Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Seventy-two step-by-step projects for modern do-it-yourself home and office design, by world-renowned designer Todd Oldham.

Love the look of mid-century, modern, retro design, but don't feel like dropping two weeks' pay on an Eames chair? Todd Oldham shares his passion for mid-century modern homes with over 72 do-it-yourself projects for anyone who loves crafts and longs to add character to every corner of their home.

Each project is charted through step-by-step photos and instructions until the fabulously mod end. Other projects include home-computer face-lifts, Xerox wallpaper, aluminium lighting fixtures, and cosy shoe-storage systems. In additional to Todd's brilliantly engineered projects, the book comes complete with a tutorial on modern home design in the form of sidebars and short essays throughout -everything from that now-famous Eames chair to the case-study houses of the 1950s.

Handmade Modern promises to revolutionise the way the reader looks at his or her own home and capacity to beautify a space. Chic, accessible, and fun, this is the achievable new look of modern home design.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. 1)
• Toolbox (p. 2)
• Living Room Lounge (p. 6)
• Charles and Ray Eames (p. 18)
• Isamu Noguchi (p. 40)
• Case Study (p. 50)
• George Nakashima (p. 56)
• Sweet Dreams Suite (p. 78)
• Knoll (p. 94)
• Julius Schulman (p. 106)
• Eva Zeisel (p. 126)
• Ralph Rapson (p. 144)
• Relaxing Reading Room (p. 146)
• Charles Harper (p. 174)
• Russel and Mary Wright (p. 188)
• Alexander Girard (p. 196)
• Suggested Reading (p. 204)
• Resources (p. 205)
• Cut Lists (p. 206)
• Glossary (p. 208)
• Index (p. 212)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Qualified do-it-yourselfers can go retro with enough projects by legendary designer Oldham to fill entire rooms. Taking inspiration from such mid-century designers and artists as Isamu Noguchi, George Nakeshima, Alexander Girard and Florence Knoll, Oldham revisits modernism in the new millennium. Bold, vibrant, unpretentious and suitable for small urban spaces, Oldham's pieces for the bedroom, living room and "reading room" play to function as well as form. Projects are rated for "ease level" on a scale of one to five, but readers unskilled in using jigsaws and sewing machines are left with rather unfulfilling tasks, such as a sand-art incense bowl or kaleidoscope art glass. However, those with the know-how and the right equipment in their tool boxes (Oldham suggests "mod podge" and a "respirator" as must-haves in any "basic" toolkit) can create an all-in-one room divider with "floating" boxes for storage space, an illuminated end table which is at once a display case and a light source, or a hand-quilted body pillow to go on top of a platform bed. Step-by-step photos illustrate techniques, and full-page pictures of finished rooms show how various pieces can be eye catchingly mixed and matched. Oldham is not out to create a revolutionary new aesthetic here, but is simply using elements of modernism that have endured-namely comfort, utility and visual panache. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved