Have you heard the one about living in a place so small that you have to step outside to change your mind? Well Janet Lee has. She is the author of a new book, Living in a Nutshell: Posh and Portable Decorating Ideas for Small Spaces. Lee is an expert at finding or developing unusual DIY projects that make the most of little homes.

“In a nutshell, my mantra for small space design is to delight, dazzle and divert,” says Lee who describes herself as a serial small space nester. Her concept is to turn the quirky demands of small space living into appealing decorative features.

Got a refrigerator that lives in the hallway because there’s not enough room in the kitchen? Cover it with a pattern of vintage bottle caps and clover decals and drape a bold curtain that can make it disappear completely.

She wraps a file cabinet with adhesive plastic that mimics the pattern of expensive designer luggage. A folding screen wears a graphic stripe on one side and is hung with shoe bags on the other; it becomes an instant closet. Snappy orange industrial C-clamps are mounted on the edge of a shelf to hold coats, bags and umbrellas. A refurbished chair stores books; the ends of its legs are painted bright red to dance on top of a boldly patterned rug.

Where colour ends, whimsy begins. The heads of stuffed animals are mounted to make “faux taxidermy” and poetry peeks from mirrors.

These fun-filled projects are sure to bring joie de vivre to tiny rooms.

- Jane

You’ve probably heard the expression, “If you can’t go big, go home.” Well Jay Shafer took it to heart. For Shafer, the big picture is a tiny little living space that provides for just the essentials and not much more. Tumblewee DIY Book of Backyard Sheds & Tiny Houses is his latest offering.

According to the cover, he “is internationally recognized as an expert in small living”. He has been building and living in tiny little homes for 15 years and when he says little, he means it.

In the land of McMansions, Shafer is an ardent supporter of a tiny revolution to create living spaces that are less taxing on ecosystems and economies. The bonus for him has been a mortgage-free existence and more time to pursue other interests, like designing little places for the rest of us.

Shafer is also a realist. While many people may not embrace the extreme, small-space lifestyle, there are lots of other purposes for these wee structures, whether guest house, studio, workshop or retreat.

The book includes plans for tiny houses and box bungalows. You see elevations and floor plans. Amateur builders can order a complete set of drawings from his website.

The portfolio section provides pictures of finished interiors that are carefully crafted to maximize every inch. In fact, one of the most attractive fittings is the Dickinson Marine stainless steel heater which is manufactured for boats.

Part Four shows the building process and covers clearing the building site (including how to fell a tree), establishing a foundation and construction of the exterior shell.

If you want further inspiration for small-scale living, check out Tiny Houses by Mimi Zeiger. It explores “the microgreen side of sustainable architecture” with projects like the House in a Suitcase on page 121. Located on a roof in Barcelona, trunk-like compartments unpack for use.

The April issue of Dwell features a funky and wonderful house built from three 10-by-12-foot modules. You can also see it online. It’s a DIY project that was supervised by architects and is set on 20 lush acres on Kauai.

Now, I want to live small like that.

-Jane

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.

Last blog I wrote about reworking the dining room in my apartment to create a multipurpose space. I use the room for eating and also reading, painting and sewing. Shelving units moved from my home office provide the storage space for books and dishes.

There are a lot of books and magazines about this topic. So let me dip in.

New Diningroom Design brings a modern esthetic to some fabulous rooms. In this book most of the dining rooms are integrated with other spaces, either kitchen or living areas. You have to spend time studying the rooms because there is no text for clues. Think “a picture is worth a thousand words” for this one.

In Small Spaces: Maximizing Limited Spaces for Living, Elizabeth Wilhide, supplies all the clues. The book begins with design strategies that examine flexible layouts, natural light, extending sight lines and finding hidden spaces and storage. She then embarks on a room-by-room house tour.

It’s interesting to note that Dining Rooms are not on the list. “Eating areas” are integrated into other spaces.

Small-space living is a popular topic with the shelter magazines. The July/August 2011 issue of House Beautiful shows a richly decorated New York studio (650 square feet) where the book-lined entry also doubles as a dining room. This issue is full of tips for making the most of modest places.

Have a look at their Small Space Decorating Workshop for more ideas on multipurpose rooms. The decorating style tends toward traditional or contemporary classic.

Apartment Therapy hosts an annual Small Cool contest where it welcomes submissions from homeowners in four categories ranging from Teeny tiny (1 - 400 square feet) to Small (801 – 1000 square feet).

Apartment Therapy's big book of small, cool spaces is based on the creative solutions to small-space problems by designers and homeowners.

About two years ago, I faced up to the reality that I couldn’t continue living in my pretty bungalow. I could foresee too many repairs on the horizon and not enough income to accomplish them.

Even though I have modest resources, I have strong opinions about how I want to live. When I started shopping for a condo, I made a big wish list of what I thought my perfect place might be and emailed it to my realtor. It made me feel focused and less arbitrary; still, I never expected to get everything on the list.

As we shopped, I found that the most important feature turned out to be the windows. More specifically, I was deeply affected by the amount of natural light coming into the apartment and what I could see outside the windows. I need lots of light and a room with a view. I don’t need a spectacular view – just a pleasing streetscape with trees and neighbourhood activity.

If you think about it, these are two features that can’t be fixed by decorating. Improved, maybe, with clever lighting and concealing drapery; but this is not a fix if you crave natural light and attractive street scenes.

In the end, the condo that I bought has a great number of features from my wish list. As they say, if you don’t know what you want, you’ll never get it.

When it comes to downsizing, establishing priorities is paramount. When choosing a smaller home, you are also considering differences in lifestyle and, usually, eliminating possessions. My list of priorities would be different than yours. In my experience, the process itself was revealing.

When searching the library catalogue for books, if you use a simple keyword search “downsizing”, you get a list that includes many books on business downsizing. More helpful subject searches are “moving household”, “older people housing”, "small rooms decoration", “orderliness” and “simplicity” - depending on your goal.

Here are some books that are definitely worth exploring.

Downsizing your home with style: living well in a smaller space (2007) by Lauri Ward. The reasons for downsizing are varied: empty nesters have too much space, couples merging households, relocating from the suburbs to the inner city, pursuing a dream job in another city or a just a quest to simplify your life.

“Whatever your motivation, moving is always stressful, but downsizing is more about adapting than it is about moving,” says Ward.

She provides a practical handbook for assessing the things you own for your new space. She looks at multifunctional furniture and spaces, repurposing possessions, as well as camouflage and storage. She offers design tips for decorating small spaces and housekeeping tips for maintaining them. Ward has a great blog which you will find on my list of favourites.

The best of the rest: downsizing for boomers and seniors by Doug and Judy Robinson, addresses the options available when the home you are occupying is no longer meeting your needs. They explore downsizing to a small house or condo and supported living. As well, they provide strategies to age in place and examine intergenerational households.

Lighten up: love what you have, have what you need, be happier with less (2011). I love the title of this new book by Peter Walsh that encapsulates his philosophy. “I am going to show you how to live a life of abundance on less in a way that doesn’t plunge you deeper into misery and despair, and my belief is that with a changed mind-set will come a sense of calm, authentic personal identity, and… yes… happiness,” he says. Quite a promise.

Walsh is a “clutter expert” who has been a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show and hosts his own program on her network.

Stop Clutter from Stealing your Life: Discover why you clutter & How You Can Stop by Mike Nelson (2008)

If you are overwhelmed by the stuff of your life, check out this title.

Nelson is a reformed clutterer and zealous about it in the way that reformed people often are. But he has a sense of humor about the problem. In a chapter titled “40 Ways to Leave Your Clutter”, number six on the list is

"Shoot the next person who tells you, “If you haven’t seen it in six months, you don’t need it.” If you haven’t seen it, how do you know you don’t need it? By their reasoning, the lost tomb of Ramses had no value."

Nelson explores the psychological baggage of clutter and provides practical and emotional solutions.

You don’t need to be coy Roy; just get yourself free.

Next week: DECORATE AND UNDECORATE, two new books from bloggers.