Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure

By Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan
Published by Bantam Books
April 2006; $14.00US/$21.00CAN; 0-553-38312-4

From not enough space and too many things to not knowing what color to paint the living room walls, many of us struggle with our homes. Now Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, frequent makeover expert on HGTV's Mission: Organization and Small Space, Big Style, shares the do-it-yourself strategies that have enabled his clients and fans to transform their apartments into well-organized, beautiful places that suit their style and budget.

Week by week, Apartment Therapy will guide you to treat common problems, eliminate clutter, and revamp even the tiniest space. Here is an eight-step process that includes:

A therapeutic questionnaire to help you get in touch with your personal taste and diagnose your home's physical, emotional, and energy flow issues

A prescription with recommendations for each room based on your needs and lifestyle -- including tips on how to use color, lighting, and accessories

A treatment plan, including regular maintenance schedules to ensure the ongoing health of your space

Illustrations of floor plans and decorative examples that allow you to visualize concepts before you begin

With surprising ease and without elaborate professional help, Apartment Therapy will help you clear a path through disorder and indecision -- to reveal a home you'll love.

Reviews
"A smart, affordable, fun approach to creating the home of your dreams -- and making your dreams come true -- from the designer behind 'the quietly addicting weblog apartmenttherapy.com.'"
--New York Times

"What a refreshing decorating book! Apartment Therapy is a must-read for creating your perfect nest. Fire your shrink and follow Maxwell's eight-step therapeutic cure!"
--Jonathan Adler, a designer and the author of My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living

"Decorating a home is just plain stressful! Maxwell's book offers a way out; it's like hiring a pro (without the attitude or expense). He takes us by the hand and gently guides us through the entire process, from coming up with a plan to executing it without going broke. Whether you're just dipping in for a quick hit of inspiration or committing to the whole eight-week cure, your home -- and life -- will be better because of it."
--Angela Matusik, editor in chief, Budget Living Magazine

"Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan's Apartment Therapy is refreshing in its point of view -- your house has to work for you from the inside out. Gillingham-Ryan encourages readers to really take a good look at where they are at home and how they can improve the quality of their lives."
--Wendy Goodman, interior design editor, New York Magazine

Excerpt
The following is an excerpt from the book Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure

Atkins for Furniture: Protein vs. Carbohydrates

I have found that when most people shop for furniture they look at price and try to buy the most furniture they can for the money they can spend. But not all furniture is created equal, and it is very important that you know this before you spend any money. I recommend to clients that they approach shopping from various sources differently and think about what they are doing.

Most people:

1. Spread their money out
2. Have many inexpensive pieces and only a few nice pieces
3. Have too much furniture
4. End up having to throw out or replace furniture every five years

In light of this, it is preferable to:

1. Concentrate your money and buy good furniture
2. Have more quality pieces and fewer inexpensive ones

Most homes are filled with carbohydrate furniture. This is the relatively stylish, inexpensive furniture that is made of pressboard, plywood, and veneer with faux finishes to mimic solid wood. While I love the Swedish giant IKEA dearly, this is primarily what the chain sells. There is nothing wrong with this furniture except that the quality of its manufacture and the simplicity of its style are indications that its life will be short. Furniture like this looks best when it first comes in the door (or when it is photographed in the catalog), and the veneer finishes and staple-glued joints start to give way after a year or two, depending on how hard you press them.

Years ago I bought what I thought at the time was a beautiful bed frame from Pottery Barn, and when it arrived I was disappointed to find that it looked totally different from the way I’d seen it styled in the catalog. Then, due to the dryness of our apartment, the wood separated on the frame, and for the past four years we have used a variety of wood blocks and the occasional screw to hold the whole thing together. This was not a cheap bed -- I remember paying $800 at the time -- but by the time we finally replace it, it will be worth nothing, and we will have to throw it out. Not even the Salvation Army will take it away. At an even later point in time, the value of an old bed frame like this will be negative. We might have to pay someone to take it away, as it won’t go in the garbage. This bed is a carbohydrate. It provides only short-term sustenance to your home.

Protein furniture is finely crafted and well made, while carbohydrate furniture is cheaply mass made. As with any diet, both groups are valuable, but a better, more energetic home will cut down on the carbohydrate furniture over time and increase the amount of protein furniture.

When shopping at the bigger retail stores, it is good to know what they do well. Following is a ranking of the stores I use regularly, as well as their specialties:

Crate & Barrel -- While their style tends to be safe and not trendsetting, the furniture department is very good. Quality is high and service is excellent. The furniture division is separate from the assemble-it-yourself furniture that Crate & Barrel offers on the first floor.

Design Within Reach -- DWR has a great selection of quality mid-century modern and contemporary furniture. Since they are not a manufacturer, prices are higher and shipping has been reported to be very expensive on occasion.

IKEA -- IKEA is where you go for basics such as cabinets and shelving, bedding and curtains, tables and desks. These items are excellent for their low price point and will serve well. However, most of IKEA’s other pieces won’t stand up to heavy use or movement, lighting is unreliable, and glassware breaks easily. In general, at IKEA the more attractive it is, the more quickly it will lose its luster.

West Elm -- Started by Pottery Barn for urban dwellers with smaller spaces, West Elm’s design is attractive, but their quality is only fair. Beds have been reported extremely unreliable, while their tables are handsome but cheaply made.

Pottery Barn -- The biggest of the big, Pottery Barn always looks good, but watch out for quality! I won’t go near their furniture, but I rely on their curtains, curtain rods, and rugs, which are all excellent at their lower price point.

Williams-Sonoma Home -- This newcomer from the Williams-Sonoma empire is a nice addition, with higher quality furniture at higher prices. Style is strong but subdued, and quality is excellent.

Be choosy when shopping these stores, and if you do need something beautiful, look at the next rung up. If you can spend a little more to buy something from someone who has actually made it, or something that has been carefully made in small batches from a unique design, this is usually worth it.

Author:
Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan is the founder of Apartment Therapy, a unique interior-design practice in the New York metropolitan area. In April 2004, Maxwell, with his brother Oliver, launched apartmenttherapy.com, one of the most popular design weblogs in the country, featured in the New York Times, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Hartford Courant, New York magazine, Chicago Tribune, Newsweek, and Yoga Journal. Maxwell is a regular guest on House & Garden Television's Mission: Organization and Small Space, Big Style. He lives in New York's West Village with his wife, Sara Kate, in a 250-square-foot apartment.

For more information, please visit www.apartmenttherapy.com.

Excerpted from Apartment Therapy by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan Copyright © 2006 by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan . Excerpted by permission of Bantam, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.