Cabin Kitchens & Baths

Rating:
Summary: cabins...and more
Review: Book Review
CABIN KITCHENS AND BATHS by Franklin and Esther Schmidt (Gibbs Smith, Salt Lake City, 2004)

This book delivers far more than it promises. First and foremost, it is a chatty but practical and lavishly - illustrated guide designed to lead a cabin or homeowner through the process of designing what most of us would consider the two most difficult and important rooms in our residence. The Schmidts do this by a readable text, made more useful by including opinions from numerous professionals involved in cabin design from soup to nuts. The book...which obviously could be used to design kitchens and baths in any kind of residence...includes helpful check lists to prepare one thoroughly from design to installation.

CABIN KITCHENS AND BATHS is also a wonderful "coffee table" book for post and beam and log residences. My library holdings include numerous volumes of books whose last name is "STYLE"......"Greek Style"," Japanese Style", etc, and I often reread them for the simple pleasure of it. The lavish color photography makes this book infinitely more attractive.

Finally, the Schmidts give us a tantalizing look into myriad design choices for decorating kitchens, baths and the rest of the cabin. Collections, individual pieces, the old and the new populate most of the photographs and add yet another dimension to this book. After the kitchen and bath are finally finished, one can easily find pleasure for many years in the other things that this book so richly illustrates.

Rating:
Summary: Dream Cabins
Review: Everyone dreams of a getaway cabin - a place of rest and refuge. ~pg. 1

If you have your own log cabin dreams, the best ways to get ideas is to look through wonderful log cabin books written by photographers who have written about hundreds of log cabins. The authors of this gorgeous book live in a farmhouse deep in the rural Virginia countryside.

They are frequently on the road and spend time in New York City at their studio space. Franklin and Esther Schmidt have captured some of the most beautiful kitchens and baths I've ever seen. They are romantic, inspiring and very cozy.

This book is filled with ideas for remodeling or new homes. This book explores architectural elements, furnishings, appliances, bathrooms, design and décor. Many of the cabins are surprisingly modern and quite interesting. The curtains and lighting stand out as highlights against the warm wood interiors.

After reading this book you may find yourself adding heart bundt pans, candles and new pots and pans to your wish list or dreaming about lace curtains. Many of the kitchens have a special shelf for cookbooks and all the kitchens look like dream kitchens. Pots and pans hang from the ceilings along with baskets and dried flowers.

There are many creative ideas in the pictures, like a wagon as a coffee table. Baskets are definitely a decorative element in the kitchens.

While most of this book is about kitchens, there is a section about creating soothing spaces filled with candles, fluffy towels and deep baths. Here are all the bathtubs we dream about, complete with big windows, plants and candles everywhere.

If you love claw-foot tubs, there are many examples in various settings. I had never seen a lavender colored tub so that was interesting. There are ideas for stenciling and one bath tub has a waterfall.

The resources will be very helpful for home builders and almost every source has a website for immediate access to ideas and inspiration.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a good one
Review: I've been looking for a book like this for ages. There are lots of great looking design books, very few offer real help. I found this book to be excellently organized with in-depth information on every aspect of kitchen and bathroom design. The writing is intelligent, without being overly technical, and good-humored while also giving practical solutions to a variety of design and structural challenges.
The photography, which as another reviewer pointed out, could stand alone as being quite beautiful, is very specific in terms of what is depicted as referencing the subject matter in the respective chapters and sections.
Another reviewer pointed out that the photography is redundant to what appears in the log magazines on the newsstands. I think that is untrue. I'm an avid reader of log magazines, and have been for a good number of years, and do not see any repetition at all. These photographs are certainly new to my eyes and are of the highest quality.
I find it remarkable that with so many books on kitchens and myriad publications on cabins, this is the first time that the two subjects have been combined in one volume. And, what an effective volume it is.
On a personal point of view, as a lover of great interiors and with a nice little library of good design books, this one has great pipe dream potential and one of these days I might even use some of the ideas in re-doing my own kitchen and bathroom.

Rating:
Summary: Cabin Kitchens & Baths
Review: If you subscribe to, or even buy some of the log cabin magazines from the news stand, this book is a repeat for the most part. Most of the pictures have already been published over and over again. If you haven't gotten any log or timber home magazines lately this is a good book. Although, I liked Inside Log Homes: The Art and Spirit of Home Decor much better.