The New Bungalow Kitchen Hardcover – March 27, 2007

Favorite book when building our Craftsman house. Lots of wonderful ideas & photos.

This book is really helpful. The bungalows in my area are not "pure" bungalows- and Labau says that there is a lot of variation in bungalows and I am now confident that the house I was looking at is a bungalow. Many other books show the 3 classic types of bungalow and that's it. I got the Kindle Edition of this book and it was so helpful that I ordered 2 hardcovers on bungalow design suggested by Amazon (in the "you may also like" that were not available in the Kindle Edition. The other two were okay but not as good as this one. I am planning to buy the hardcover of the Labau book because my Kindle is B&W so I read it on my tablet. It is the type of book where I would like to look back and another page or ahead and that's tougher for me to do on the tablet reader. Some reviewers commented on the pictures. If you are only buying this for the pictures, it seems that Taunton Press books use many of the same pictures in different titles. If you have others by Taunton Press, some of them may be in this book as well, but Labau has mostly kitchen pictures.

What a joy to pick up a book and see photos of lovely kitchens in my size -- meaning, not McMansion. I am so disheartened by all the kitchen porn featuring 48 inch ranges under huge hoods behind islands with seating for six! Though the book specifically references the bungalow style, the photos and narrative describe how the Colonials and Tudors evolved early in the century, and there is plenty of visual and descriptive information applicable to these styles too. I especially liked the emphasis on finding ways to use authentic materials and styling while incorporating modern appliances, from lighting to cooking and even surfaces. The earlier book, Bungalow Kitchens, took on a very proscriptive voice, for example, absolutely banning in-ceiling spot lights. New Bungalow Kitchens, by contrast, is much more ecumenical, recognizing it is no sin to want to acknowledge and utilize the best of the current offerings, and provides real guidance on how to accomplish this without blatantly violating the period aesthetic. There are lovely kitchens in both dark stained and light painted finishes. It seems the author has a few favorite kitchens that were pictured over and over throughout the book. But the ones he chose certainly bore up well in their close-ups. I got several ideas that I can actually use, in fact, probably more ideas than I can actually use.

and hired the architect! Peter designed our new home with every bit of the design, art sense and historical knowledge / context he brings to this book on kitchens. Wonderful pictures, good solid information - it was a wonderful source of ideas as we built our new home. If you like bungalow style, you'll enjoy this kitchen book. Our new home is not bungalow style, I do love that style however not only for it's simple beauty but for the many practical aspects it encompasses. The images in this book gave us a lot of good discussion points as we worked through the details of the kitchen.

We finished building our new Craftsman home a few months ago. This book was very helpful in determining how we should create a kitchen that looked like it belongs in a bungalow, while keeping with modern conveniences. The chapters cover every detail from top to bottom, wall to wall, and there are beautiful photos that help you visualize each point. This book would be helpful for new homes like ours, and also for restorations. It shows how you can bring bungalow style to your home without it looking outdated and old. For me, this book was much more useful than "Bungalow Kitchens" by Jane Powell, which is more for the obsessive bungalow restorer. Peter LaBau shows you how you can utilize modern materials and conveniences in a "bungalow" way.

This book is a godsend for remodeling a vintage bungalow kitchen so that the new kitchen blends with the rest if the house, and so the final product is functional for today’s homeowner’s needs. Tons of great color pictures and chockfull of ideas and solutions.

I'll be honest - I bought it for the pictures. We are in the process of remodeling our 1920s shingle craftsman kitchen and wanted ideas. Imagine our surprise when we noticed the same picture on three pages... then another on two.. then another on two. Instead of getting more case studies, the authors just reprinted some photos several times in several chapters to draw out the length of the book. Sure they had additional info in subsequent chapters but couldn't it have just been consolidated to make space for more photos?Also, a number of these kitchens are repetitive and a few are just completely incorrect in terms of 'bungalow style'. But it is a pretty book and the quality of the printing is good. So, three stars...

To replicate what you see here you will need gobs of money unless you do a lot of it yourself. And you can! Remember that the constructs of the Bungalow/A&C period were designed for a primarily a hand-tool-equipped workforce. Modern materials (less expense) and tools (less and easier work) make these visions achievable by a patient and committed DIYer. Either way, the end product will be of historical interest and lasting aesthetic pleasure.