Whether you want to design a new place, redecorate an old one or give an established room a new life with some magic touches, there are countless reasons to read interior design books.
There is also the eternal reason: to enrich your reading list. Plus, who does not like flipping through a gorgeously photographed interior design book?

So without further ado, we have compiled a list of the best interior design books. These books are specifically chosen because they are suitable for amateurs; they can help you start your designing project or at least give you a few good hours of cozying up with a great book.

Home Décor Cheat Sheets: Need-To-Know Stuff For Stylish Living

Home Décor Cheat Sheets

Jessica Probus & Alice Mongkongllite

One of the most useful and handy interior design books! Think of it as a dictionary for designer talk, an illustrated one!

Writer, editor and designer Jessica Probus and graphic designer and illustrator Alice Mongkongllite will guide you through 300 user-friendly illustrations.

The guide covers everything from matching furniture styles, arranging wall art and fitting a rug, to how to properly arrange throw pillows.

The Color Scheme Bible

The Color Scheme Bible
Anna Starmer

The most basic design element and yet it confounds a lot of people when decorating, color scheme!

How do you choose a color pallet? Which colors match? Which colors contrast and which clash horribly?

Certain color combinations energize a room and certain ones evoke a sense of tranquility, with a lot of examples and a ton of photos Anna teaches you how to match colors accurately to the room and the style you want.

All in all, this is one of the very helpful interior design books. More than just beautiful, this book is really useful and will help you find the cornerstone of your décor: color scheme.

Styled

Styled
Emily Henderson

Styling is different than decorating, and while most people spend a lot of time and effort on decorating, they often forget that styling can make or break a room!

‘Styled’ features Emily Henderson’s ten easy steps to styling any space. It helps you learn how to analyze a room and decide which parts you can change if you want to, and also how to work around the things you cannot change.

You will learn how to dispose of what you do not care for, how to repurpose your belongings and how to arrange tabletops and surfaces.
The book helps you figure out your own style as well, plus it has an introduction to different styles with easy to understand terms for amateurs.

Dream Décor: Styling a Cool, Creative and Comfortable Home, Wherever You Live

Dream Décor
Will Taylor

Embark on this inspiring journey and discover fifteen different and versatile décor destinations, each destination with its own distinct and inspired style, with Will Taylor and his beautiful pictures and even more beautiful words.

The first part of the book presents Taylor’s seven parts of design: color, pattern, texture, furniture, lighting, storage, and display. With photos of different houses to illustrate each element. Then he presents the different destinations’ styles and homes.

Will Taylor encourages his readers to decorate the home that makes them happy and to only display what they love in their homes, keeping the rooms otherwise neat and tidy.

Overall, the book is definitely a joy to read, a beautiful and colorful inspirational journey of interior design.

The Scandinavian Home: Interiors Inspired by Light

The Scandinavian Home
Niki Brantmark

 

Scandinavian style has become very popular in recent years, mostly due to their inclination to simplicity and minimalism.

Scandinavians are largely inspired by light, having lots of sunlight in summer but so little of it in winter, thus house designs tend to maximize the amount of natural light entering the rooms.
In addition to sunlight, nature and weather are also major influences in Scandinavian design; homes are made warm and cozy for the cold weather through the incorporation of wood and other natural materials.

The author of this book, Niki Brantmark, is the owner of the interior design blog My Scandinavian Home.

In this book, Niki presents a various collection of beautiful Scandinavian homes and explores the different Scandinavian lifestyles reflected in these homes. The book categorizes the Scandinavian style into Urban Living, Country Homes, and Rural Retreats.

The Inspired Room: Simple Ideas to Love the Home You Have

The Inspired Room
Melissa Michaels

This is the lavishly illustrated book version of Melissa Michaels’ celebrated blog, The Inspired Room.
Melissa’s practical home decor philosophy does not require a big budget or perfect DIY skills to embrace, she shares the lessons she learned while turning her house into a home, and encourages readers to embrace their authentic style and love the home they have.

What makes this book one of the best interior design books is that it contains actual doable advice that you can easily implement when redecorating, and it also tells you how to incorporate what you already have.

Moreover, while the photos are beautiful they resemble real lived-in rooms. That coupled with Melissa’s sense of humor make this book a ‘real’ fun experience.

The Nesting Place: It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful

The Nesting Place
Myquillyn Smith

Myquillyn Smith is the writer of the famous blog called The Nester. She writes about interior design for the average person and offers basic helpful tips for anyone just starting to learn.

This book is different and unique in that it does not talk or preach about well-known decorating styles and creating a show-stopping place. Instead, this is a book written by an amateur decorator to teach real people how to decorate real homes.

Myquillyn draws on her own experience of nesting in 13 different homes; she will show you how to think differently about the true purpose of your home.

This book will teach you how to simply and creatively tailor your rooms to reflect you and your own unique style, using budget-friendly tips and without stressing over perfection.

Design*Sponge at Home

Design*Sponge at Home
Grace Bonney

Design*Sponge is one of the most popular design sites on the web. And the book version is one of the best interior design books ever.

The book includes real-life interiors, DIY projects with detailed instructions, step-by-step tutorials on makeovers that you can easily do around the house and before-and-after photos of real-life makeovers.

This book is a very helpful guide and also a fun read, it teaches you how to decorate and redecorate on a budget, and how to make something yourself for your home.

To learn more about interior design see also:

Open kitchen designs: how to design an open plan house

Rooftop decor: how to decorate a perfect space on your roof

Traditional design: How to design the perfect Arabic Majlis

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