Unlock Your Creative Potential: Designing a Home to Inspire Ideas and Ignite Innovation

TJS - Writer: The opening quote in Rattner’s book got me thinking:

‘We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us’ by Winston Churchill

Rattner observed that our home can be designed to make us more creative by subliminally influencing how your think, feel and act. People have been designing building to evoke calculated responses for thousands of years. Ancient Greek temples for feelings of awe, Gothic Cathedrals – a sense of reverence and palaces like Versailles the impression of power. On a humbler scale, a carpenter may erect a teahouse in a Japanese garden for a sense of serenity.

Working in creativity and innovation I’ve long been interested in how we can influence our environment to help is to think differently. My colleague Barbara Wilson wrote a chapter in our book, Creativity Cycling, on how space influences creativity within the context of the workplace. I liked that the focus of this book was on designing your home to stimulate ideas and spark innovation.

The author provides insight on the impact of lofty ceilings, displaying art and memorabilia, employing curved surfaces, letting in natural light, adjusting the thermometer and...

Australia on Jan 10, 2023

Amazon Customer: Ok- I was a bit hesitant to order this book… using ‘evidence based approaches’ to design… which I thought to be a bit ‘contrived’ … I must admit… but since it arrived .. it has become one of my most beloved go-to book on design and how to make my living space more ‘creatively attractive’ to myself… I. Short - the difference t chapters give solid advice for work space; hoppy space; small office space etc. it gives good ideas of color usage (eg use blue walls - accent walls for calming experiences)… and no Knox’s space for feeling the space… at times if still think it’s a bit “preachey” but I love (yes *love*) taking it off my table and just read one of the concise chapters. Like the photos and examples and - hey- I found this book inspires me more to look around and consider its practical and theoretical pointers than any other “design book” I have… it doesn’t have “all the answers” but it helps you getting there… your own style .. so I’ll give it a 9.8/10 -

United States on Jun 19, 2022

Cliente de Amazon: Lleno de conceptos e ideas para crear o adecuar el espacio y entorno proclives para aumentar la creatividad, ayuda a entrar en "flujo", excelente calidad de gráficos. Muy recomendable.

Mexico on Dec 15, 2021

Yvonne: This book is a nice addition to my collection of books on creativity. Rather than style, this book looks at how to adapt your space so that it makes you more creative. It does this by explaining why and how the tips work based on scientific research in the field of creativity. While a lot of the individual tips are fairly common, there's probably some new ideas in there for everyone. Mine was about the color blue and research showing it helps induce divergent thinking.

Unfortunately, the author doesn't actually give references for the research it cites, so it's impossible to look up the research and decide for yourself if you like the author's interpretation. The whole book seems focused on wealthy readers who have the time and inclination to put all their lights on timers to match the light changes through out the day. All of the pictures show very streamlined spaces. Lot's of Swedish design and austerity. I didn't want to work in any of them. I like more color and softness in my creative space.

There also weren't a lot of specific ideas on how to implement the tips. The author seemed in general to be more interested in the big picture than the details. But once I...

United States on Aug 25, 2021

lyntrom: I really liked the fact the the author included great examples in photographs thoughout this book as he explained each concept. Some very interesting studies and examples were included.

Canada on Feb 09, 2021

Santa Murniece: Amazing book!!!

United Kingdom on Dec 13, 2020

KH Sonrisa: As a creativity professional with a masters degree in creativity and change leadership, I have read hundreds of books on the topic. My Creative Space has now become one of my all-time favorites. It's hard to believe that a book on home design could achieve this coveted spot; that's because this book is so much more than a book on space design. Donald Rattner has successfully build this book on a foundation of insights from top thinkers and academic studies in the science of creativity. There are three specific elements of this book that stood out to me.

First, Rattner's writing is exquisite. His prose, subtle humor, and the depth of writing all weave together to create a truly riveting book for a creativity nerd and the general public alike, not to mention his inclusion of ideas from top creativity experts and vignettes from famous creators. The book is filled with substance.

Second, the very design of the book (including its size) serves as a creative environment in and of itself. The author's choice of photography is exquisite and almost transports the reader into the spaces of which he writes.

Finally, the content of the book builds upon the scientific...

United States on Sep 27, 2020

RatherBeReading: As a Baby Boomer with a child finally moving out I was looking for ideas to set up my own pleasant space in her room- a den/sewing-needle work/art space- things I haven't really had space for- and chanced on this book. Unfortunately I only focused on the beginning of the title "My Creative Space: How to design..." which is not about setting up a little 'me space'. When I started reading it got a little too in depth- just not what I was looking for- which made me start flipping pages to find the pictures. The funny thing was I kept getting drawn in to the different ideas, beliefs, examples of great people, and statistics, on how to create an entire home and lifestyle conducive to the innovated, creative, young entrepreneur, that he was really writing about. I basically did this right up until I got to the end, highlighting passages over and over again, much to my surprise. Too funny. A lot can be applied to what I'd like to do with the room, but also in changing my own living habits. Donald Rattner goes into sleeping better hours, ambient lighting, taking showers and baths, keeping a journal or notebook close by for your ideas and thoughts, brainwaves, sharing ideas with others,...

United States on Jun 17, 2020

Kellie mcloughlin: Nearly half way through and really enjoying this book. Due to buy my first house and wanted to know more about design and how best to put my interiors together. Yes, a lot is simply common sense but the author has written the book in an insightful and fascinating way that makes you think and pay attention even more. Thank you

United Kingdom on Mar 28, 2020