Disappointingly shallow. The outline of the book seemed promising. Part 1 had you develop an "emotional blueprint" of your home where you would find areas of your home that do no support you emotionally or functionally (because a room that does not function right is an emotional sink). Part two was built around "house rules" which explained various rules that rooms should follow (e.g., rooms should actually be lived in, comfortable, organized, etc.). Part three went through the major common rooms in a home and analyzed them.

All that made for a great book idea, but the execution was shallow. The authors made unsubstantiated claims that did not take cultural variations into account (e.g., the emotional effect of colors) and they gave lots of nice sounding generalities without providing much specific advice.

An illustrative example can be found in the discussion of televisions and living room furniture arrangement. They say things like (my commentary in italics):

increasingly [the living room] has become a place where families and friends commune with video games and the television set instead of with others. The result is an increasingly alienated society with a growing sense of disconnection [unsubstantiated claim of causation]. ... In this room, group dynamics depend on the layout of your furniture. Social scientists have identified sociopetal seating as an arrangement that encourages participation and communication -- chairs that face each other and are not too far apart, but far enough to give some sense of personal space. In essence, you want to create a congenial conversation pit where comfortable chairs and sofas encircle a coffee table, with lamps for accent lighting that bring out everyone's best features and a focal point that puts everyone in an upbeat, talkative mood. [okay, but is that the only option? and how do we integrate the television? It's not going away just because you don't like it.]

The book was filled with passages like this. I could agree with the sentiment, was doubtful of many of the claims, and, most importantly, was constantly left asking, "So how do I actually implement that?" ( )