZ
I'm basically looking at Ching's books. Last one is a .ca amazon.
Consider "Homework" by Jeswold -- This book is old now, but we used it when we designed and planned our home in 1997, acting as our own contractors -- it's a book about learning about what you want, where you want, subcontractors, permits and such: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0898157447/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1409285357&sr=8-1#
There are others like it too -- I'd suggest books on home building, being your own contractor and stuff like that -- books you can get through quickly and have a good structure, vs wandering around online.
We have a well-built home that is enjoyable 15 years later as it was the day we moved in - because we made 100% of the choices and money saved went into products and structure. Three kids have grown up here, and we've adapted rooms over the years, it has been very low maintenance, and I've enjoyed learning to become a handyman myself.
Another book I like is Sarah Susanka's The Not So Big House: A blueprint for the way we really live -- http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1600851509/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1409285822&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40 -- it's about always choosing quality over size, and she basically defines the new American home.
Feel free to ask me if you have specific questions...
There's a few books you can get to start things out. If you go through them and it doesn't diminish your passion but increases it, they'll set you on course to get started on your own. They also are worth reading if you've already begun.
Source here for this list of books with additional ones (that I haven't personally seen or read).
Edit:
Apologies if these are in the sidebar. I'm on mobile and can't view it.
http://www.amazon.com/Mary-McDonald-Interiors-Allure-Style/dp/0847833933
http://www.amazon.com/Martyn-Lawrence-Bullard-Live-Love-Decorate/dp/0847836762
I was in a second hand book store and found a book called The not so big house. It changed the way I looked at houses. I had been living in a 700 square foot house for a few years with my SO, a dog and a cat and it was working fine. Now I love small space living. When I envision my future house, I imagine a small house in walking distance to the main street of my neighborhood.
Plus it's fun to think of ways to use every inch efficiently.
I really like this book http://www.amazon.ca/Domino-Decorating-room---room-creating/dp/1416575464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413311164&sr=8-1&keywords=domino+book.
And then yes, I would pick up any decorating magazines at the store as they always have tips and rules, etc. (Once you've been buying them long enough, you see that they repeat themselves.)
Then beyond that, I just love looking through a professional decorator's book (ie: http://www.amazon.ca/Mary-McDonald-Interiors-Allure-Style/dp/0847833933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413311318&sr=8-1&keywords=mary+mcdonald) There's usually not a lot of info, but if you study the rooms, you can sort of learn what to do and what not to do.
I recognize it's impossible to diagnose someone according to text on internet. And I don't know about vaccinations, that's not really my specialty.
I acknowledge that what I say doesn't work for everyone, but that it works for a lot of people. A lot of people live out of sync with their natural rhythms, don't get light exposure, are highly insulin resistant due to sitting all day or being overweight, overstressed due to various causes, eat a crap diet, etc. Those are the people I can help. There are others, who have a specific condition, like something neurological, or a genetic condition and those I can't help. But as far as I've seen, that's a minority.
But I do know that lowered metabolic rate can cause a variety of illnesses. A lowered cellular energy production affects the entire body, and in my opinion is the leading cause of the mass increase in degenerative diseases that people suffer from these days.
I've been able to help people recover permanently, people who haven't been sleeping properly for years, who haven't got any better advice from their doctors than 'take some pills' and who slept a ton better after a month following my advice.
So can I help everyone? No, I'm not a miracle worker. But I can see a pattern with most people. There's anxiety and depression that frequently co-occurs with insomnia. Either there is an imbalance with neurotransmitters, or their metabolic rate is lowered (i.e. they have lowered thyroid hormone output) But I think, if I can help some, it's my duty to do so since trained medical professionals don't know any better than to give pills, or in best cases, apply CBT.
There's thousands of people out there, and they're anxious, they can't sleep, they're doing all kinds of wacky things and taking pills and I was once one of them.
And in reality, dude, chill, all I do is tell people to eat healthy, get outside and get daylight, don't overstress, get enough movement but don't overexercise, that sort of thing. Not something that would cause any damage, I assume. Stuff people should be doing anyway :)
And it's not as if I invent this stuff. I base my articles and my methods on stuff from health researchers and endocrinologists.
You should read this book, by the way: https://www.amazon.com/Hypothyroidism-Type-Epidemic-Mark-Starr/dp/0975262408
Hot damn, his website is just like the Vickers. Obsolete, functional, and bulletproof.
That's not a bad idea...I shall have to do so when I've got a few hundo for a reference book. Though, with out of print stuff it's not getting any cheaper...
Case in point: The Knight and the Blast Furnace, there was no way I was paying $500 for a copy. It is one of the gold-standard reference texts for the development, methodology, and metallurgy behind medieval maille and plate. Really wanted to have it back when I was making elbow cops and assembling vambraces for a guy that sold armor to SCA and ARMA dorks. Was unable to locate it and had to go without. Recently found a pdf, it's such a good read.
Page 2, he actually says the upper arm but I can feel it inside my elbow too.
http://www.amazon.com/Hypothyroidism-Type-2-The-Epidemic/dp/0975262408
There are illustrations.
Is this the book you’re referring to?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501327526
I saw many books under the name “Munsell” and wanted to be sure.
> I personally hardly ever use straight black onto my palette I usually mix it.
Gamblin’s founder expressed the same and made a “Chromatic Black,” which is a mixture of Quinacridone Red and Phthalo Emerald. I haven’t used it yet but I picked up a tube recently.
> But I have a friend who mixes 1-10 value scale on his palette when painting to get very scientific on what shade and tint for each one of his mixtures he wants.
Woah. Is that where the book comes in? How does one go about doing that?
As for the pigments, I just recently bought a ton of Gamblin colors, but my starter set is Utrecht. I plan to go all Gamblin, but don’t want to waste the many multiple Utrecht tubes I was gifted.
Except for the Utrecht starter tubes which I have to go home to account for, I have:
I read about differences with Titanium White and Zinc White, and even a Titanium Zinc White, so I hoped to know more from experience about mixing with the two.
I have found Big Design, Small Budget by Betsy Helmuth to be a handy guide for the -very- basics with a fun, realistic approach.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1629145491/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_KrnBCbNEENKJ0
This is a [helpful book](The Real Wood Bible: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Choosing and Using 100 Decorative Woods https://www.amazon.com/dp/1770850139/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_3rNMybXHMXNTA)
1000 chairs
Shin Takamatsu
Cities Without Ground: A Hong Kong Guidebook
Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0517884755/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_7vnDCb91D00JG
The creation of the name “Mid Century Modern” is credited to this book.
books that have helped me( i keep them as reference)
https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Algebra-Barbara-Lee-Bleau/dp/0764120085/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500377758&sr=8-2&keywords=forgotten+algebra
https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Calculus-Barbara-Bleau-Ph-D/dp/0764119982/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500379330&sr=8-1&keywords=forgotten+calculus
https://www.amazon.com/Pre-calculus-Demystified-Second-Rhonda-Huettenmueller/dp/0071778497/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500379354&sr=8-1&keywords=precalculus+demystified
https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Intuitive-Physical-Approach-Mathematics-ebook/dp/B00CB2MK6C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1500379374&sr=8-3&keywords=calculus
https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Idiots-Guides-Michael-Kelley-ebook/dp/B01E6H5C5A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500379523&sr=8-2&keywords=calculus+idiots+guide
It's not JUST a science! It's also a religion!
I have an old "wood bible" - a giant binder filled with thin sheets of wood attached to a backer card with description. It's used to help selecting woods for various projects. I got it at a used bookstore a while back and it's just rather fabulous.
Sort of like this one, but with real wood samples. I mean, I have this one as well, but the REAL wood bible is really cool
Dude. Furniture is one of the oldest expressions of art! Holy shit. Every designer worth his salt has cut his teeth on designing chairs. There are hundreds of books about it. I think if you read a book like this your brain would explode
http://www.amazon.com/1000-Chairs-Charlotte-Peter-Fiell/dp/3836546744
This is amazing. Look around you, everything you see right now is art. Some art is better than others. But that pen you're using, the laptop you're typing on, the lamps in your room; that's all art!
Before I lose myself in that tangent, I think you are confusing my points.
You state that there are certain things (cameras, couches, pillows) that "have no function" and are useless and illogical.
I am saying I disagree. You make many decisions (like the kitchen and gym) that I could argue are functionless. Because they are to me. However, they do have a function for you, and so I do not think they are useless and illogical.
It is that last step you struggle with. Just because you don't see their function, doesn't mean they are functionless.
I posit that their function is aesthetic. Their function is mood... its ambiance. It's turning the prison cell one lives in into a home they feel comfortable in. What this means is that while they may not have the function you ascribe to them, there still is another purpose.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Color-Scheme-Bible-Inspirational/dp/1770850937
This book is extremely useful in interior design and in many other facets of life. It helps explain why certain colors compliment each other and certain ones clash. I used to use it when I was beading to create color schemes for pieces I was designing.
I think this book on interior design could be cool, or even this book, which details the history of makeup. I'm sure she'd love that one.
I think having an interest in makeup is fine, and as long as she feels confident and isn't hurting anyone, I don't think you need to worry :)
Since she's studying interior design, I'm sure she needs a portfolio. She might really like a nice portfolio book for showing off her work.