Learn » Design Ideas & Inspirations »
Interior Design Books
Books are the best sources of information. They contain records of the past and present so you can compare progress through generations. Regardless of whether you’re looking for creative inspiration, interior design ideas, knowledge of design concepts, or simply trying to understand different styles and design rules, books are the holy grail to find everything you need.
From projects by top interior designers who made history to practical tips for the everyday homeowner, you’ll find everything you need in a book!
Interior design books won’t only improve your knowledge but will also inspire your creative side. The more you read, you open your mind to different perspectives. You understand how design affects the way humans feel about their homes, and the impact that design ideas have on the well-being of the inhabitants when they are at home or at the commercial real estate you design.
If you’re on the hunt for something to read next in order to inspire the best home decor ideas, we have prepared a list of the best interior design books and tomes. This collection is the epitome of ideas to prep for your next big design project.
These books discuss everything from choosing the right paint colors for the walls to the artwork that best befit the theme of the rooms.
They share insights from tastemakers at the top of the industry including intricate decor ideas such as chinoiserie art pieces, perfectly placing diy pieces to highlight their special connection to the homeowners, maximalist and minimalist ideas from home stylists, and more.
Some of the new books also discuss bloggers that you need to follow to remain at the top of your game, especially in a competitive market in larger developing markets such as the New York real estate, Orange County, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.
So, let’s get down to discussing the best books on Interior Design
Also, Read: 17 Best Interior Design Magazines and Blogs
Image Credit: decorbooks.co.uk
15 Best Interior Design Books That You Must Read
- Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave
- Playbook For The New Normal – Foyr Neo
- It’s the Little Things: Creating Big Moments in Your Home Through The Stylish Small Stuff
- Edesign Business Blueprint – Foyr Neo
- A House By the Sea by Bunny Williams
- Styled: Secrets for arranging rooms, from tabletops to bookshelves by Emily Henderson
- Evocative Style by Kelly Wearstler
- Everything: A Maximalist Style Guide
- Jungalow: Decorate Wild by Justina Blakeney
- Inspired Design: The 100 Most Important Designers of the Past 100 Years
- Habitat: The Field Guide to Decorating
- Domino: The Book of Decorating
- Rebecca Atwood: Living With Pattern Coffee Table Book
- New York School of Interior Design: Home: The Foundations of Enduring Spaces
- The Kinfolk Home: A Book for Fulfilling, Slow Living
1. Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave
If you’re a fan of HGTV’s Fixer Upper, where Chip and Joanna Gaines transform houses into aesthetically pleasing homes, then this book by Joanna Gaines is something you’d want to add to your to-be-read list.
This book talks about how decorators can personalize the home decor to not only appease the client with aesthetics but also optimize it to the personality of the homeowner.
- Kindle – $22.99
- Hardcover – $20.90
Also, Read: 15 Best Home Design Games
Image Credit: newsweek.com
2. Interior Design Playbook In The New Normal From Foyr Neo
You can download the e-book as well as the audio format: The Playbook for Interior Design in the New Normal | Foyr Neo
The idea in this book is to help decorators find a balance between their creative side and blend it with the client’s need for practicality. After all the clients have to start and end their day at home surrounded by the decor that you choose. It has to feel personal on every level.
You can also find practical design tips for implementing a combination of classic and contemporary ideas for an eclectic vibe in farmhouses, townhouses, industrial layouts, and classic pre-war homes. it helps decorators reign in a new era of transforming a real estate property into a home.
3. It's the Little Things: Creating Big Moments in Your Home Through The Stylish Small Stuff by Susanna Salk
This book features beautiful design details and arrangements that fill a home with personality. Design advice from the world’s top designers, such as Bunny Williams, Alessandra Branca, John Derian, and others come directly to you through this incredible set of guidelines for home design.
Salk shares design tips from her own home to add richness and personality to any interior, like adding trims and tassels, an upholstered chair in a corner, or an artistic mirror in an entry hall. To surround ourselves with things we love.
If you love decorating and want to take your home to a whole new level, this is definitely a book you want to read.
- Available on Amazon for $45
- Rizzoli Bookstore for $45.03
Quick Read: 15 Best Free Interior Design Software
Image Credit: amazon.ca
4. E-design Business Blueprint From Foyr Neo
You can download a free e-book: Get Your Free E-design Business Blueprint
This book recognizes the new norm of the world to embrace online designs on cloud-based platforms. It assists in simplifying the remote work process while providing valuable guidelines to amplify your designs using the best software applications at your disposal.
It perfectly outlines the need and implementation of digital services and how to streamline your interior design business with attention to designing, getting approval, sharing ideas, and laying out transparent business plans. It truly is the answer to your prayers as an interior designer.
Suggested Read: How To Create A Successful Interior Design Website?
5. A House By The Sea By Bunny Williams
In this book filled with aesthetic photographs, Bunny Williams takes us on a tour of her island home in the Dominican Republic, amidst tropical gardens, overlooking the Caribbean Sea.
She tells the story about the vision she and her husband shared while designing and decorating the house and gardens surrounding it while reflecting on the beauty and relaxation of island living.
Some parts are coauthored by friends, providing a different perspective of being a guest of Bunny’s and offering further insight into the architecture and decor at La Colina.
What makes this book especially enjoyable is Bunny’s practical advice for every homeowner. She addresses many things in her book, like guest room design, mixing and matching, patios, and garden design.
This book is both entertaining and inspiring. You won’t regret taking the time to flip through this gorgeous tome.
- Kindle – $16.99
- Hardcover – $43.49
Related Read: 10 Most Famous Interior Designers
Image Credit: amazon.in
6. STYLED: Secrets for Arranging Rooms, from Tabletops to Bookshelves
The author Emily Henderson is a famous HGTV and Instagram icon. Her book is a great resource of comprehensive information, especially for those who are new to the design world.
In her book, she focuses on visual elements by arranging furniture around the living room or dining room and arranging items on the bookshelves in intricate patterns that grabs attention and inspires conversation.
She points out a set of tips and rules that you can apply to clients with various tastes and styles. Layering, balancing, and scaling all play into the overall aesthetics of the space and it is the minutia that ties everything together.
- Kindle – $14.99
- Hardcover – $23.73
Suggested Read: Top 20 HGTV Personalities in Interior Design
Image Credits: Amazon.in
7. Evocative Style by Kelly Wearstler
Kelly Wearstler is one of the leading interior designers, known for her bold style and sophisticated blending of rustic with contemporary.
Her book ‘Evocative Style’ shows off Wearstler’s mastery of constructing spaces that tell a story. Each project is a mix of vintage and contemporary pieces. Keeping true to her reputation, she experiments with unique textures, patterns, and organic shapes along with custom and antique pieces of furniture, sometimes even DIY projects that fit the theme of the room.
The book is a testament to her whimsy and elegance in applying bold color palettes and geometric artwork while she pushes boundaries with her creative and rich modern interiors.
This book is a must-read for designers, home stylists, and homeowners alike for the sheer pleasure of discovering an underplayed design pattern that could change the entire outlook of the house.
Available on Amazon for $31.49
Recommended Read: 20 Most Famous Female Interior Designers
Image Credit: Amazon.com
8. Everything: A Maximalist Style Guide
‘More is more’ is the perfect way to describe Abigail Ahern’s book ‘Everything’.
In this book, you’ll learn the ins and outs of nailing the maximalist design aesthetic, from going bold with color to uniquely styling rooms with pieces of furniture.
The Maximalism style embraces vibrant color palettes including jewel tones, luxurious textiles, patterns, ornaments, and everything in between. Mixing and blending a range of interior design elements to create a dazzling space you’d be proud to call home.
If you want to learn to break the rules of interior design, play with different periodic styling in a single room, and have fun owning and displaying more items, this book is for you.
- Kindle – $22.99
- Hardcover – $43.39
Also, Read: 20 Best Interior Designers Instagram Accounts To Follow
Image Credit: amazon.com
9. Jungalow: Decorate Wild by Justina Blakeney
Justina Blakeney’s book, ‘Jungalow: Decorate Wild,’ is a true inspiration to embrace the client’s wild side with your styling ideas. From choosing prominent color palettes, adding striking patterns, and breaking away from traditional design principles, this book is the ultimate guide to wild, free-spirited, and creative interiors.
This book is one of a kind; she’s sharing a combo of uplifting inspiration mixed with DIY instructions and interior design philosophies with her memoir.
Her goal is to encourage people to find inspiration in the world, introduce vibrancy at home, and empower homeowners to find their style and voice.
Read it cover-to-cover to get your Jungalow fix!
- Kindle – $16.99
- Hardcover – $20.99
Quick Read: 7 Best Interior Design Communities
Image Credits: amazon.com
10. Inspired Design: The 100 Most Important Designers of the Past 100 Years by Jennifer Boles
If you’re a design student, this book offers a comprehensive guide to the 100 most important designers in history.
Unlike other books that address just one designer, this one features big interior designer names and their best portfolios, lessons to learn from them, and how they changed the industry and contributed to the development in the field of interior design.
Related Read: 10 Interior Design Career Paths To Become An Interior Designer
Image Credit: amazon.com
11. Habitat: The Field Guide to Decorating by Lauren Liess
Lauren is a home decor blogger and designer known for her great sense of styling and organizational skills.
In her book, she encourages readers to introduce natural elements indoors by mixing modern eclectic collections and quirky vintage decor.
In this book, she addresses:
- Fundamentals – which incorporates lists of outlines of materials, tips, and methods for creating a space
- Aesthetics – including styling, mood, authenticity, juxtaposition, comfort, luxury, charm, risk, & confidence
- A step-by-step guide for decorating each room in your home and paying special attention to the living room, bedroom, and dining room where people spend most of their time.
You’ll learn the essential elements of interior design starting with how to create a mood board befitting your client’s psychological preferences for or against certain colors, and how to tackle decor challenges.
The book is great for freshly graduated interior designers, student looking for advice on how to start creating a beautiful space, and even homeowners working on a makeover. It also makes for a beautiful coffee table book in larger real estate and interior design firms.
- Kindle – $17.27
- Hardcover – $22.99
Recommended Read: 10 Passive Income Ideas for Interior Designers
Image Credit: 7btin.net
12. Domino: The Book of Decorating
‘Domino: The Book of Decorating’ was a bestseller upon its release. It takes you room by room, providing valuable tips on how to decorate your own home or that of a client. It provides a quintessential guide to interior design with plenty of photographs of professionally decorated rooms in many different styles.
It shows real-life examples of how creative people inhabit their own spaces that may not be perfect in symmetry but appeal to the psychology of the homeowner.
The samples provide inspiration for mixing styles and subtly explain why each room needs to be treated as an individual entity with a singular character before converging with the theme of the house.
It also enunciates the significance of the pieces of furniture, fixtures, artwork, and paint jobs in adding to the aesthetic value of the property. It’s a quick read with photos in a magazine-like format.
- Kindle – $12.99
- Hardcover – $22.77
Also, Read: 15 Best Interior Design Trade Shows
Image Credit: amazon.com
13. Rebecca Atwood: Living With Pattern
Textile designer Rebecca Atwood wrote this book to showcase the art of blending and layering patterns. She provides inspiration and tips to help any design enthusiast properly work with patterns, get great designs, and transform their home decor from average to extraordinary.
- Kindle – $16.99
- Hardcover – $20.49
Image Credit: amazon.com
14. New York School of Interior Design: Home: The Foundations of Enduring Spaces by Ellen S. Fisher
This excellent reference for home decor is considered the ultimate Interior Design guide. This book contains detailed content for decorators with a comprehensive focus on home design, color theory, and space-specific modules.
It offers the key elements of design, rendering it the only book you’ll ever need, especially for practising your craft in New York. It was built on the Home Study Course which is the foundation of the New York School’s curriculum.
It’s a helpful reference for student and self-taught designers and decorators when it comes to the technical elements of the job.
- Kindle – $19.99
- Hardcover – $46.99
Quick Read: 9 Best Free Online Interior Design Services
Image Credit: amazon.com
15. The Kinfolk Home: A Book for Fulfilling, Slow Living by Nathan Williams
Kinfolk author Nathan Williams takes readers inside 35 homes worldwide, interviewing people about their home design and styling needs. He showcases how to embrace slow life to get benefits like simplifying your lifestyle and cultivating community— which allows you to create a beautiful and intimate living space from different perspectives around the world.
In this book, the reader explores the stunning interiors of these homes. Some are urban homes with contemporary styling while others honor their history and roots with classic and rustic interior design.
The book features insightful conversations, artistic aesthetics, and vibrant photographs of each home tour, which is guaranteed to inspire any decorator and interior designer.
- Kindle – $18.99
- Hardcover – $25.99
Related Read: 9 Best Interior Design Apps
Image Credit: byflou.com
Conclusion
If you’re a student, a designer, or a homeowner, the books listed above will teach you a thing or two about interior design, color palettes, the process involved with makeovers, and more.
However, if you’re just starting a business as an interior designer, E-design Business Blueprint will provide you with a sound strategy to have more opportunities, expand your clientele, plan the tools you need, and set services and prices for a successful virtual business.
If you’re part of an interior design firm at the moment, The Ultimate Playbook for Interior Design in the New Normal is best suited to help you navigate the design process successfully with a checklist of things to do.
It will provide insights regarding how to adapt your business during the new normal that came into existence since the pandemic. It will help you design homes and offices with enough resilience to keep your business running and navigate successfully in the new world order.
