The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough

by Sarah Nettleton

For everyone who craves a simpler lifestyle, not only in how they live but also where they live, The Simple Home features 21 houses and presents six different approaches to creating a home that realizes its full potential both simply and elegantly.
We are living in complex times, in a commodified, virtual, and overstimulated culture. One response to high levels of complexity and overstimulation is to look for yet another gadget or closet organizer to simplify our lives. But the answer lies somewhere else. The road to a simpler more satisfying life begins with a clear-eyed examination of the choices we are making for our time--and that includes choices about where we want to live.
The Simple Home presents six paths to simplicity, each illustrated by human-scaled, unadorned homes with straightforward floor plans and forms. These are open, light-filled homes (with rooms or spaces that are often multipurpose) that express their beauty in their utility and practicality. Simple homes are low maintenance and often green, designed for homeowners who wish to embody a different set of values in their housing choices than the run-of-the-mill starter castles littering the landscape.
The 6 Paths to
1. Simple is Enough
2. Simple is Thrifty
3. Simple is Flexible
4. Simple is Timeless
5. Simple is Sustainable
6. Simple is Refined

Genres: Nonfiction, Architecture, Interior Design, Design

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[Dayna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not what I was expecting. And not in a good way. I like simple homes. I like the philosophy of "the luxury of enough." I want ideas and tips as I set up my home, wanting to keep it simple. I want practical advice, a sort of "live simple" guide for setting up house, for creating a home. Not designing a house. Making a home. There's a bit of that, but this read like the poor man's version of Susanka's Not So Big House. Been there, done that. And the photography does not make up for the lack of substance. It is unoriginal, uninspired. Nettleton gives a summary definition of a simple home (a good start), and then examples follow in subsequent chapters. I didn't find very many of the houses to be all that simple or practical, and aspects of the featured designs still seemed luxurious to me. The title and cover are misleading. Also, something that drove me crazy, a design feature would be mentioned in the text about a particular home, but then there wouldn't be a photo of it. This looks and reads very much like a book for rich people who want to "design down," and the good bits of design tips and simple-living philosophy can be found elsewhere. On blogs. With better photography.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do we own objects or do they own us? Embracing the Thoreau-ean philosophy of simplicity, simplicity, simplicity, this fantastic book encourages us to let go of what we think we should have—the trappings of status and wealth—and find comfort in the “luxury of enough.” The author posits that when we are distracted by excess, we can’t enjoy the more basic pleasures in life like morning sunlight and the smell of coffee. Mmmm.

The book explores 21 “simple homes” around the U.S.—small and large, urban and rural, high tech and low tech, old and new. Things these homes have in common include light, space, imperfection (the front cover of the book prominently features a dust bunny), comfort, flexibility, rooms with overlapping purposes, and materials that are easy to maintain. Ideally, our homes should leave us with enough time and money to enjoy our lives.

What I love most about this book is it doesn’t subscribe to the type of extreme modernism or minimalism engendered by the de-clutter movement. It’s more about living deliberately, unpretentiously. Saving money and the environment are just side benefits.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but unfocused.

[Esther · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a book I expected. Ended up flipping through just to look at the photos. Didn't get much inspiration.

[Shelah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sure, the homes in The Simple Home don't have a lot of junk in them. They're probably smaller than their owners could afford. But they're still, by any stretch of the imagination, fancy houses for rich people-- just rich people who don't like a lot of tchotchkes. I did love one of the renovations, a California house in which the architects added half a house to the back of an existing modest ranch house to make it super-fabulous. There's also a long window-seat idea that I want to steal for the guest room/office in our next house, if I can figure out a way for it to work. Books like this make me want to have lots of built-ins in my next house. But I don't think that if I had a house like the ones profiled in this book, beautiful as they are, that I'd call it a simple house. Beautiful, yes? Simple-- compared with what?

[Beth Yeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I waited for this to come via the interlibrary loan after I saw it on a shelf in a Wayzata bookstore. It was worth the wait. It had soothing photos and a focus on a conscious approach to living that I felt was heartfelt and resonated with me. MN was well represented. I enjoyed a nice Sunday morning at our kitchen "coffeeshop" enjoying the winter sunshine, good tea, and this book--savoring my own simple pleasures.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great interior design/architecture book. I like how the author broke the concept of a "simple" home down into 6 characteristics, and then illustrated those with sample homes ranging from traditional farmhouses and cabins to modern city lofts. A little wordy, but great photography and a concept I can really get behind.

[Michelle Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the pictures, and even though some of the homes were from families with children I don't know how practical it is to simply to these extremes with little ones. Maybe I shouldn't use the word "practical" but "realistic." Looking through these pages makes you want to get rid of EVERYTHING though!!

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uninspiring pictures of regular-looking homes.
This book focused more on the practical, but not for the average joe. Practical for people with loads of money with which to make major architectural design changes to their homes.
So I didn't get beautiful design pictures and I didn't get helpful or inspiring text on truly living simply.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Normally when I see a coffee table like this I expect big, beautiful pictures. This book did not let me down in this regard, instead it exceeded my expectations by also providing quality information that was interesting and insightful.

[Relyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the idea behind this book, but the houses were not to my taste. Far too sparse. Still, I liked the author's idea of the luxury of enough. And the stories of real people who did away with excess. Interesting.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a person who is happiest when my surroundings are as spare as possible, the beautiful photography of many of these homes is eye candy to me. Definitely an inspiration and could be a great guide if you have the means to hire an architect or the skills to do some of this work yourself.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty pictures - some are very inspiring - but overall the book lacked in substance and real exploration of simple living and its affect on one's home.

[Margot · Rating 3 out of 5]

beautiful photos and nice simplicity philosophy, but I couldn't find much I could directly use.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huge homes in remote locales that necessitate driving miles for even a simple grocery store run (and the huge amounts of fossil fuels to enable that lifestyle). Simple indeed.

[Tami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love looking at homes and this didn't disappoint. I really appreciate the new methods of sustainability.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

might one day own this book

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photos of old homes and their interiors.

[Agnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cabin, cottage, farmhouse style homes with simple but warm colors.

[Chronicler of Creepy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected at all. As other reviewers noted, these houses are extravagant, filled intense distracting decor, and offer little inspiration. The author encourages living with enough--after all it's in the subtitle--but the pictures that accompany it do not always reflect that message. If you are a fan of contemporary or modern minimalist architecture and design, this book is *not* for you.