Hooked on Not So Big Houses (And Giveaways!)

by hookedonhouses on April 2, 2009

“A Not So Big House feels more spacious than many of its oversized neighbors because it is space with substance, all of it in use every day.” -Sarah Susanka

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Welcome to Hooked on Fridays, a blog party I host at the end of each week to celebrate the things we love. Today I’m hooked on Not So Big Houses, the name given to “right-sized homes” by the bestselling author and architect Sarah Susanka. If McMansions are about quantity (higher ceilings, more square footage), then the Not So Big House is about quality (better materials, thoughtful use of space).

You can read my interview with Sarah Susanka if you missed it last year. She had some really inspiring and thought-provoking things to say. She believes in getting creative about your use of space.
Images via HGTV.com

Images via HGTV.com

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Susanka has a new book out called Not So Big Remodeling, and it’s filled with hundreds of ideas that can beautifully and affordably transform any home:
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Sometimes small changes can have a big impact. But many homeowners looking for more living space still insist on building expensive additions or completely rebuilding their home. In the latest groundbreaking step in the Not So Big revolution, Sarah Susanka and Marc Vassallo demonstrate how carefully chosen tweaks and simple additions can make a home seem much larger and more inviting.
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They avoid high-end architectural solutions, focusing instead on how Not So Big ideas can dramatically improve even the most modest home. The authors show readers how to think like an architect, so they can accurately assess their homes shortcomings, apply Not So Big principles to their remodeling plan, and phase in their project incrementally over time.

HomeDigz is giving a copy of this book away! All you have to do to enter is visit the HomeDigz site and join the conversation going on in the forums–any conversation!

Every time you post a comment at HomeDigz between now
and Tax Day (April 15), you’ll be entered to win!

Easy, right? Click here to check it out. Good luck!

Now it’s your turn to tell us what you’re hooked on. If you have something to share with us on your blog, then add your link below. Just please be sure to:

  1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address.
  2. You can put what you’re hooked on in parentheses after your blog name. You’ll probably get more visitors that way! Ex: Hookedonhouses (Not So Big Houses)
  3. Link back to the party from your post so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is talking about today!
  4. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what a blog party is all about!
  5. Double-check to make sure your link works and goes to the right page so it doesn’t get deleted! If you come back and see your link is gone, re-read these rules and try again.

{Be sure to check out Fifi’s Fashionable Friday and Melissa’s Beautiful Life blog parties happening today, too!}

Hooked on Fridays Participants

1. PamperingBeki
2. susan (Your home, only better.)
3. Amy @ Finer Things (Swagbucks)
4. Emily (photographs and flowers)
5. TK – Leila Ross Wilburn
6. LexyB
7. Tamara
8. Jill (Countertops on the cheap – butcher block!)
9. Styling by Coty Farquhar – Pretty gardening sheds
10. SuzyHomemaker – chips?
11. Fifi Flowers Paris Fashions
12. the BLAH BLAH BLAHger (CA bungalow homes)
13. Mrs. Petrie (homemade)
14. ImagineCozy (Toss Pillows)
15. Gennaro (Angkor Wat Temples)
16. Holly@Homebody (growing wheatgrass)
17. A Simple Walk (charitable bloggers – VGABS)
18. Cooking During Stolen Moments (ramaki)
19. Living With Lindsay (Battling My Archenemy)
20. Making This Home – thrifty desk organizing
21. Mary Beth{Pirate Party}
22. Onlinehandyman ( Hooked on SAVING money while renovating )
23. Amy Cannon (SoHotel)
24. Katie @ Clean & Classic Interiors(Spa Retreat Inspirations)
25. Arleen @ Seasons for All at Home (banisters)
26. Lacy @ TatumFam (Thorngrove Manor!)
27. Allison (Hooked on tufted ottomans)
28. Linda@Lime in the Coconut {Bali High…}
29. StuccoHouse (Restoring Vintage Bungalows)
30. Things That Inspire (Phoebe Howard\’s Atlanta Home)
31. melissa * 320 sycamore (a cover-up)
32. Our Nifty Notebook (Spring Getaway 2009)
33. Susan Palmer Designs (Rustic Asian Plumbing Fixtures)
34. kim at charmed I\’m sure (finished projects)
35. Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam(hooked on core wardrobes)
36. Animator\’s Wife (raised bed gardens)
37. Jillian@Housewears(hooked on chatting with tv designers!)
38. Canyon Wren Cottage
39. desiree @ lookiloos
40. Elodie (nice latino music)
41. Isa @ The World According to Isa (Union Jack)
42. Victoria @ DesignTies (Natural Stone!)
43. A Beach Cottage ~ Sarah
44. Tina @ Luphia loves… {{Beautiful Hallyways}}
45. Newlyweds (Summer Garden)
46. Dawn @ Hydrangea Home
47. Angela @ Peonypatch (tree blooms)
48. Monkey\’s Momma (Wrought Iron)
49. Bella Casa – I\’m Hooked on Pier 1\’s Moss Bunny on a Stick
50. Leila – Fabulous Waffles using my Own Baking Mix!
51. Christy (Baby Easter Outfits)
52. Jenelle at This Lady Blogs (black front doors)
53. rue\’s pb & j life
54. Kelli @ SustainingCreativity (Tuna)
55. RetroRuth (Plans for Mid-Century Modern Gardening Shed)
56. Janis @An Inspired Life (repurposed furniture)
57. Amy @ LivingLocurto.com
58. Jane @ Beach House
59. Liz @ itsgreattobehome (Free Design Consult!!)
60. Reflections Of Debbie (Exterior Paint Color)
61. Woodland Quilts (Making Pouches for Purses)
62. RehabOrDie.com — Hooked on My Mantle-Mistress
63. Shawn/Lifeatbuttercupfarm (hooked on garden inspiration)
64. Frippery
65. LaurelStreet (Still Hooked on Etsy.com)
66. sue@solsticehome
67. Liz@Violet Posy (Porches)
68. Black eyed susans kitchen (white wicker)
69. Laura @ Decor to Adore
70. Karla @ It\’s The Little Things…(Daffodils)
71. Christine @ Distract Me
72. Cass at That Old House is Hooked on a Kitchen Do-Over!
73. The Tea Room (Spring tablescape)
74. Deb/Dumbwittellher
75. The Summer Kitchen Girls
76. Puna – help in the bedroom
77. Allyson (Natural Laundry Detergent SUPERFOOD SEED GIVEAWAY)
78. Creative Counterpart (hotel towel holders)

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{ 14 trackbacks }

Search Swagbucks and Save : The Finer Things in Life
April 2, 2009 at 8:51 pm
The Decorating Geek behind HOMEdigz.com | Your Home Only Better
April 2, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Angkor Wat, Cambodia: A Photographic Journey | Enduring Wanderlust
April 2, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Pirate Party-Treasure Chest & What Not | Cupcakes and Crinoline
April 2, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Hooked on… Thorngrove Manor « Tatum Family
April 2, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Hooked on Latino Music!! :) « MOMELO’S BLOG
April 3, 2009 at 12:37 am
Angela’s Peony Patch » Blog Archive » Hooked on: Trees in Bloom
April 3, 2009 at 6:40 am
Hooked on: Tuna « Sustaining Creativity in a Busy Mom’s World
April 3, 2009 at 8:24 am
Growing Season - Plans for a Mid-Century Modern Garden Shed | No Pattern Required
April 3, 2009 at 8:42 am
Creative Photos | Living Locurto - Creative Ideas & FREE Downloads
April 3, 2009 at 8:54 am
Gnarly Giveaway - It’s Great To Be Home . . .
April 3, 2009 at 9:10 am
Another Etsy score and a framing dilemma « Laurel Street Blog
April 3, 2009 at 10:21 am
Castle Howard: the Star of “Brideshead Revisited” « Hooked on Houses
April 9, 2009 at 10:27 pm
A Beautiful Life: The U-Haul Edition | The Inspired Room
April 14, 2009 at 8:40 pm

{ 59 comments… read them below or add one }

1 The Summer Kitchen Girls April 3, 2009 at 4:12 pm

We’ve got this book on our wish list now….how fabulous! Don’t know if the Spelling’s could use a book like this now – however, the rest of us could!
Going to check out the interview now – thanks!!

The Summer Kitchen Girls’s last blog post..Hooked on Two Dog Pond

2 Courtney @ nesting instincts April 3, 2009 at 9:05 pm

Hi friend…this looks like a great book. And I’m hooked on my new little man who is finally here! (But I won’t put a link because it’s a little random for people that don’t know me!) But you can check out a few pics of him and his nursery over at Nesting instincts. xo

Courtney @ nesting instincts’s last blog post..the new (tiny) man in my life

3 Pearl Maple April 3, 2009 at 11:04 pm

Thank you for this post. I have lived in many a little house but by the time you stamp your personality on them, they can be beautiful and welcoming places.

Followed your link from the inspired nest and enjoyed all your inspirational posts.

Pearl Maple’s last blog post..Sky Watch Friday

4 Paul U April 4, 2009 at 3:41 am

sometimes the best house is something that is easily to clean and maintain.

Paul U’s last blog post..A trick to motivate yourself

5 Helen April 4, 2009 at 1:02 pm

I have her first book and pull it out frequently to read and gaze at the photos. I love her work and the way she thinks. It is the way more of us should look at the space we use – and actually need.

6 sandy April 4, 2009 at 4:12 pm

HI there Julia! We base everything in our lives on the “not so big” idea – especially as of late.

Great post! Thanks for sharing about her book! :)

sandy’s last blog post..Rolling Plant Dollies – and Yard Saling!

7 Cheryl Comfort April 25, 2009 at 1:22 pm

I am hooked on getting things finished! Here I have posted about making two chandeliers out of one :-)

Cheryl Comfort’s last blog post..Two new chandeliers~

8 Angel H. December 10, 2009 at 11:32 am

Do you know how I found this site? Looking to find contemporary photos of houses, I know I’m definetely hooked on houses, and everyone that knows me says it.
I answered yes to all the questions. I love to decorate not just my house, but others too.
I look into people homes as I pass by, I get really excited if it’s contemporary. My family and friends come to my house and they get tired of watching HGTV that’s all I watch, building homes, decorating, buying, selling, etc.
Glad to know it’s people that has the same interest as I do.
Angel H.´s last blog ..Decorating My House for the Holidays My ComLuv Profile

9 Terry January 16, 2010 at 3:57 pm

I love Sarah Susanka and her entire philosophy of the “not so big house” I have two of her books; The Not So Big House and Creating the Not So Big House. On pages 30 and 91 of The Not So Big House is a kitchen in a London studio that takes the “less is more” idea to an extreme with breathtaking results. I don’t have a space that would lend itself to this kitchen (tucked under the stairs) but it sent my mind spinning. Goes to show that we all could do with a LOT less space and still be “oh-so-stylish”. Ms Susanka calls this kitchen a small jewel. More like a

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