If you are a fan of the Design Sponge blog, the new book by Grace Bonney, Design Sponge at Home, is a must read. Bonney profiles blog favourites, including her own New York apartment shared with her husband and two cats.

The book has captured the spirit of the blog with lots of lively and lived-in rooms put together by people who love design and love their homes. A lot of the homes are space-challenged New York apartments that provide many ideas for living large in small quarters.

Most exhibit vintage style influences; homeowners embrace vintage furnishings sourced from family, flea markets and EBay. Then, they make them their own with a little paint, carpentry, fabric and staple gun.

Bonney shows the peg-board rack in her kitchen painted a bright tomato-soup red and hung with stainless-steel pots. I love the map-covered boxes on p. 188.

Indeed, half of the book is devoted to DIY projects, basics and makeovers. There are instructions for stripping and painting furniture, rewiring a lamp, staple-gun upholstery, sewing basics – and much else.

Although information on these topics tends to be sketchy, her can-do approach is enough to inspire the reader to pick up tools and strive for greater domestic glory. And hey, that’s what the Library is all about. There are hundreds of books here to help you develop those skills and become the handy person you were meant to be.