Since tomorrow is July 4th, I’ve decided to take it off. There will be no blog post tomorrow which is why the book review is today instead of Friday. Have a great weekend everyone!

If you’re into do it yourself television, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Ty Pennington. He’s been on Trading Spaces as well as Extreme Makeover Home Edition and has become a national phenomenon, thanks to his quirky style and ease with tools. If you’re looking to improve your home the easy way, this book offers some great advice and, much like Ty, it’s a little quiry and a lot of fun.

First off, if you’re looking for blueprints, exact specs and technical information, this is the not the book for you. The book covers the renovations that Ty made to his own home and while it does get into how to do things, it is more of a reflection of his techniques and tricks for working on a limited budget to get the best results. However, even if you are a seasoned pro, it’s still well worth the read.

As we mentioned earlier, the book covers the projects that Ty completed in his own home, from remodeling the kitchen to adding a koi pond in the back yard. He goes into great details on the kinds of materials that he used as well as the ways he was able to cut corners. He managed to remodel his entire kitchen for less than $3,000 and the whole house for less than $15,000.

In this vein, the book is packed with incredible money saving tips that will help anyone find ways to make their house look great for less money. Best case in point: for his kitchen, Ty chose flooring to redo the ceiling and used tile for the flooring. The finished result was surprisingly well put together and gave the room a lot of warmth.

If you’re looking for tips on how to work inside the space you already have and get it done on a budget, this is a terrific book. It’s got plenty of pictures (many of them including Ty) and it is a very quick and fun read. While it’s not the most technical of tomes, it does cover basic design principles and can help the reader come up with their own ideas to make their home their own unique extension of their personality.

While the average person may not need a koi pond in their backyard, this book serves as a great jumping off point that is very inspirational. When you’re done with this book, you’ll feel able to take on the world, or at the very least, your own home with plenty of confidence. It’s great for beginners, but like we said before, even professionals can get some tips that are useful.

Overall, we recommend this book, but with a caveat. Read it with the right mindset and you’ll walk away with a feeling that you can tackle your home. Read it with the wrong mindset and you’ll most likely be disappointed that it didn’t include more exact specs and technical information. At face value however, this is a book that has a place in most DIY bookshelves.

Originally posted 2008-11-25 18:28:27. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Related Posts

• If I Had a Hammer: More Than 100 Easy Fixes and Weekend Projects by Andrea Ridout Andrea Ridout is a very well known expert on home repair who instructs millions on her radio show, Ask Andrea. She’s now distilled all of that wonderful knowledge into a home repair book that literally covers everything you could ever do to your house on your own, from A to......
• The Ultimate Guide to Plumbing By Merle Henkenius If you’ve always wanted to be able to handle the various plumbing projects that pop up around your house, this is a book that is a definite must have. Plumbers can be expensive, and in an emergency, they may not be easy to reach. Once you’ve read this book, you......
• Home Repair Almanac By Edward Lipinski Regular maintenance is vital for any homeowner, especially if you want to reduce your chances for having a major problem down the road. But for first time homeowners, or even homeowners that have been down the road before, it’s tough to know when to schedule all of those little maintenance......
• Dare to Repair By Julie Sussman This is a do-it yourself guide written mainly for women, but anyone that is interested in home repair can get a lot out of it. If you have ever wanted to tackle any kind of DIY project in your house this book is the definitive guide that can help you......
• Home Maintenance for Dummies by James Carey and Morris Carey The Carey brothers achieved great fame with their first Dummies title that focused on home renovation so hopes were pretty high with this latest book on how to maintain your home. This is an area that many people fail to understand how important it can be, which is why we......

Related Websites

• Low-fat latte factor? Starbucks is beginning to test $1 "short" cups of drip coffee with free refills in Seattle.  Other chains are offering good alternatives at lower prices, so Starbucks might be feeling out the market to avoid getting beaned by the competition.Pricey drinks are of course a favorite example of David Bach,......
• Veekend Video: Chopper's Heimlich Maneuver Eric Bana is currently just a stone's throw from the Hollywood A-List, but the movie that gave the former bartender his start was 2000's Chopper. The movie tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary Australian criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison.......
• Book and Movie Review: Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy The movie: BBC 2008 v. staring Gemma Arterton, Eddie Redmayne, and Hans Matheson I read this book in eighth grade at the urging of my English teacher who thought I would enjoy this book above all others he had offered up for students to read and on which to do......
• The Last Mimzy College girl, her friend, and the two littles and I went to see TLM, based on a book The Last Mimzy: And Other Stories Originally published as The Best of Henry Kuttnerby the same name, tonight. None of us had read the book. We felt it might have filled in......
• Get into Bed with Cheryl Brooks (Author Interview) Everybody say hi and welcome Cheryl Brooks, author of the Cat Star Chronicles, to Love Romance Passion. Grab a cup of something hot and let's get down to business. Below is the interview: Thank you so much Cheryl for sitting down to chat! How did you come up with......

Online Stores

• Proofs Essays Back of Book United States Stamps
• Energy Saving Light Bulbs Home Lighting
• Granite Tile Flooring Tile Flooring Building Hardware Home Improvement
• Revenues Back of Book United States Stamps
• Tile Flooring Building Hardware Home Improvement

If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.


Categories:

Book Review, Low Budget

Tags:

average person, back yard, basic design principles, case in point, exact specs, extreme makeover, extreme makeover home, extreme makeover home edition, finished result, koi pond, makeover home edition, money saving tips, national phenomenon, quirky style, quiry, renovations, terrific book, tomes, trading spaces, ty pennington