We were thrilled to be invited to the recent launch party of our friends at Remodelista’s new book Remodelista: A Manual for the Considered Home. And we were equally thrilled to walk away with a copy. We found it to be chock full of practical info and stories reminiscent of the early Remodelista (we’ve been reading it THAT long).

We especially loved some of the case studies of clever home design solutions, like The Reinvented Rental Kitchen. How many of us have been stuck with a kitchen we can’t stand looking at, and don’t want to invest a lot of money in because it isn’t ours? The best ideas: covering the granite countertops by “wrapping” them with maple veneer plywood, sealed with a water-based protective finish…

…and using thin slats of paintable tongue-and-groove oak flooring to cover the funky linoleum…

The book is full of realistic, budget/time/energy-conscious design ideas like these Straight-from-the-Bolt curtains: no sewing necessary:

And this simple lovely idea that many overlook: Using a dining table as a desk.

Having been through a renovation ourselves, we found the section Remodeling Reality full of wisdom and good advice.

We’re thinking Remodelista would make a much appreciated gift for many people on our list who are always on the lookout for updating/renewing/shifting/hacking their space.