100 Best Interior Design Books of All Time
We've researched and ranked the best interior design books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more
Room by room, Homebody gives you an in-depth look at how these styles are iterated as well as how to blend the genres you’re drawn to in order to create spaces that... more
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo's clients have lapsed...
moreDavid Heinemeier HanssonOn a lighter note, I finished The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. It’s a short book, but it still manages to repeat itself a lot. And yet the core patterns it covers are as effective as they are simple. I’ve been on a decluttering kick at home and feel so much better because of it. It was also the kickstarter for the conversation... (Source)
Benjamin SpallThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo [...] I started reading on vacation. I interviewed Marie for my own book and while the translation is somewhat quirky in places, her book is worth the hype. (Source)
Annie Loves Covfefe@Benny29143790 @Thereal_ssteele Oh how I love Kondo cleaning. Her first book is fantastic too!! (Source)
It’s easy to find your own style confidence once you know this secret: While decorating can take months and tons of money, styling often takes just minutes. Even a few little tweaks can transform the way your room feels.
At the heart of Styled are Emily Henderson’s ten easy steps to styling any space. From editing out what you don’t love to repurposing what you can’t live without to arranging the most eye-catching vignettes on any... more
Thank you, wrote a reader to Design*Sponge creator Grace Bonney, for teaching me that houses don't have to be frumpy and formal. They don't have to be matchy-matchy or rigidly modern. They can just be comfy and unique and reflect who you are, no matter how small your budget or space.
That reader is one of the 75,000 unique daily visitors to Design*Sponge, who make it the most popular design site on the web. The site receives 250,000 pageviews every day and has 150,000 RSS subscribers and 280,000 followers... more
Elements of Style is a uniquely personal and practical decorating guide that shows how designing a home can be an outlet of personal expression and an exercise in self-discovery. Drawing on her ten years of experience in the interior design industry, Erin combines honest design advice and gorgeous professional photographs and... more
In The New Bohemians, LA-based designer Justina Blakeney defines the New Bohemians as creative individuals who are boutique owners and bloggers, entrepreneurs and ex-pats, artists and urban farmers. They embrace free-spirited, no-rules lifestyles and apply that attitude to all areas of their existence, including their homes. With little distinction between work and play, the new boho home often includes an office, art gallery, showroom, photography studio, restaurant, or even a pop-up shop. The New Bohemians explores 20 homes... more
Over the years, founding editor in chief of domino magazine Deborah Needleman has seen all kinds of rooms, with all kinds of furnishings. Her conclusion: It's not hard to create a relaxed, stylish, and comfortable home. Just a few well-considered items can completely change the feel of your space, and The Perfectly Imperfect Home reveals them all.
Ranging from classics such as "A Really Good Sofa" and "Pretty Table Settings" to unusual surprises like "A Bit of Quirk" and "Cozifications," the... more
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
From standard furniture dimensions to architectural woodwork details,you'll find a vast array of time-saving data and details. Editors...
moreThis debut book by bloggers Sherry and John Petersik is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up a home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts, 5 million blog hits per month, and an ever-growing audience since the launch of "Young House Love" in 2007, Sherry and John are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Whether an experienced... more
Myquillyn Smith is all about embracing reality - especially when it comes to decorating a home bursting with boys, pets, and all the unpredictable messes of life. In The Nesting Place, Myquillyn shares the secrets... more
Cozy Minimalism isn’t about going without or achieving a particular new, modern style. Nope. It’s simply a mindset that helps you get whatever style YOU LOVE with the fewest possible items.
You want a warm, cozy, inviting home, without using more resources, money, and stuff than needed. Why use more if you don't have to?
In Cozy Minimalist Home, accidental stylist and bestselling author Myquillyn Smith guides you step by step on making purposeful design decisions for your home. You'll have the tools to transform your home... more
Bill GatesQuite good at giving examples of how you create environments that can encourage good ideas. (Source)
Tony HsiehAuthor Steven Johnson argues in his 2010 book that innovation comes from the collision of ideas. This can happen when an individual working in isolation builds off years of existing knowledge to fuel his insights, or it can happen much more quickly when several creative types bounce ideas off each other in a community like Silicon Valley. This theory is one of the reasons why Hsieh decided to... (Source)
James AltucherAlso add to this: “How We Got to Now” by Steven Johnson. Basically: don’t believe the myth of the lonely genius. Ideas come from a confluence of history, “the adjacent possible” specific geographic locations, etc. The connections Johnson makes are brilliant. For instance, The Gutenberg Press (which, in itself, was invented because of improvements in sewing looms), made everyone realize they had... (Source)
Marius Ciuchete Pauneval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'theceolibrary_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_5',164,'0','1'])); Question: Was there a moment, specifically, when something you read in a book helped you? Answer: Yes there was. In fact, I can remember two separate sentences from two different books: The first one comes from “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman. It says: “great design will help... (Source)
Grey BakerI mainly read to decompress and change my state of mind, so it’s hard to point to an insight I read that helped me. Reading fiction has pulled me out of a bad mood more times than I can count, though, and always reenergises me to attack problems that had stumped me again. That said, I read and loved Norman Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things”, and it’s helped me think through design problems... (Source)
Kaci LambeThese three books are about how people actually use design in their lives. They helped me understand this very basic idea: There are no dumb users, only bad designers. Take the time to create based on how your design will be interacted with. Test it. Iterate. That's how you become a good designer. (Source)
Human Dimension and Interior Space is the first major anthropometrically based reference book of design standards for use by all those involved with the physical planning and detailing of interiors, including interior designers, architects, furniture designers, builders, industrial designers, and students of design. The use of... more
Includes professional advice on editing and categorizing your library; caring for your books; preserving, restoring, and storing rare books; finding out-of-print books; and choosing furniture, lighting, and shelving. less
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
When The Kinfolk Table was published in 2013, it transformed the way readers across the globe thought about small gatherings. In this much-anticipated follow-up, Kinfolk founder Nathan Williams showcases how embracing that same ethos—of slowing down, simplifying your life, and cultivating community—allows you to create a more considered, beautiful, and intimate living space.
The Kinfolk Home takes readers inside 35 homes around the world, from the United States, Scandinavia, Japan, and beyond. Some have constructed... more
Quality matters. Just as a home’s foundation should be built to stand the test of time, so, too, should the furniture, objects, and elements of our rooms speak to an enduring sense of beauty and comfort. They should outlast trends and our loving day-to-day use. But how does one recognize quality and judge whether something is well made?
Christiane Lemieux set out to answer this question by interviewing the... more
For more than forty years, the beautifully illustrated Architecture: Form, Space, and Order has served as the classic introduction to the basic vocabulary of architectural design. The updated and revised Fourth Edition features the fundamental elements of space and form and is designed to encourage critical thought in order to promote a more evocative understanding of architecture.
Architecture: Form, Space, and Order distills complex concepts of design... more
Some of the topics this excellent reference will explore with you include:
-Fundamentals: Provides a step-by-step overview of an interior project, describing the scope of professional services, the project... more
Undecorate profiles twenty homes from... more
In The Things That Matter, Nate Berkus shares intimate stories from his life, introduces us to people who influenced him and helped him forge his sense of style, and opens up about the remarkable experiences that have left him forever changed, all of which find expression in how he lives today. From his most cherished flea market finds, to his beloved books and photos, to the many extraordinary mementos he’s collected in his travels, every piece defines who he’s become and what endures in his world.
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Pattern is the strongest element in any room. In Living with Pattern, Rebecca Atwood demystifies how to use that element, a design concept that often confounds and confuses, demonstrating how to seamlessly mix and layer prints throughout a house. She covers pattern usage you probably already have, such as on your duvet cover or in the living room rug, and she also reveals the unexpected places you might not have thought to add it: bathroom tiles, an... more
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
With Justina’s expert guidance, learn how to rearrange, paint, prop, and plant your way to a home that’s fresh and inspiring. Uncover your “spirit environment” and learn how to use color and scent to enhance mood, productivity, and relaxation. Revel in Justina’s encouraging advice (“you got... more
According to Maxwell, size constraints can actually unlock your design creativity and allow you to focus on what’s essential. In this vibrant book, he shares forty small, cool spaces that will change your thinking forever.
These apartments and houses demonstrate hundreds of inventive solutions for creating more space in your home, and for... more
Since launching in 2005, domino has attracted a fiercely loyal following, which looks to the brand as the definitive source for decorating and style. The brand’s first book, domino: The Book of Decorating, was an immediate bestseller upon its release and has established itself as the quintessential guide to demystifying interior design. domino: Your Guide to a Stylish Home builds on the first book with a more detailed and... more
From the nation's top college for interior design comes a definitive design school in a book and a fabulous reference for decorating the home. In the past decade, New York School of Interior Design, which was founded in 1916, has drawn a large crossover audience of passionate decorating enthusiasts and hobbyists--many of them private homeowners who know that thinking like a professional is the... more
Deke Bridges@ritawynthomas @MarieKondo Happy Friday Rita. It's a great book... part 2 of Marie's first book. Highly recommend. (Source)
Week by week, Apartment Therapy will guide you to treat common problems, eliminate clutter, and revamp even the tiniest space. Here is an eight-step... more
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Grace BonneyThis guy. Check out Orlando Soria’s new book + this week's Best of the Web right here: https://t.co/4cyPE5ILjL https://t.co/d3qSDsPgk9 (Source)
From small spaces and apartment solutions to how to tackle a big, messy home with a 15-week total home organization challenge, this book covers it all. The Complete Book of Home Organization spells out everything you need to... more
In Black and White (and a Bit in Between), acclaimed interior designer Celerie Kemble trades in... more
* six new detailed case studies of projects by such noted contemporary designers as Adam... more
Learn how to:
-Design with your inner stylist in mind
-Arrange your living room
-Mix modern... more
Believe this: every single space in your house has the potential to function efficiently and look great. The mishmash of summer and winter clothes in the closet? Yep. Even the dreaded junk drawer? Consider it done. And the best news: it's not hard to do--in fact, it's a lot of fun.
From the home... more
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Expanding on her award-winning blog, Kate Watson-Smyth shares a wealth of experience in home design to help you make the most of your space, be it a house, apartment or single room.
Packed full of ideas and inspiration for every budget, work through your home room by room with Kate s expert and practical tips and tricks that ensure every corner reaches its maximum potential. As well as her top 10 design hacks, Kate reveals the rules of rug layout, explains how to buy a sofa, and shows you how to get the... more
Architectural Graphics presents a wide range of basic graphic tools and techniques designers use to communicate architectural ideas. Expanding upon the wealth of illustrations and information that have made this title a classic, this Fourth Edition provides expanded and updated coverage of drawing materials, multiview drawings, paraline drawings, and perspective drawings. Also new to this edition is the author's unique incorporation of digital technology into his successful... more
Goodbye, Things explores why we measure our worth by the things we own and how the new minimalist movement will not only transform your space but truly enrich your... more
Kyle ChaykaSasaki not only describes how he cleaned out his apartment, but has a list of everything he earns, and suggests that you try to buy the same things. He tells you why you should live with only one low table instead of, you know, a dining room. So I think this book in particular presents a particular aesthetic and style that goes with ‘the minimalist lifestyle.’ (Source)
Whether you’re a minimalist or someone who takes pleasure in her collections, we all yearn for an unencumbered life in a home that makes us happy. This compact tome shows us how, with more than 100 simple and stylish tips, each... more
In this beautiful book of house and garden photography and DIY inspiration, popular blogger Liz Marie Galvan shares a hundred tips and tricks, budget-friendly hints, and project how-tos to make every room in your house feel like a home you love. Each month hundreds of thousands of readers find design inspiration and DIY ideas on Liz's... more
Research by Craft Trends Magazine reveals that 89% of all crafters are women, and that they want to work in an environment conducive to creating their art. This invaluable and very special guide helps them achieve that goal, whatever their passion. It... more
Ever wondered how to transform your laundry room from drab to fab? Your kitchen from prison to paradise? Your bedroom from boring to beautiful?
Now you can, in this comprehensive interior design tome by design maven extraordinaire Sarah Richardson. Within these beautiful, full-color pages and photographs, Sarah walks you through each room in your home, from the master bedroom to the kids’... more
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Reese Witherspoon’s grandmother Dorothea always said that a combination of beauty and strength made southern women “whiskey in a teacup.” We may be delicate and ornamental on the outside, she said, but inside we’re strong and fiery.
Reese’s southern heritage informs her whole life, and she loves sharing the joys of southern living with practically everyone she... more
Author and bibliophile Damian Thompson tours the rooms of the home in turn - Living Rooms. Home Libraries & Studies. Kitchens . Bedrooms & Bathrooms. Corridors & Staircases and Childrens' Spaces - discovering a host of techniques for stacking. shelving and... more
"Hilton Carter's love for plants is infectious... His lush and exuberant displays are inspiring reminders that plants can be so much more than neat little containers on a window sill." Grace Bonney, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Design*Sponge
Take a tour through Hilton’s own apartment and other lush spaces, filled with a huge array of thriving plants, and learn all you need to know to create your own urban jungle. As the owner of over 200 plants, Hilton... more
Rachel Ashwell’s bestselling guide to home furnishings, flower arrangements, flea-market finds, tag-sale treasures, and more continues to bring American home decorating back to basics with its remarkably down-to-earth yet beautiful aesthetic, showing you how to capture “the aura of old money, cushy comfort, and crafted... more
Lisa Giramonti inspires a new approach to decorating: by teaching us through the lens of worlds we may already know and love. With gorgeous photographs by World of Interiors photographer Ivan Terestchenko, aspirational quotes, and tailored reading lists, Novel Interiors... more
Opening the pages of a book can instantly carry you off to another world. But did you realize that, open or closed, books can also make your real world--your home--more fabulous? As legendary designer Billy Baldwin pointed out, they're “the best decoration,” capable of bringing incredible warmth, color, and character to a room. From grand bookcases in home libraries to casual stacks artfully arrayed on chairs, House Beautiful presents countless... more
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Design is only part of an interior designer's job--you're also responsible for scheduling client meetings, conducting design surveys, creating drawings and specs, and overseeing installation. Multiply by the number of projects on your plate, and you have a recipe for overwhelming disorganization. The Interior Design Productivity Toolbox helps you juggle multiple projects with ease, with a comprehensive self-management system tailored to the needs of interior designers and decorators. more
Step-by-step sequences and special tips show students how to make the most of the available media, while practical advice on everything from communicating with clients and contractors to the legal implications of production drawings are covered. A comprehensive and varied selection of drawings from practitioners and student designers will whet... more
Featuring 300 tips for making the most of your tiny home, Small Space Style is the must-have, incredibly inspirational guide for living large in the smallest of spaces. Join tiny home expert Whitney Leigh Morris as she... more
The importance of the bedroom and how to make it a soothing sanctuary, deserving as much attention to beauty and detail as the rest of the home.
How to identify a pivotal fabric, a dominant color, or one magnificent antique... more
The power of color is its ability to influence mood, create atmosphere, and enhance perception. As a result, one of the most effective ways to transform any room is by changing its color. Which colors to use is the challenge.
The Color Scheme Bible is a practical, yet inspiring reference for those who want to take advantage of different colors without clashing. It contains 150 color scheme ideas for home decorators and interior designers.
The book explains how to choose colors that will complement... more
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Featuring eight case studies from Australia, the US and... more
Bartolomeo di Crespi is the acclaimed interior decorator of Our Lady of Fatima, New Jersey. To date, Bartolomeo has hand-selected every chandelier, sconce, and ottoman in OLOF, so when the renovation of the local church... more
Created by a group of friends who preserve 55 acres of hidden forest in Upstate New York-Cabin Porn began as a scrapbook to collect inspiration for their building projects. As the collection grew, the site attracted a following, which is now a huge and obsessive audience.
The site features photos of the most remarkable handmade homes in the backcountry of America and all over the world. It has had over 10 million unique visitors, with 350,000 followers on... more
"The thing about white is that it goes with everything, it is a canvas for life, whoever you are and whatever your tastes. You just can't beat it." - Chrissie Rucker
Whether you live in a tiny city apartment, a rambling country cottage or an elegant town house The White Home offers the definitive book on decorating with white and neutral tones. From room schemes for light, bright family kitchens and calming bedrooms to the all-important details - including lighting, display and window treatments - this is a book to be inspired by again and again.
Organized... more
Step inside as Melissa shares lessons learned when turning her house into a home, plenty of inspiring photos, and encouraging insights to help you embrace your authentic style through: doable improvements for every roomattainable decorating,... more
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Praised by design star Jonathan Adler as "a true talent with a keen eye," Will guides you through making the most of the cornerstone of your life – where you live. He starts... more
The most comprehensive and complete home book from Apartment Therapy, featuring every aspect of design and decorating from floor plans to paint, specific rooms to style approaches, with the goal of setting up and living well in a place you love.
“A complete and happy home is so much more than a series of pretty rooms. Between these two covers, we’ve captured everything we’ve learned at Apartment Therapy about decorating, organizing, cleaning, and repairs, so you can make and maintain your own fabulous home.”
—from... more
Ikebana: The Art of Arranging Flowers, a classic Ikebana text, has now been completely updated for modern readers. Written by Shozo Sato, a well-respected and renowned Ikebana expert, this book presents a fascinating overview of the history of Ikebana to present day, and introduces classic Ikebana styles such as Rikka, Seika and Moribana to Freestyle. The... more
Who knows? But we do need to accept the fact that otherwise sensible American housewives who would never grind a quaalude into their morning coffee or sleep with their tennis instructor nevertheless went daft during the 1970s and performed heinous acts of design on unsuspecting homes.
What James Lileks did for dinner with the critically acclaimed classic "The Gallery of Regrettable Food," he now does to the wonderful world of 1970s home interiors. Blazing plaid wallpaper. Vertigo-inducing matching patterns on walls,... more
Interior Design Reference Manual: Everything You Need to Know to Pass the NCIDQ Exam offers a comprehensive review of all NCIDQ exam content areas.
The Interior Design Reference Manual features include:
complete coverage of content areas for every division of the NCIDQ®... more
balance
peace
comfort
texture
space
proportion
energy
spirit
light
shade
sustenance
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Interior designer Nina Freudenberger, New Yorker writer Sadie Stein, and Architectural Digest photographer Shade Degges give readers a peek at the private libraries and bookshelves of passionate readers all over the world, including Larry McMurtry, Silvia Whitman of Shakespeare and Co., Gay and Nan Talese, and Emma Straub. Throughout, gorgeous photographs... more
Don't have time to read the top Interior Design books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.