BOOKS / Crafts for Every Season, Reason
“Simply Handmade” ($30, Meredith Books, 1999) is aimed at those ambitious folks who have the interest, and talent, to make things at home. Gifts are the focus here, with 365 suggestions, giving devoted souls a project every day of the year.
The book is divided into seasons. During the summer, for instance, there’s a Fourth of July plan for creating patriotic silverware by applying paints and colored tape to the handles. An even easier suggestion is to fill clear bottles with red, white and blue jellybeans, stacked in layers, of course.
As expected, Christmas gifts get a big push in “Simply Handmade.” There’s info on making tree ornaments, dinner centerpieces, wreaths and assorted paper cutouts for decorating the home.
These Old Houses
John S. Taylor’s “A Shelter Sketchbook” ($19, Chelsea Green) has been around for a while (it was last published in 1997) but it’s worth picking up by anyone interested in the world’s oldest architecture. Taylor writes about 1,000-year-old, earth-sheltered homes in China, Native American teepees and turn-of-the-century Nebraska barns built from hay bales.
Besides providing brief histories, Taylor shows what the structures looked like, using basic but effective sketches. There are pages and pages of his drawings, often with notes on how these ancient or primitive designs relate to more modern buildings.
THE WEB / Stuff for the Hippest Home
SimplyModern.com (https://www.simplymodern.com) may be commercial, but it’s an attractive stop if you’re looking for unusual furnishings for the home or office. Hip is the buzzword here, as everything reflects ultramodern tastes with often quirky shadings.
Some, like the Anik coffee table (with its oblong shape and low-to-the-ground look) are just simple and slick. Others, like the umbrella floor lights (yep, these tilting lamps have small umbrella-like shades) are goofier. For the executive, there’s lots of stuff, even Zen stone gardens like those seen in the lawyers’ offices on TV’s “Ally McBeal.”
Equipment Explainer
A good place to learn about home fitness equipment is a bare-bones site run by the Fitness Products Council.
Just go to its article index page (https://www.sportlink.com/research /index.html) and click on the “How to Buy Exercise Equipment for the Home” link.
The piece covers everything from treadmills to stair-climbers to stationary bikes to weights and much more, explaining price ranges, quality and which types of apparatus would best fit your house.
* To have a book or Web site considered for this column, send information to: Home Design, The Times Orange County, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Mark Chalon Smith can also be reached by e-mail at mark.smith@latimes.com.
