MY FAVORITE COFFEE TABLE BOOKS

I’ve mentioned a few times that it’s the stuff in the home that makes it interesting. By stuff, I don’t mean bedside tables and sofas. I mean the things that you’ve collected over time and the things that show off your personality and your interests. Nate Berkus likes a collected home and even published a book called The Things That Matter. It made my list! He shows examples of homes that tell a story, and he speaks to how this makes a house a home.

But when you have a new home and you’re trying to decorate and finish it all at once, you don’t always have all of those collected things at the time. One of the easiest ways to add style, color, interest, and to bring some of yourself into a home, is with coffee table books. I mentioned this in my Guest Room Before & After post, so today I wanted to show you a few more examples of how we’ve used them and share a few of my favorites.

I like interior design, art, fashion, landscaping, and travel, so naturally, you’ll see a lot of those in this curated collection. But in addition to having really wonderful content, some of these book covers are art themselves. So even if the subject doesn’t really interest you, think of it as being similar to a vase or other accessory. And this may be the one instance where you can judge a book by its cover.

You can stack them to add height where needed. If a book has a beautiful cover, make sure it’s on the top of the stack so everyone can enjoy the art. A great example of this is Slim Aarons La Dolce Vita and the Alex Katz book I’ve featured. Pay attention to the colors in the covers when pairing them. And remember they’re called coffee table books for a reason, as they are a wonderful way to fill the large surface area of a table or console. You can place candles, vases, and interesting objects on top of them. And they’re books, so they obviously look fantastic adorning bookshelves! Keep scrolling to see a few more examples of how they can beautify a space and to shop my favorites. Hopefully you’ll find one or two that will become one of yours. Simply click on the images in the “SHOP BOOKS” section below to shop.

A few examples from a favorite designer and artist…

Photo via Paloma Contreras Instagram—Paloma’s Bedroom

Photo via William McLure Instagram

SHOP BOOKS

Simply click on an image to shop…