Reclaiming space in Google Reader

While this technique still works, the CSS is out of date with the latest changes from Google.

Here's a previous post on how to change the Google+ bar without installing a chrome extension.

Call me paranoid, but I don't like giving 3rd party extensions access to my logged in gmail or reader pages.

Simply edit Chrome's style override document and add this bit of magic css.

Custom.css (Updated Nov 3)

#gbx4 { zoom: .8!important; height:28px !important; background-color: #F1F1F1 !important;}
#gbx3 {height: auto !important;}
#gb {height: 24px !important;}
#top-bar {zoom: .8 !important; height:auto !important}
#header  {zoom: .8 !important;} 
#lhn-add-subscription-section {zoom: .8!important; !important; height:32px !important} 
#sections-header {zoom: .8!important; !important; height:32px !important}
#recent-activity {zoom: .8!important; !important; height:auto !important}
#logo {zoom:.8!important; height:40px !important}
#logo-section {zoom:.8 !important; height:auto !important}
#viewer-header {zoom:.8 !important; height:32px !important}
#title-and-status-holder {zoom:.8 !important; }

Before:

After

Now the results aren't perfect and they could break; however, you'll reclaim some much needed space on laptop screens.

On the Mac, the file can be found here:
~/Library/Application\Support/Google/Chrome/Default/User\ StyleSheets/Custom.css
(Thanks Michael!)