When decorating any home, it’s the small furnishings that can make a big difference. While choosing the perfect sofa, armchair or table is no mean feat, you can really transform any space with a well-placed rug, plant or candle - which comes in particularly handy for pre-furnished rentals.
One such small furnishing is a set of books, which when set on your coffee table or carefully-curated shelf, act as both an objet d’art and a way to inject a piece of you and your interests in your interiors.
The finishing touch to your living space, nightstand or home office, these coffee table books bring an element of sophistication and work extremely well as a stylish way to ensure your computer is at the right height.
You may not flick through them very often but a good coffee table book they can be statement pieces that when hosting guests, lets your literature do the talking. They can act as a visual ode to your favourite city, photographer, brand or hobby, bringing your passion to life with beautifully glossy photographs and the accompanying text. There’s something for design buffs, architecture aficionados, plant parents and fashion enthusiasts.
For all the reasons above, they also make great presents - whether to celebrate a new home, anniversary or birthday. There’s so many varieties you’ll be sure to find one to suit even the pickiest person on your Christmas gift list.
If you are investing in these books simply for design purposes too, the timeold expression that ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’ goes out the window. An attractive cover really won’t go amiss and can be used to inject playful shades in neutral palettes or tie-in with different hues around the room.
We just couldn’t choose so scroll below for an extensive selection of coffee table books for all interests.
ââIbiza Bohemia by Maya Boyd and Renu Kashyap hardcover book
Assouline’s collection of location-based coffee table books are some of the most sought-after and Instagrammed of the lot. Each has a bright, bold design destined to become a statement piece in your home. Ibiza Bohemia is the bright fuschia one jam-packed with 300 photos of the White Isle at its most hedonistic. Alongside the party images, there’s anecdotes and fun stories from the authors - fashion stylish Renu Kashyap and travel writer Maya Boyd.
There’s also Havana Blues, Palm Beach, Amalfi Coast, Capri Dolce Vita, Turquoise Coast, Tuscany Marvel, Tulum Gypset, St Moritz Chic, Provence Glory, Athens Riviera, Hamptons Private, St Tropez Soleil, Miami Beach, Marrakech Flair, and Mykonos Muse - all with eye-popping covers.
Festivals: A Music Lover's Guide To The Festivals You Need To Know By Oliver Keens
Festival devotees have been starved their fix so get planning your next with the help of this guide that details the world’s biggest and best to know. It covers the way in which these festivals have transformed music and culture with historical detail that will form the basis of your bucket list.
Worthy Farm devotee? Get Glastonbury 50: The Official Story of Glastonbury Festival here.
The Complete Collections: Prada Catwalk
Prada or nada. With minimalistic sophistication, this is the coffee book for the fashion fan in your life. It deep dives into the world of Prada with a luxe construction and perennially chic pale blue exterior. The combination of pictures and text give biographical detail on Miuccia Prada and her most iconic collections. There’s also books spotlighting Vivienne Westwood, Chanel, Dior, YSL and Louis Vuitton with the same pared-back aesthetic.
David Bowie Is By Victoria Broackes And Geoffrey Marsh
An indisputable icon, this book centres on the life and work of David Bowie with a chronological approach detailing his beginnings in London through to his breakout with an audacious and bright cover fitting to the irreverent musician.
Great Women Artists Book
This book covers five centuries of women artists (as the title suggests) as the most extensive celebration of the artists who deserve their time to shine. It details the world of over 400 female creatives across 60 countries and 500 years discussing their life with an accompanying picture.
Eat, Drink, Nap: Bringing the House Home
To suit those with muted colour palettes, this book has a neutral exterior that brings the Soho House experience to your home. The ‘Eat, Drink, Nap’ is packed with recipes, buying guides and more from the members’ club’s experts.
The Timeless Home: James Gorst Architects
Architecture buffs, this one’s for you. This is the first monograph of James Gorst’s work as he evolved from a neo-classicist to a modernist. It demonstrates the architect’s form as well as his vibrant interiors.
Pierre Yovanovitch: Interior Architecture
If you don’t know the name Pierre Yovanovitch then you may know his work. His furniture designs and interior prowess is often featured in home magazines including Architectural Digest, Elle Decor and Wallpaper. This book details the French interior-architect’s refine style with images of his projects that include private residences in all the major capitals.
The Impossible Collection of Wine Book
A must-have for the wine connoisseur, this is a truly luxurious purchase in which the book has been hand bound and offered in a wooden book. Throughout the pages, it will take you on a journey around the world as it details the finest vintages.
The Impossible Collection has editions for every interest - whether it’s cigars, motorcycles, jewellery, cars, design, fashion, watches, or specifically Rolex among many others.
Cereal City Guide: London
The Cereal City Guides combine a carefully curated edit of the best things to do and see in the spotlighted place to suit the most stylish of travellers. This isn’t your ordinary city guide and you won’t find common tourist hotspots but instead it focuses on thoroughly tried and tested selection of hidden gems with a focus on quality. This book is for London but you will also find editions on Paris, New York, Los Angeles, and Copenhagen.
Chanel set of three hardcover books
When it comes to choosing the topic for your coffee table adornments, it doesn’t get much more elegant and sophisticated than Chanel. The French fashion house is often the subject of books the world over but this set of three from Assouline may just be the most captivating. There are not one but three covers packed with 150 illustrations and offered in a gift-ready presentation box.
Off the Grid: Houses for Escape
We’ve all considered it - what would it be like to live totally off the grid? Well that’s the subject of this book that catalogues the infrastructures breaking away from traditional living thanks to the advancement in technology. The self-sufficient properties are set around the world with adventurous architecture and will get you to start taking your dreams for a carbon-neural, responsible lifestyle more seriously.
Virgil Abloh. Nike. ICONS
From founding his revolutionary label Off-White to becoming the creative director for Louis Vuitton menswear, Virgil Abloh has earned the title of an icon. This suitably stylish neon green cover opens to reveal an exploration of the on-going collaboration between Abloh and Nike as it takes you through the design process.
The New Beauty A Modern Look At Beauty, Culture And Fashion By Kari Gestalten And Molvar
The cover alone may be enough to draw you in but this is a book to be devoured from cover to cover and it details the moment the beauty business changed forever with historical, scientific and journalistic quotes.
Spirited; Cocktails from Around the World
For the person who has everything, you can’t go wrong with this coffee table book. It gathers information from 60 countries over 500 years to definitively find the best cocktail in all the world. This will make a great addition to a drinks trolley, paired with well-placed succulent.
Contemporary Japanese Architecture
Japanese Architecture gives plenty to be fascinated by as one of the key players in the world for its unique constructions. This book captures the way that old plays with new among the country’s landscape and the way in which the past, present and future interlink. It makes reference to sustainability and creativity, while highlighting the figures that have put Japan on the map architecturally.
Accidentally Wes Anderson
It all began as an Instagram account - @accidentallywesanderson that boasts over 1.5million followers - and has resulted in a best-selling book of the same name. The hardcopy is a photography edition with images that fit with the American filmmaker’s signature style - pleasingly symmetrical, eccentric and highly visual. It even has a forward by the Grand Budapest Hotel director.
Sneaker Collaborations By Elizabeth Semmelhack & Jacques Slade
Sneakerheads, consider this your bible. It contains an in-depth history into the world of trainer collaborations with over 80 included. Combining super vibrant hi-res images with thorough encyclopedic detail of how these partnerships came about containing the likes of Converse, Nike and Reebok.
Peter Lindbergh: On Fashion Photography By Peter Lindbergh
He was a legendary fashion photographer and film director and this black-and-white coffee table book chronicles his most dramatic works. A pioneer, Peter Lindbergh solidified his name in fashion history with his 40-year career that included that now iconic image of the 90s supers that ran on the January 1990 cover of British Vogue. There are over 300 images that include collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani as well as Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell.
Getaway: Food and Drink to Transport You
No trip on the cards? No problem. This book will take you on a journey of food discovery with over 120 recipes and 60 cocktails based on the award-winning chef and the author Renee Erickson’s beloved locations that range from her home town in Seattle to Paris and Rome.
150 Bars You Have to Visit Before You Die
Consider this your bucket list in coffee table book form and the ultimate challenge to discover the best bars from around the world. There are 150 international boltholes included each with its own story and signature cocktail. From Hong Kong to Berlin, it will set your agenda for your next travels, while also giving you the chance to recreate the beverages from the comfort of your own home with the recipes.
Frida Kahlo. The Complete Paintings
No matter where you are in the world, Frida Kahlo is instantly recognisable. The internationally acclaimed Mexican painter knew about creating a signature look and successful brand long before the inception of social media. Her unmistakable image is depicted in the catalogue with over 50 self-portraits.
Leaf Supply Guide to Creating Your Indoor Jungle
Our obsession with plants shows no signs of wilting. Whether you boast green fingers or planticide is common in your home, this is a great book filled with 250 pages of tips and tricks. It comes from the experts over at Leaf Supply - the Sydney-based plant delivery service - who know a thing or two about crafted the home greenhouse look of your dreams.
Buckingham Palace: The Interiors
Transport yourself within the walls of Buckingham Palace with the coffee table book that is a comprehensive catalogue of the splendid rooms. Interior designer Ashley Hicks takes you on a firsthand account throughout the lavish interiors of the London residence of the British royal family showing the treasures and opulent decorative style.
1000 Record Covers
Music lovers rejoice, this coffee table book reproduces the 1000 best record covers of all time. A representative of the times, each cover mirrors what was happening in the world at that moment, detailing issues of love, death and rebellion. Works of art in their own right, one such example of the covers included is Andy Warhol’s iconic banana for The Velvet Underground.
