Gift Guide 2017: The 13 Essential Interior Design Books of the Year

If you were alive and online in 2017 (even just “lurking”), you probably remember the era’s signature décor mood swing:
one minute we were whispering minimalism into a linen throw pillow, and the next minute we were shouting
maximalism! into a hand-painted Moroccan bowl while pinning 400 pictures of brick floors we do not own.
In other words: it was the perfect year to give interior design books.

A great design book is part inspiration, part permission slip. It tells your friend, your sister, your partner, your favorite
coworker with the “I thrifted this” lamp: go aheadmix old with new, paint the ceiling, embrace the weird chair.
And unlike a trendy vase, a book never breaks during shipping or starts a feud with the sofa.

What makes a “must-gift” interior design book?

The best interior design books do at least one of these things really well:
they teach an eye (composition, color, proportion), show rooms that feel genuinely lived in, explain a design point of view,
or give you a new vocabulary for what you already love (“Oh… so that’s why I keep buying striped textiles.”).
The 13 picks below were widely celebrated across major design media and publisher releases in 2017, and they still read like
a masterclass in tastewhether you’re a clean-line modernist, a pattern collector, or a “my house is a museum but please sit down”
kind of host.

The 13 essential interior design books of 2017

1. Haute Bohemians Miguel Flores-Vianna

   This one is for the friend who can pull off a vintage kilim, a contemporary sculpture, and a kitchen table that looks like it
   survived three centuries and a dinner party. Flores-Vianna’s photography tours artful homes that are richly layered without
   feeling stagedmore “collected over time” than “assembled five minutes before a photoshoot.” It’s a reminder that warmth and
   glamour can coexist, and that personality is a legitimate design strategy.

   Perfect for: maximalists, romantics, and people who treat travel as an aesthetic research project.

2. The Hard Life Jasper Morrison

   Not every design obsession begins with a velvet sofa. Sometimes it starts with a humble toolan everyday object that’s been
   refined by use, necessity, and quiet ingenuity. This book is a meditation on that idea, featuring Morrison’s photographs of
   vernacular objects and the beauty of practical forms. It’s less “decorate your living room” and more “understand why good design
   feels inevitable.”

   Best for: minimalists, makers, and anyone who says “function first” and actually means it.

3. The Interiors and Architecture of Renzo Mongiardino: A Painterly Vision Martina Mondadori Sartogo

   Mongiardino’s world is lavish, theatrical, and unapologetically detailedtrompe l’oeil, museum-grade antiques, sumptuous textiles,
   and rooms that feel like they’ve been lit by candlelight even when the lights are on. The book reads like an argument for
   craftsmanship and atmosphere. If you’ve ever wanted a room to feel like a story (and not just a set of matching items), this is
   your blueprint.

   Wrap it for: classicists, collectors, and anyone who believes a room should have a little drama.

4. Perfect French Country: Inspirational Interiors from Rural France Ros Byam Shaw

   French country style gets misread as “shabby chic” when it’s actually “beautifully worn-in and unbothered.” Byam Shaw visits rural
   homes where patina isn’t a trendit’s a biography. Expect old beams, stone fireplaces, relaxed kitchens, and the kind of restraint
   that makes a single vintage pitcher look like a design decision. It’s soothing without being bland, romantic without being precious.

   Great for: cozy-home dreamers and anyone who wants their rooms to exhale.

5. The Red Thread: Nordic Design Oak – The Nordic Journal

   Nordic design is more than pale wood and nice candles (though, yes, also those). This book tracks the deeper logic: clarity,
   craftsmanship, and the continuity of ideas across textiles, furniture, ceramics, and everyday objects. With a broad sweep of
   Scandinavian and Finnish design, it’s a visual map of why “simple” can be so emotionally satisfyingand why timeless rarely means
   boring.

   Ideal for: modernists, declutterers, and anyone who finds calm to be a design feature.

6. How They Decorated: Inspiration from Great Women of the Twentieth Century P. Gaye Tapp

   This is design history with personality. Tapp explores how influential women shaped their homessometimes grand, sometimes
   unconventional, always intentional. The rooms are gorgeous, but the real gift is the perspective: style as self-expression, taste
   as a point of view, and decorating as a creative act (not just a shopping list). It’s equal parts inspiration and cultural time
   capsule.

   Hand it to: anyone who loves interiors, fashion, artand the stories behind them.

7. Joseph Dirand: Interior Joseph Dirand

   Dirand’s interiors are a masterclass in quiet luxuryminimal but never sterile, classic but never dusty. Think symmetry, restraint,
   and materials that do the talking: stone, wood, plaster, perfectly judged lighting. If you want a book that teaches the power of
   editing (and the courage to leave space empty), this is it. It also proves that “simple” is often the hardest style to pull off.

   Best for: lovers of modern French elegance and people who alphabetize for fun.

8. The Maverick Soul Miv Watts (with photography by Hugh Stewart)

   Not every beautiful home is polishedand thank goodness, because some of the most inspiring spaces are a little wild. This book
   opens doors to bohemian, eccentric, free-spirited lives where the house feels like a portrait of the person. Expect creative
   clutter (the good kind), unexpected color, and rooms that prioritize feeling over perfection. It’s a pep talk for the intuitively
   stylish.

   Perfect for: artists, collectors, and anyone allergic to “matchy-matchy.”

9. The House That Pinterest Built Diane Keaton

   Keaton’s book is a love letter to visual obsessionyes, Pinterest, but also architecture, salvage, texture, and the satisfaction of
   chasing a very specific idea until it becomes a real room. It’s part tour, part mood board made physical, and part reminder that
   “inspiration” is only useful when you translate it into decisions: materials, proportions, and a consistent point of view. Also:
   it makes you want to rip out something and start over (in a motivational way, not a chaotic way… probably).

   Give to: pin-happy renovators and anyone who dreams in reclaimed brick.

10. David Hicks Scrapbooks Ashley Hicks

    If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a legendary designer documents his life like a maximalist poet, here’s your answer.
    Curated from David Hicks’s scrapbooksfull of sketches, swatches, clippings, photos, and sharp observationsthis book feels like
    sneaking into a genius’s studio (politely, with clean hands). It’s energetic, graphic, and surprisingly intimate. Bonus: it’s
    basically proof that bold color has always been cool, even when the internet is feeling beige.

    Best for: pattern lovers, design students, and anyone who misses fearless color.

11. Vogue Living: Country, City, Coast Edited by Hamish Bowles & Chloe Malle

    Consider this the grand tour version of a design book: houses and gardens across settings and moodscountry ease, city polish,
    coastal lightpulled from the pages of Vogue. It’s lavish, varied, and excellent for flipping through when your brain wants
    ideas but your calendar wants a nap. The styling is aspirational, yes, but the layouts also teach how atmosphere changes when the
    architecture changes.

    Great for: coffee-table glory, daydreamers, and “I just want to look” browsers.

12. The Authentics: A Lush Dive into the Substance of Style Melanie Acevedo & Dara Caponigro

    This book asks a deceptively hard question: what makes a home feel truly original? Through interviews and intimate photography,
    it explores the private worlds of creative peoplespaces that reflect habits, obsessions, and work. Instead of chasing a single
    trend, it zooms in on character: collections, books, art, and the small decisions that add up to a signature look. It’s inspiring
    in a “be more yourself” way, which is the best kind of design advice.

    Ideal for: creatives, collectors, and anyone tired of copy-and-paste interiors.

13. Open House: Reinventing Space for Simple Living Amanda Pays & Corbin Bernsen

    Not every design book is about fantasy rooms; some are about making real life work better. Open House focuses on remodeling
    and rethinking older homes to create brighter, more functional, open-feeling spaceswithout losing the soul of the building.
    It’s packed with practical lessons: seeing potential through clutter, budgeting choices, and designing for everyday family living.
    A great pick for someone who wants fewer “before” photos and more “how, exactly?” answers.

    Best for: renovators, first-time homeowners, and pragmatic dreamers.

Quick matchmaker: choose the right gift in 60 seconds

• They love layered rooms and global glamour: Haute Bohemians, The Maverick Soul
• They want calm, clean lines, and “less but better”: Joseph Dirand: Interior, The Red Thread
• They’re renovating (or constantly “mentally renovating”): Open House, The House That Pinterest Built
• They collect color, pattern, and design lore: David Hicks Scrapbooks, How They Decorated
• They want cozy, soulful, and quietly romantic: Perfect French Country
• They want high drama and old-world craftsmanship: Renzo Mongiardino: A Painterly Vision
• They want an “all vibes, no homework” coffee-table hero: Vogue Living: Country, City, Coast

Conclusion: the gift that keeps rearranging the furniture (in a good way)

The best interior design books don’t just show pretty roomsthey sharpen taste, expand references, and nudge people toward braver
choices. The 2017 lineup above is especially giftable because it spans the whole spectrum: spare to sumptuous, country to city,
practical to dreamy. Pick one that matches the recipient’s personality (or the personality they’re secretly trying on), add a note
inside the cover (“For your future reading chair corner”), and you’ve just given a gift that lasts longer than wrapping paper and
won’t mysteriously disappear into a junk drawer.

Experiences: what it feels like to give (and receive) design books

There’s a particular kind of joy that comes with gifting an interior design book, and it’s not the same thrill as handing someone a
candle that smells like “winter forest accountant” or a throw blanket that will immediately become the household pet’s personal
property. Design books are slower gifts. They don’t yell for attention. They wait on a coffee table, quietly confident, like they
already know they’re going to win.

A lot of people’s best “design experiences” begin exactly thereflipping pages while half-watching a movie, dog-eared corner after
dog-eared corner, until a vague craving turns into a clear idea. You can almost watch the shift happen. At first, the reader is
browsing for escapism: dreamy kitchens, impossible light, rooms that look like no one has ever eaten crackers in them. Then, without
warning, they start making translations. That plaster wall becomes “maybe I should paint the room a warmer white.” That perfectly
edited shelf becomes “I can donate the three mugs I don’t like.” That bohemian living room becomes “I’m keeping the weird chair and
building the room around it.”

And there’s an underrated social effect: design books turn into a kind of shared language. Someone spots Perfect French Country
on your table and suddenly you’re talking about patina, old beams, and why a slightly chipped vase feels more comforting than
something flawless. Someone sees Joseph Dirand: Interior and says, “I didn’t know minimalism could feel this warm,” which is
basically a compliment to your entire life. Even the bold oneslike David Hicks Scrapbookscreate permission. People feel
braver after seeing fearless pattern and color used with confidence. They start entertaining the idea that their home doesn’t have to
look like anyone else’s.

The “receiving” experience is its own ritual. The cover comes off, the pages have that crisp, new-book weight, and you can tell right
away if it’s going to be a quick flip or a long-term companion. Some books feel like a weekend: you binge them, you’re delighted, you
pass them around. Others become reference texts. They live within arm’s reach because you keep returning to a particular lesson: how
to layer neutrals without getting sleepy, how to mix eras without making the room feel like a costume, how to choose materials that
age gracefully instead of dramatically.

Finally, design books are sneaky motivators. They don’t just inspire buyingthey inspire editing. People start “shopping” their own
closets for linens, moving furniture for better light, and rethinking what they display versus what they stash. You see it in small
wins: a clearer countertop, a more intentional wall, a chair pulled into the corner where reading actually happens. The funniest part?
The book is still sitting there, looking innocent, like it had nothing to do with it. That’s the magic. A great design book doesn’t
decorate your home for youit convinces you that you can.