House Envy

I'm looking through "Inside the Not So Big House: Discovering the Details that Bring a Home to Life" by Sarah Susanka and Marc Vassallo. I think that I would gladly trade my so big house for any of these little jewels (well, maybe not the 650 square foot condo.) Frankly, with at least one house at 4000 square feet, Susanka is stressing the detailing and thoughtful design of these homes more than their compactness and efficiency. The styles range from modernist ranch to arts and crafts bungalow to a houseboat, but all feature beautiful wood and are carefully crafted with unusual and useful features. It's like the love child of Metropolitan Home and Pottery Barn, but without the sales pitch (except for the pitch to use an architect if you want your house to look as great as these).
This book makes me want to sell my house and build one from scratch. Or at least do some remodeling. If any of these houses had basements full of ugly wallpaper and scratchy rough cedar paneling, they did not get them featured in this book.