Home and house maintenance Books

Learn to attract and feed a variety of orioles with this pocket-sized guide.The flaming orange of the male Baltimore Oriole is always splendid to see. And the oriole's familiar series of whistle songs pleasantly reminds us that spring has arrived. You...

Learn to attract and feed a variety of hummingbirds with this pocket-sized guide.The glittering throat patch of the male Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a worthy adornment for this princely bird. And what else can captivate a bird watcher as much as a...

Learn to attract and feed a variety finches with this pocket-sized guide. The bold yellow color of the male American Goldfinch is a welcome sight in any summer garden. And the pleasing songs and high-pitched calls of all the finches truly bring your yard...

Learn to attract and feed cardinals with this pocket-sized guide.The vibrant red of the male Northern Cardinal is stunning any time of year-and nothing is more beautiful than the early spring duets of cardinals singing their hearts out. You love these...

Learn to attract and feed Eastern, Western, and Mountain Bluebirds with this pocket-sized guide.The Eastern Bluebird's blend of sky blue and rusty orange is a happy sprinkle of color in any backyard or garden. Easily tamed and full of personality,...

Helpful tips, space-saving tricks and DIY projects for making a shoebox apartment beautifully functional. This handy pocket guide enables readers to transform a tiny apartment into a welcoming, delightful and adorable abode...

Grow twice the fruits and vegetables in half the space on the farm, in the backyard, or in your window! The Ultimate Guide to Soil begins with a personality test for your soil, then uses that information to plan a course of action for...

Prepare your child for the unpredictable through 52 prepper projects. Teach them basic outdoors survival skills, first aid, how to create their own "bug-out bag," and more.

Imagine putting together a big breakfast using eggs straight from your own chickens and bacon from the pig. This is an ideal that many dream of but few ever get to experience. Now, with The Ultimate Guide to Raising Farm Animals, that dream can become a...

A field-tested guide to surviving a nuclear attack, written by a revered civil defense expert.This edition of Cresson H. Kearny's iconic Nuclear War Survival Skills (originally published in 1979), updated by Kearny himself in 1987 and again in 2001,...

*Shortlisted for Australian Book Design Awards 2021: Best Designed Autobiography/Biography/Memoir Nonfiction Cover* Like many people, Beth Terry didn't think an individual could have much impact on the environment. But while laid up after...

This lavish book from Veranda-the magazine that knows the art of luxurious living-offers a wealth of ideas for creating exceptional outdoor rooms and spaces.  You're invited to enjoy abundant gardens, elegant porches, stunning...

Based on House Beautiful's popular color column, this pocket-sized handbook shows how a simple coat of paint can set the mood and add a designer's touch in any room.  This gorgeous primer showcases more than 450 colors...

From a festive gathering on a terrace overlooking Central Park to an extravaganza in the south of France, Veranda’s stunning collection captures the art and allure of elegant entertaining. It’s the magazine’s ultimate...

Bringing together the collective wisdom of a past generation of craftsmen, Traditional Toolmaking provides an in-depth record of the skills and techniques that made the mass production revolution of the twentieth century possible. When first published in...

How the mindset of traditional Japanese society can guide our own efforts to lead a green lifestyle today.If we want to live sustainably, how should we feel about nature? About waste? About our forests and rivers? About food? Just Enough is a book of...

The traditional American devices contained in this intriguing compilation date from an era long before milking machines, pesticide sprayers, and industrial hay bailers. Yet the simple inventions described for doing everything from managing young bulls to...

Free yourself and your family from the f*cking clutter before you croak!Inspired by The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, Nobody Wants Your Sh*t will light a fire under your untidy ass with humor and helpful organizing tips that you'll actually want...

"Eve's brave and honest experiment reveals the shocking impact of the throwaway society we've become and at the same time showing small ways we can all do better." -Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, founder of Plastic Free JulyYear of No Garbage is Super Size Me...

Most people use nail polish remover to remove nail polish. They use coffee grounds to make coffee and hair dryers to dry their hair. The majority of people may also think that the use of eggs, lemons, mustard, butter, and mayonnaise should be restricted...

A practical back-to-basics guide to achieving food security and financial independence.What if you could really raise or grow all the food your family needs? In this fully illustrated book, you'll learn to create an autonomous, diversified, and...

Simple, practical, and inspiring tips for cooking, baking, and cleaning!The kitchen isthe 'hub' of any house. With this compilation of helpful hints, you can keep it running smoothly.Find hacks for the care of kitchen appliances,...

Over 1,000 Tips for Gardening, Country Cooking, Saving Money, DIY Cleaning Solutions, Home Remedies, and More!This comprehensive collection of practical tips covers all aspects of keeping a country home, from painting a wall to removing wine stains,...

Get started with simple, useful, handcrafted woodworking projects for everyday people - with only 12 basic tools!Lots of people want to try woodwork, but they get intimidated by dangerous power tools and difficult techniques. Good news: there are lots of...

Rental Style, which doubles as a decor piece and handy design guide, shows readers how to decorate and organise small, rented spaces on a budget. The book will cover all home development stages from searching for a rental home to decorating and...

Build Fences, Make Goat Milk Soap, Create Goat Play Structures, and Much More!Get ready to jump into the world of goats, one DIY project at a time. Owning and raising goats doesn't have to be an expensive venture. With imagination, simple tools, and...

A practical and beautiful guide to companion planting for organic gardening successCompanion planting techniques have been used for centuries to facilitate better, more nutritious, and more abundant crops. With Companion Planting, you'll have all the...

Learn the logistics of choosing windows, insulation, appliances, and lighting. Find out about FSC certified wood and about using reclaimed materials. Here is everything you need to make your home sustainable.Whether the reader is building a new home or...

Easy and Effective Strategies to Jumpstart a Sustainable, Waste-Free LifestyleWe have a worldwide trash epidemic. The average American disposes of 4.4 pounds of garbage per day, and our landfills hold 254 million tons of waste.What if there were a...

What's not to love about goats? They will feed you, clean up the overgrown mess in the fields, and take long hikes with you while carrying your supplies. They will make you laugh when you're sad, provide extra income for even the smallest farm, carry you...

Homesteading From Scratch is for people who want to do things differently-the type of people who want to eat real food, grow herbs, make cheese, raise baby animals, hunt mushrooms, pick blackberries, unschool their children, can jelly, ferment kraut,...

A stylish and inspiring guide for living a happier life in balance with the natural world.Minimal: For Simple and Sustainable Living offers readers inspiration and tools to embrace simple living and create meaningful, lasting change in their lives. From...

From the publishers of a popular series of building books comes Small Homes, which is highly relevant for these times. Getting smaller, rather than larger. Some 75 builders share their knowledge of building and design, with artistic, practical,...

Tiny Homes on the Move chronicles 21st-century nomads - people who inhabit homes that are compact and mobile, either on wheels or in the water. In photos and stories, this fascinating book explores modern travelers who live in vans, pickup...

There's a grassroots movement in tiny homes these days. The real estate collapse, the economic downturn, burning out on 12-hour workdays many people are rethinking their ideas about shelter seeking an alternative to high rents, or a lifelong mortgage...

This is a thorough, non-technical handbook and guide to the basics of septic systems - the physical process that takes place in the septic system and the simple technology needed to make it work. Emphasis is on conventional...

Updated and expanded! The authoritative guide to conceiving and launching your own home-based food business from idea to recipe to final product. Follow your dream to launch a food business from your home and join the booming movement of food...

Stop thinking about efficiency and start thinking about sufficiency.Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle reveals the carbon cost of everything we do, identifying where we can make big reductions, while not sweating the small stuff.The international scientific...

Expanded and updated second edition of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, 2018, Vegan Category Winner.Learn the craft of making authentic, delicious non-dairy cheese from acknowledged master plant-based cheesemaker Karen McAthy. Comprehensively updated...

Start a peaceful revolution by planting an edible ecosystem and sharing the experience with your neighboursHumans have always thrived in rich, diverse, edible ecosystems. Yet most cities and suburbs are blanketed by lawns, ornamentals, and a lack of...

Grow vegetables year-round in a greenhouse powered only by solar energy Originally developed in China to feed millions, Chinese greenhouses are earth-sheltered, solar-heated, east-west oriented, intelligently glazed, and well-insulated. They have proven...

The updated bestselling guide to laid-back beekeeping for all, naturally! Are you a beginner beekeeper curious about bees or a practicing beekeeper looking for natural alternatives that work? Then this book is for you! In the second edition of the...

A delicious alternative to the status quo when it comes to how we farm, cook, and eat Nutrition, environmental impact, ethics, sustainability - it seems like there's no end to the food factors we must consider. At the center of the dietary storm is...

Simple green roof design and installation for the do-it-yourself builder Essential Green Roof Construction is a comprehensive, in-depth guide to building simple green roofs for houses and small buildings. Packed with detailed photos, illustrations, case...

The devil is in the details - the science and art of designing and building durable, efficient, straw bale buildings Straw bale buildings promise superior insulation and flexibility across a range of design aesthetics, while using a typically...

Design a rainwater harvesting system for any home in any climate.Water is a crucial resource increasingly under stress. Yet rainfall, even in arid climates, can make up a sizable portion of any home, acreage, or farm's water requirements if harvested and...

From wastestream to mainstream, a practical guide to composting toilet systems.Composting toilets are a key feature for local resilience, money saving, water conservation, resource recovery, septic system replacement, and an improved bathroom experience...

Natural plasters made of clay, lime, and other materials mixed with sand are beautiful building finishes. Fun to work with, low-impact, and allowing infinite creativity, they are high performance and provide proven, centuries-long durability.Yet until...