The Essential Interior Design Books
1 year ago
Make coffee table envy a thing of the past
A living room just isn’t complete without a couple of glossy tomes stacked on the coffee table. Here’s our pick of the best interior design books, from classic country to contemporary chic. They make the perfect gift for any interiors fans, or act as the perfect pick-me-up when you want to brighten up your home in an instant. Inspiration awaits: shop the edit below.
House & Hound: Designers & Their Dogs
Essential Interior Design Books
At Home in the English Countryside: Designers and Their Dogs
In a quirky spin on classic country interior design books, this volume spotlights the homes of some of the UK’s top designers, and their most esteemed inhabitants – the dogs. Designers from Kit Kemp to Anouska Hempel offer tips on how to integrate your dog into a stylish home, as well as a behind-the-scenes look into their own chic country residences and gardens.
At Home in the English Countryside: Designers and Their Dogs, Rizzoli, £40, amazon.co.uk
Alidad: The Timeless Home
Award-winning interior designer Alidad’s breath-taking rooms are aglow with rich colours, patterns and sumptuously upholstered furniture. A visual feast for the eyes, this design book is crammed with brocade, vivid textiles and divine wall coverings, an elegant testament to Alidad’s signature controlled grandeur and a helpful resource for discerning readers wishing to create their own timeless home.
Alidad: The Timeless Home, Rizzoli, £29, amazon.co.uk
India Hicks Island Style
Considered the last word on Caribbean island living, India Hicks is renowned for championing an undone, bohemian decoration style. This beautifully-photographed book showcases her timeless Harbour Island home in all its unfussy splendour, with tips on how to get the island look.
India Hicks Island Style, Rizzoli, £38, blackwells.co.uk
Faded Glamour: Inspirational Interiors & Beautiful Homes
When she’s not busy making exquisite vintage-inspired frocks for her eponymous brand, Pearl Lowe puts her trademark blend of romance and rock’n’roll into interior design. Take a peek into her grand Georgian home – think plush velvet fabrics, tarnished brass and lacquered cabinets – and look out for Pearl’s episode on the House Guest Podcast.
Pearl Lowe Faded Glamour, CICO Books, £25, pearllowe.co.uk
The Big Book of Chic
Bold use of colour, a high-low sensibility and a certain cosy glamour are hallmarks of interior designer Miles Redd’s brand. Collecting a range of homes infused with fantasy and playful sophistication – including the designer’s own spectacular townhouse – The Big Book of Chic distills, in one glossy volume, the pleasures of living life beautifully.
The Big Book of Chic, Asouline, €105, assouline.com
Greco Disco: The Art & Design of Luke Edward Hall
Fusing classical imagery with a peppy colour palette and prep sensibilities, Luke Edward Hall has taken the design world by storm, collaborating with brands from Habitat to Liberty and Stubbs and Wootton. Filled with Hall’s signature line drawings, travel writings, snippets of literature and colourful interiors inspiration aplenty, it offers a glimpse into the imagination of one of the most exciting designers working today.
Greco Disco: The Art & Design of Luke Edward Hall, teNeues, £45, blackwells.co.uk
Terence Conran: My Life in Design
Ever spent hours wandering around the Conran Shop, mentally furnishing your imaginary dream home? While not quite the same experience, this newly-released book contains over 400 illustrations and archival imagery that map the career of Sir Terence Conran, who, in founding Habitat and the Conran Shop, permanently changed the landscape of British design. Its signature bright Conran blue cover is bound to add a stylish touch to any living room.
Terence Conran: My Life in Design, £30, conranshop.co.uk
Maximalism by Sig Bergamin
Allow yourself a break from the sleek, scrubbed surfaces of Scandi minimalism by delving into this colourful interiors book, a look into the world of Brazilian architect and designer Sig Bergamin. A lover of travel, his rooms are a delightfully harmonious blend of classic French and Italian furniture, mid-century design and eclectic treasures collected from around the world.
Maximalism by Sig Bergamin, Assouline, £70, waterstones.com
Nina Campbell Interior Decoration
Often revered as the doyenne of British interior design, Nina Campbell has been in the business for over 50 years. This collection of residences in London and abroad features the best of her elegant, quintessentially British approach to interior design, and creative use of colours and wallpaper.
Nina Campbell Interior Decoration, Rizzoli, £45, ninacampbell.com
A Modern Way to Live
If you’re not aware of The Modern House yet, it’s a happy hybrid between boutique estate agency and aesthetic editorial magazine, that’s been Instagram’s latest property obsession. The book, written by Matt Gibberd, co-founder of the agency, lays out The Modern House’s fundamental principles that make a beautiful home.
A Modern Way To Live: 5 Design Principles from The Modern House, themodernhouse.com, £26
Image credit: The Modern House
The Interior Design Handbook
The much-feted Scandivanian design consultant, Frida Ramstedt will elevate the way you see a room, whether that’s through, industry tricks, practical tips, and her own aesthetic insights. You’ll finish the book feeling like you’ve got a professional designer’s eye.
The Interior Design Handbook by Frida Ramstedt, blackwells.co.uk
Rooms With History
Interior designer and author Ashley Hicks curates a book of the most beautifully historic homes (including their own). Rather than aesthetic ‘codes’ and ‘good taste’, Hicks is a believer of interiors as more rooms of living souvenirs. Hicks, through twelve chapters, traces his creative process, with themes like memory, or flowers presented in this process.
£45, Blackwells, blackwells.co.uk
A Kind of Magic
We’re getting an object of delight this November, with English columnist, artist, and designer, Luke Edward Hall’s new book out, It’s a Kind of Magic. Expect his signature style (that of a Brideshead Revisited meets Call Me By Your Name, meets the Cotswolds, kind of aesthetic), to be splashed on the pages of this hardback cover.
The book is split into three parts: Country, London, and studio. Hall takes us to his creative whimsical world of colours, flowers, vintage photography, passions, and a whole host more.
It’s a Kind of Magic is out now, order a signed copy here.
A House In Maine
The latest from the venerated veteran of interior design, Nina Campbell, A House of Maine charts the renovation of three family homes in Maine that’ll leave you dribbling with serious house envy. The houses, perched waterside in the north-eastern state, are the height of luxury – but it’s not just focused on that (although the images are opulent and awe-inspiring). Rather, Nina gives insight into how the home evolves, the importance of ‘place’, and how to set aside a space for calm in a chaotic world. £45, Rizzoli. shop.ninacampbell.com
The Evolution Of Home
Step inside the English home. Emma Sims-Hilditch and her globally-renowned team have created elegant living spaces the world over – everything from compact townhouses to cosy cottages, to chateaus and sprawling estates. The firm has seen interiors evolve as new ways of living emerge, and they’ve documented the process. Take this book as a firm welcome to step inside the porches, bathrooms, living rooms (etcetera) of their most glorious projects to date. simshilditch.com
Featured image: Guy Goodfellow
