11 Coffee Table Books for an Elevated Home
Coffee table books are the perfect marriage of style and function. They’re easy to style, beautiful to look at, and interesting to read. With so many to choose from, it can be tricky to figure out which book is right for your home.
As interior decorators, we use coffee table books in all of our renovation projects. I’m willing to bet that if you walked through our last home renovation, Project Brookline, you would find a coffee table book in every room. Well, except for the bathrooms.
We also source a lot of our design inspiration from interior design and fashion books, including the ones listed below. When selecting interior paint colors for Project Brookline, we drew inspiration from Lauren Liess’ book, Down to Earth. We gravitated towards her warm, neutral color palettes and ended up finding the perfect wall and trim colors in her book.
Now it’s time to share our favorites. We carefully curated a list of 11 coffee table books that every design-lover needs in their home.
The books we selected are beautiful enough to stand alone, or you can stack them with other home decor. Whether you’re looking for an oversized neutral book (we’re looking at you, Tom Ford) or a smaller pop of color (hello, Vogue), we have a range of options to choose from.
Let’s jump in!
1. Down to Earth
If you love incorporating natural elements into your home, this book is for you. Lauren celebrates nature’s unique qualities and shares how to create an approachable, natural aesthetic. Down to Earth is our top pick for warm neutral color inspiration and cozy designs.
2. Live Beautiful
Learn interior design principles from one of the greats! We’re always in awe of Athena’s talent and depth of design knowledge. She welcomes readers into her own homes and introduces unique design perspectives from international designers, making this book a must read.
3. The Interior Design Handbook
We recommend this book to anyone who loves renovating their home but doesn’t have an interior design agree. Frida makes interior design principles easy to understand with visual aides and easy-to-follow guides. If you’re a self-taught designer like us, this book will be a complete lifesaver!
4. Architectural Digest at 100: A Century of Style
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover…but they clearly never saw this book. AD delivers an extensive, raw look into their last century of design. This book combines history, art, and design, and is a huge inspiration for us. Our copy sits proudly on our coffee table, available to flip through at any point in our day. This is a must-read for design lovers.
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5. The Art of Home
If you’re gearing up for a home renovation, this book is for you. Shea walks readers through her design process for each room of the home, effortlessly blending elevated and approachable design. Whether you like the Studio McGee look or not, the design principles in this book are key for any home renovation project.
6. The Kinfolk Home: Interiors for Slow Living
This book is for design lovers who source inspiration from their travels. Nathan celebrates the beauty of a slow, simple life, focusing on community. Explore how 30+ homes worldwide embrace these principles through their intentional home design. If you love building community and connection in your home, this is the book for you.
7. Vogue the Shoe
Add a pop of color to your home with a Vogue coffee table book! They’re small but mighty. Trust us. We have a growing collection of Vogue books that’s bigger than we’d like to admit. Not only do they add an expected pop of color, they’re also filled with stunning visuals from British Vogue. I’m talking over 300 images. Fashionistas, this one is for you.
8. Gray Malin: The Essential Collection
You don’t have to be a professional photographer to appreciate Gray Malin’s incredible work. This colorful book includes never-before-seen photographs and 300 of his most famous shots. You can proudly display the cover on your coffee table or showcase the pictures inside with a book stand (check out our favs below!)
Book Stands
9. Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection
Slim Aarons’s Essential Collection photography transports readers to another world. Like Gray Malin, this book is as stunning on the outside as it is on the inside. Explore decades of diverse photography experience and choose your favorite shot to display on your book stand (peep our favs above!)
10. Vogue the Jewellery
From regal to modern, explore a range of jewelry designs that span over a century. I love the unexpected pop of color this book brings to any room. Stack it with other green hues to create a monochrome moment, or display it on it’s own for a statement piece.
11. Tom Ford
You’ve probably seen this book a dozen times in magazines and on social media, and there’s a reason for that. With its bold design and neutral color palette, the Tom Ford book is the perfect finishing touch for a range of different style homes. This book captures Tom Ford’s expert design in fashion, architecture and advertising. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to learn the holistic view of brand creation.
We’ve covered vibrant, colorful books exploring the history of fashion and neutral, minimalist books breaking down the home design process. Now, it’s time to pick your favorite!
This post is all about coffee table books that will elevate your home.
