It�s been a long time since I wrote a book report - you remember those, back in grade school, right?
I�m reading an incredibly smart book on kitchen design right now, and I thought I�d write about it, for anyone in need of kitchen help.
But first, let�s talk about kitchen design books in the last 35 years or so. (Yes, I�m that old. )
When I built my first kitchen in 1985 or so, this book was my guide.
Back then, cabinets were mostly traditional face-frame cabinets, and this book -
Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets by Jere Cary
was instrumental in helping me along. I did a few remodeling jobs here and there, working on a lot of older homes, but in '88, I built a home and jumped on the frameless cabinet bandwagon.
Paul Levine�s book - Making Kitchen Cabinets - was the perfect blueprint for me.
In fact, it was so helpful, I bought the video that accompanied his book. It was the perfect one-two punch for making contemporary cabinets. His plan was detailed, right down to suggesting the exact cup hinge to use, or drawer slides he recommended. I build my own handsome kitchen using Paul�s book, and never looked back.
As I started getting busier, kitchens didn�t interest me as much. They require a lot of time, with some very heavy lifting and the need for a helper. I prefer to work mostly alone, so I started working on bathroom cabinetry - smaller versions of kitchens, in my mind. They still demand some stellar design skills, and again - Paul Levine�s book was brilliantly helpful.
These days - I prefer building free standing furniture. My days of going to client�s homes and measuring walls and floors are over. A few nightmare encounters convinced me to give up making visits to anyone�s home, and... well... furniture is my first love, anyway.
But lately, I�ve been considering building a home, and luckily - Nancy Hiller�s book recently arrived in my mailbox.
It�s one of the smartest kitchen design books I�ve ever read.
Kitchen Think by Nancy Hiller is... simply terrific, especially if you're a maker of built-in cabinetry.
First off - I love woodworking books with great photography. (I feel the same way about cook books, too, BTW.) This book is loaded with page after page of kitchens that Nancy has built - giving the reader SO much inspiration. These details are instrumental in showing her thought process, and...well, what a wonderful process that is!
Even better - Nancy details her design, cutting and assembly process for building cabinet boxes, and let me say - there was one detail about her cabinet building that knocked my socks off. For anyone who doesn't build kitchens, this detail wouldn't amount to much, but to me - the way she constructs her cabinet boxes is brilliant.
And the way in which she describes scale and proportions of stiles and rails is so common-sensical, that I've never quite heard it described so well.
Can you tell I'm a fan?
It's been a long time since I've dreaded getting to the end of a book, and though I'm almost done with Nancy's - I'll be thinking about it for a long time. She's been fighting some health battles lately, and I certainly wish her the best... I want more from this gifted writer / builder.
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