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Books are so essential for making a house feel like a home, and surrounding yourself with beautiful traditional interior design books makes your space feel complete while providing endless decorating inspiration of the best kind.
Beautiful coffee table books are always a great gift idea, no matter who the recipient is. If your gift recipient happens to love interior design, you absolutely can’t go wrong with a beautiful book. Not only do books provide hours of entertainment and inspiration, they also act as a piece of decor to be displayed on shelves, coffee tables, or console tables. For a home decor enthusiast, that’s like receiving two gifts in one. If you’d like to beef up your gift a little bit, consider pairing it with a beautiful candle, soft throw blanket, or a pillow or two to inspire cozy reading days. Today I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite traditional interior design books, as well as some that are on my wish list that I know any traditional decor fan will love. In fact, these coveted titles are probably already on their list, too. Whether you’re looking for last-minute gifts, or for a gift-to-self to inspire your New Year home refresh, these are some good ones.
More traditional decor and gifting inspiration: The English Country Style Gift Guide
Favorite Traditional Interior Design Books
A Place to Call Home | This book has been on my own wish list for awhile now! “Opening with memories of the childhood homes and experiences that have shaped Schafer’s own history, A Place to Call Home gives the reader the sense that for Schafer, architecture is not just a career but a way of life, a calling. He describes how the many varied houses of his youth were informed as much by their style as by their sense of place, and how these experiences of home informed his idea of classicism as a set of values that he applies to many different kinds of architecture in places as varied as the ones he grew up in. Because while Schafer is absolutely a classical architect, he is in fact a modern traditionalist, and A Place to Call Home showcases how he effortlessly interprets traditional principles for a multiplicity of architectural styles within contemporary ways of living.”
A New English Style | “In this, their debut book, Salvesen and Graham invite you to explore the art of creating classically beautiful and thoughtfully curated living spaces that transcend trends and stand the test of time. Featuring a treasure trove of stunning images, they share invaluable insights, guiding you on a journey to decorate your home in a way that is as stylish and inviting today as it will be in years to come.”
Sacred Spaces | “Sacred Spaces takes readers on a beautifully photographed journey inside fourteen homes, from North Carolina and California to Canada, France, and Morocco, as Summers uncovers the vulnerable stories behind each one: a mother who uses her kitchen to heal her son with food, a woman who found her sanctuary after overcoming childhood abuse, and more. She even offers a tour of her mother’s home and her own” This would be such a beautiful and inspiring gift (or gift-to-self) for anyone on their own healing journey.
English Country House Style | This has definitely been my most-referenced and most re-read design book this year. If you love English country style, just get it. 🙂 “This book explores the iconography of the English country house and lifts the curtain on its interior design secrets, with more than a dozen chapters on various country house motifs, each illustrated with photographs taken in private country homes throughout England. From the boot room to the butler’s pantry, from the library drinks table to the kitchen AGA, each chapter unpacks all the little design details for readers who are eager to make the look their own—or simply wish to enjoy a peek at English country life.”
The Evolution of Home | “Whether the project is an urban town house, a seaside cottage, an ancestral residence, or a lakeside retreat, the approach of Sims Hilditch is always the same—a collaboration with clients to make stylish, comfortable homes that offer the perfect settings for everyday life. The book explores how the firm creates rooms where people live healthy and vibrant lives, aware of the changing seasons and embracing the comforts of a slower lifestyle—resulting in a holistic picture of design in the twenty-first century.” Love the beautiful cover and navy spine on this one as well! Inspiration you can keep out on the coffee table at all times.
At Home in the Cotswolds | “At Home in the Cotswolds is a celebration of beautiful Cotswold houses and their interiors. Katy and Mark take us on a tour of the villages and rolling hills of the Cotswolds as they uncover some of the most charming and inspirational homes in the region: a chocolate box cottage, an exquisite old rectory, a Georgian farmhouse, a quintessential manor house, an historic stately home, and more.”
Home at Last | Gil Schafer is a true expert when it comes to timeless design and his book The Great American House was my favorite book to reference last year, despite the fact that it’s over a decade old. This newer title is a must have for anyone interested in traditional home design. “The book includes homes he has designed in the mist-covered Hudson Valley, on a bluff above Lake Champlain, on the windswept shores of Block Island, and on the coast of Maine. Schafer shares the stories of these houses and their owners, exploring the choices made for architecture and interiors, and reemphasizing his guiding principles: how to create classical buildings that “live modern”; how to adapt buildings to different regions and ways of life; the connection to landscape; why fancy can coexist with simple, and traditional with modern.”
Home Again | “From the farmlands of Georgia to the Carolina Lowcountry, the Blue Ridge Mountains to the citrus groves of Florida, to college towns, Martha’s Vineyard, and a cottage in Mississippi, the homes on display are inspirations in traditional Southern style and reminders that traditional décor can set the tone to celebrate our homes wherever they are.”
The Furniture Bible | This looks like such an interesting and inspiring book for anyone interested in collecting antique furniture. I’ve always wanted to learn how to identify furniture of different styles and from different time periods, and this looks like exactly the book I’ve been searching for.
Artful Home | This book comes highly recommended by a few of my design enthusiast friends! The cover grabbed my attention immediately the first time I saw it. “The book is arranged by the five guiding principles Young lives by: palette, texture, form, layers, and nostalgia. Whether creating a painting, designing a room, styling a vignette, or entertaining family and friends, these elements are essential to his work. The book shows readers how Young uses these concepts in his decorating, detailing his philosophy and overall creative approach as an artist and designer, and how they, too, can lean on them to curate beautiful environments.”
Perfect English Townhouse | “Perfect English Townhouse features case studies of such homes, not only in London but also in the provincial towns and cities of England. Some feel like little pockets of countryside surrounded by pavements, others have a more sophisticated, metropolitan allure; some are endearingly eccentric, others more classical. All the interiors featured are inspiring, and reflect the personalities of the people who inhabit them. These are the kinds of space that most of us are familiar with, and that many of us occupy. What is unusual is how cleverly and creatively these examples have been decorated and designed.”
Sims Hilditch: Beautifully British Interiors | The latest offering from the same design firm at The Evolution of Home, above. “Spaces, from sumptuous entrance halls and sitting rooms to hardworking kitchens and boot rooms, are organized for efficiency and practicality before the design team introduces an abundance of floral and damask textiles, striking colors, both refined and comfortable furnishings, and decorative trims.”
If you’d like more ideas, shop all my favorite home finds and gifting recommendations in my LTK shop! I have a tab for my Christmas category if you’re looking for more no-fail last-minute gift ideas!
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.