The 27 homes in Good House Cheap House prove that good design doesn't have to cost a fortune. What goes into making a good, cheap house? As writer Kira Obolensky discovers, there are three main ingredients: adventuresome homeowners who are actively involved; cutting-edge architects and designers who can solve tough design challenges; and an array of innovative uses of materials. Industrial bridge washers make for gorgeous mantelpiece rosettes, old concrete subflooring is given new life with rich-hued stain, and glass sliding doors make for windows that are oversized and affordable. From a Texas farmhouse to a loft in St. Paul, to a prefab cabin on the Wisconsin prairie, these houses, in which anyone would feel at home, display a wonderful mix of design smarts and budget savvy. "Good House Cheap House is chock full of great ideas and creative solutions for those of us on a budget-but even the less financially-challenged can learn a thing or two about stylish and innovative design." --Charles Burbridge, designer, HGTV's Design on a Dime "The cookie-cutter house trend has been around long enough. With its outside-the-box ideas and great resources, Good House Cheap House proves you can build a unique space without emptying your bank account." --Amber Jones, Editor, do! Magazine
Date Published 10/4/2005
Ratings
Rated By: R. Stamey "consumer"
From: North Carolina
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Comments: Not Cheap, Debatably Good The function of this book, like so many womens' magazines, is to provide a setting in which we are to imagine a better version of ourselves; fetishizing design in place of practical solutions. Nearly every house featured in this book would command $500,000 in an average market. The reader is supposed to detect without disappointment that "cheap" describes one or two details in a house far out of reach for the average person. Obolensky ignores that the overall price of a given house is determined largely by location, square footage, the quantity and quality of labor. If one were truly interested in the cheap, good house they would likely build a small house in a rural county built by unsophisticated locals. This scenario doesn't make for a very sexy book, but it does more realistically meet with home owners' expectations than Good House Cheap House.
Rated By: Tom "Tom"
From: Unavailable
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Comments: This is the home building book I have been waiting for! I truly loved this book. It is inspiring and opened my thinking to a number of possibilities that I thought I would never be able to afford. The book shows that smart architecture and great design is within reach. It is beautiful to look at, extremely well written and informative. I particularly enjoyed seeing a range of homes and new housing ideas from all over the country. After I finished the first read I keep picking it up and finding new things.
Rated By: K. J. Evans "Jil"
From: Minneapolis, MN
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Comments: The Generous House I read the "Homes" section of our paper every week, and I am very tired of the cookie-cutter mentality in building. While it serves the purpose of providing shelter, most new home designs in the economic middle-range lack any vision beyond the two-car garage and a big entryway. Obolensky's newest book has more diverse design ideas packed in to it than any other publication of its kind. It serves up a tremendous collection of current building practices and materials. Obolensky clearly respects the ability of the imagination to find new forms in the house. This book is a great place to start generating your own ideas about how to shape the spaces you live in.
Rated By: Ron Gallas
From: Unavailable
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Comments: A great resource and read This book is one that really changes the notion of what we think we've got to have in our houses--I loved these spaces, they are funky, modern, traditional and cool--and they make me believe again in just good ol plain resourcefulness. good message, beautiful photos, great book.
Rated By: Polly Rodino
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Buy It I loved this book. The author brings an artist's eye to her subject of beautiful, yet affordable homes. Although it can double as a coffee table book, once you pick it up you will be instantly inspired by the myriad possiblities for your own home--possibilities that just might be within your reach. Obolensky clearly knows her subject matter. Perhaps she'll turn her talents to television home remodeling and let me be her first client.
Rated By: AnneK "Annie"
From: Chicago, IL
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Comments: An inspiration I loved the book. It presented practical, functional, beautiful homes to those of us that assumed that extraordinary design was only for the extraordinarily rich. It will sit on my coffee table as an inspiration.... and a reminder that some day I could possibly have MY dream house
Rated By: M. D'Amico
From: Minnesota
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Comments: Inspired spaces At last! A thoughtful, affordable and inspired alternative to the warehouse superstore home design mentality. A dream home first implies the ability to dream; to imagine space and the inspired habitation of that space. This book is the stuff that dreams are made of-house design that is practical and innovative, eclectic and cool. Good House Cheap House is a revelation.
Rated By: J. Folina
From: Minneapolis, MN
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Comments: Good House Cheap House Great Book This is a lovely book both in its content and its presentation. Each of the homes selected has unique, intriguing features, about which Obolensky writes with flair and enthusiasm. The writing style is uniformly crisp and elegant; and the content moves at a lively pace between different interesting details in different houses. The photographs are gorgeous, showing a variety of perspectives in beautiful light. The presentation and organization (choices of colors for borders, varying the shapes of photos, written inserts) are also visually pleasing and inviting. It is a great coffee table book, but it is not just a "picture book". It provides useful information, in that it provides examples of inexpensive, creative ways to improve our own living spaces - useful, especially, to those of us who are not so creative ourselves. The optimistic message is that almost any house can be made "good".
Rated By: J. Kucera
From: Chicago, IL
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Comments: A great house book... almost A wonderful selection of homes, a variety of spaces, innovative uses for commercial materials, and absolutely gorgeous photographs. One big drawback: no floor plans.
Rated By: Cate
From: Portland, OR
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Comments: Very Well Done Thank you, Kira Obolensky! This book does a great job of showing how people combined creative thinking and pragmatic spending to end up with beautiful, affordable homes in a wide range of styles. That's a huge accomplishment for the home owners, and the author and photographer of this book.
I've only had the book a couple days and already I've gleaned some excellent cost-saving ideas. I can't think of any other book that appeals to my sense of aesthetics and need for frugality in the way this book does.
Rated By: Robert E. Heller
From: Denver, CO
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Comments: great ideas For readers who want to explore outside the box of track homes, and boring design.
Rated By: A. Kuyper
From: Shonto, AZ
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Comments: OK, but ... Good pictures and layout. This book does give some good ideas, still, like many home picture books, it's a great photo portfolio and not entirely practical for the ordinary person. Also, lack of room/house plans makes it difficult to see how everything works and makes it difficult to copy a particular layout.
Rated By: Steven J. Resis
From: Unavailable
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Comments: ideas for the house The book has some very good, inexpensive ways to update your home.definately worth the price !
Rated By: C. Maheux
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Disappointing Most of the book dealt with improving existing construction, not building new .... & most of it was very modern & brightly coloured.
The 27 homes in Good House Cheap House prove that good design doesn't have to cost a fortune. What goes into making a good, cheap house? As writer Kira Obolensky discovers, there are three main ingredients: adventuresome homeowners who are actively involved; cutting-edge architects and designers who can solve tough design challenges; and an array of innovative uses of materials. Industrial bridge 
