Home & Garden

Small is beautiful—and responsible. Compact Houses invites you into a handful of unique and sustainable modern homes, cabins and getaways located around the world. Step in and see how thoughtful, efficient design can be had using only a small ecological footprint. —V.L.

No longer the domain of the backyard, treehouses have grown up and gone Architectural Digest. In lush photographs, author Alain Laurens documents a number of exquisitely-designed treehouses—liveable homes that are built on top of, as well as in and around trees and groves—from an international cast of green architects. Laurens shows that it is possible to live high in the trees with minimal impact but with maximal design and comfort. —V.L.

It seems like we understand the home as purposeful only through endless consumption. Hayes reminds us that the home can instead be a site of meaningful social production, with its own economy based on self-sufficiency and community. Through profiling different women and men who have opted out of consumer cultures and committed themselves to homemaking, Hayes offers an interesting, compelling, and inspiring guide to undermining a problematic system and returning home. —K.M.S.

Almost anything you may need to do around the home you can do yourself! You don't have to go out and buy bread, smoothies, jam, a dishwasher, toxic cleaning products, scarves, a manicure, beer, et cetera, because you can make or do all these things at home at a fraction of the cost. This book is great for the person who is looking to practice some domestic arts and cut back on unnecessary spending. —Saraphine

Photosynthesis is one of those ordinary, everyday occurrences that, if you stop to think about it, will completely blow your mind. Award winning science writer Oliver Morton has shed some light (sorry) on this fascinating topic in this new book, which also serves as a call to arms in a time when this delicate, life-sustaining process is threatened by climate change. —Kat