Americas favorite home architect Sarah Susanka takes an up-close look at the well-crafted details that can be used to personalize any home, whether new or remodeled. Susanka illustrates these built-in elements with inspiring examples from 24 homes across America and shows how paying attention to the details brings an otherwise ordinary home to life.

Sarah Susankas first book, The Not So Big House, launched a revolution in residential architecture and changed that way we think about our homes. Her books have inspired over 1,000,000 readers and received national media attention from The Oprah Winfrey Show to USA TODAY.

Contents
Introduction
The Not So Big House Up Close

Curves and Color Bring a Tiny House to Life
Rooms Defined But Not Confined
Craftsman Character on a Narrow Lot
A Houseboat Full of Nautical Charm
A Jewel Box of Texture and Detail
The Nature of Materials
Order in the Details
Rooms Afloat above a Garden
Defining Space with Light
Serenity on a Budget
A Spare House That Sparkles
Classic Cottage Simplicity
Texas Tuscan
Detailed for the View
Zen Warmth
A Modest Ranch Opens Up
Creating Coziness in a Large Cottage
Reinventing the Family Home
The Illusion of More Space
Laid-Back Florida Cracker
Grace, Elegance, and Storagein 650 sq. ft.
Simple Trim, Substantial Impact
Ceilings Shine in Rooms without Walls

I started planning this book just a few months after my first book, The Not So Big House, was released in the fall of 1998. So many people had written to me asking how to make their own houses embody the spirit of building Not So Big. Many of them had noticed a level of detail that is absent in most newer homes today.

These readers wanted to know how to create for themselves some of the things theyd observed as they read and looked at the photos--things like the plate rail Id included in my own St. Paul house, which I described in passing as a built-in detail that served many functions. This plate rail provided a place to exhibit some objects I loved; it housed a light cove; it provided a surface for the continuous maple trim band to wrap around kitchen and dining areas; and in the process of doing all these things, it created a sense of shelter for the activities taking place below. Or the ships ladder allowing access to the tiny attic at the top of the same house. Several readers had written, wanting to know how to incorporate a similar detail into their own home. How steep was the stair, how wide, and how big were the cutouts for hands to grip properly?

I realized there were a lot of people looking for solutions to personalize their homes and make them more functional who, up until now, hadnt understood that this could be accomplished with features that are literally built in, rather than brought to the house after construction (or remodeling) is complete.

The point of a book focusing on this more up-close view of house design was brought home even more clearly for me when one of The Taunton Press editorial staff told me she had completely misunderstood what I was aiming for. She had been mislead by the word detail, which she explained to me means something akin to accessorizing--the art of decorating if you will--to most non-architects. By contrast, what I wanted to describe were the special features of house design that are permanently attached to the interior and will remain there as the house passes to future owners. If you were able to turn your house upside down and shake, these INSIDE details are the ones that wouldnt come off.

Through interactions with hundreds of interested homeowners, it has become a lot clearer to me how to explain this more close up level of home design. My goal is to help you make a house that, even before any of your belongings are brought in, still expresses something of your inner spirit and passion for life. As expressed by William Blakes famous aphorism, All the worlds in a grain of sand, a home thats designed well at every scale truly reflects its owners, whether you look at it from a distance or observe its smallest detail. The ideas youll read about in the coming pages will help you build into your home some personal details that delight you daily and allow even the smallest elements to embody the character of the house as a whole.