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17 Best Interior Design Books 2022

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All the decorating inspiration you need to revamp just about any room.

By Monique Valeris

Courtesy

Regardless of how much of a design buff you are, there's always room for a bit of inspiration now and again. An interior design book, which is a simple way to dress up your coffee table, desk, or bookshelf, can amp up your decorating skills. Whether you've longed for a more stylish living room, a cozier bedroom, or a relaxing bathroom retreat, this collection of interior design books is filled with more than enough tips and tricks to inject personality into your home.

1

“Live Beautiful” by Athena Calderone

$48 AT SERENA AND LILY

2

Rizzoli

S Is for Style: The Schumacher Book of Decoration

Now 25% off

$56 AT AMAZON

3

The Home Edit

Now 52% off

$12 AT AMAZON

4

Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave: Target Exclusive Edition

Now 24% off

$30 AT AMAZON

5

Kelly Wearstler: Evocative Style

Now 43% off

$31 AT AMAZON

6

The New Southern Style

Now 46% off

$24 AT AMAZON

7

Gibbs Smith

Modern Americana

Now 50% off

Pre-Order Now

8

Rebecca Atwood: Living With Pattern Coffee Table Book

$35 AT POTTERY BARN

9

Elements of Family Style: Elegant Spaces for Everyday Life

Now 50% off

$17 AT AMAZON

10

Made for Living: Collected Interiors for All Sorts of Styles

Now 28% off

$29 AT AMAZON

11

Everything: A Maximalist Style Guide

$42 AT AMAZON

12

Beautifully Organized: A Guide to Function and Style in Your Home

Now 30% off

$16 AT AMAZON

13

May I Come In?: Discovering the World in Other People's Houses

Now 21% off

$51 AT AMAZON

14

"Travel Home" by Caitlin Flemming

$40 AT SERENA AND LILY

15

Home For The Soul

$30 AT ANTHROPOLOGIE

16

"More Beautiful" by Mark D. Sikes

Now 41% off

$26 AT AMAZON

17

Abrams

Jungalow: Decorate Wild

Now 51% off

Pre-Order Now

Monique Valeris Senior Home Editor Monique Valeris is the senior home editor for Good Housekeeping, where she oversees the brand's home decorating coverage across print and digital.

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The 7 Best Home Décor DIY Books

Photo: Original Illustration by Stephanie DeAngelis

If you can’t afford to hire a decorator, a well-curated library is your strongest ally. While we’re consistently in awe of the expertise and editorial eye that professional interior designers bring to the table, there’s no denying the appeal of mastering new skills all on your own. So if you're ready for an upgrade in your space, don't be afraid to tackle new projects—you can start by reading our favorite how-to home décor books for inspiration.

Penned by an elite selection of our favorite designers, bloggers, and tastemakers, these thoughtful and accessible books offer a great start in DIY home design. From Allegra Hicks' tips on patterns and textures to the homes of our favorite fashion icons, our "must list" of interior styling reads is a collection you won’t want to live without. Add these interior design books to your library and save your hard-earned cash for some truly worthy new furnishings. With the proper education, you’ll be poised and ready to tackle anything from DIY remodels to accessory styling like a pro.

Below, read on to discover the best interior design books on DIY home décor (and bring home straight A’s in design).

01 of 07

Internationally renowned interior designer India Mahdavi’s personal tips offer some excellent advice on how to transform every room in your home. We love her distinctive approach to finding unique ways to express your personality through décor.

The book addresses everything from decorating around low ceilings to creating perspectives and vertical proportions. You'll also learn the dos and don'ts of interior design, stylish storage solutions, and time-saving tips for your next DIY project. Paired with helpful illustrations, it’s at the top of our must list for first-time homeowners and remodeling fiends alike.

02 of 07

Welcome to some of our favorite home tours of all time. Kinfolk’s impeccable eye for unexpected detail lends some truly artful style interpretations. Here, author Nathan Williams explores 35 separate homes all over the world—from Scandinavia to Japan and stateside. It’s the ultimate read in personal space appreciation.

This book is a lesson in intention: Exploring the design ideas behind cultivating community in your home, its décor tips are focused on creating a "considered, beautiful, and intimate living space. " Take a tour around the globe to discover interior styles from a variety of cultures.

03 of 07

If you're a lover of patterns or simply looking to embrace new textures in your space, you'll love Allegra Hicks' sublime tone in this book. The fashion designer, who also specializes in textiles and interiors, lays out striking examples of material design. Along with essays on design, color, and seasonal elements, this book offers stunning images of the designer's work through the years.

The edition includes her original textile and pattern designs with beautiful photography of interiors, landscapes, and plenty of earthy inspiration. It's a lesson in blending the design of your home with elements of the natural world.

04 of 07

Master the art of the vignette with this styling guide by Emily Henderson that's both relatable and easy to execute. The renowned designer explains the importance of styling when it comes to arranging your space: Once you've chosen your décor, the process of laying it out in a room can be the difference between an underwhelming design and an eye-catching one.

From collecting antiques to arranging bookshelves, you’ll find everything you need to DIY every corner of the house. The book teaches readers to "make your own style magic" by rethinking the items they choose to display and finding purposeful ways to make beloved personal décor into statement pieces.

05 of 07

Apartment Therapy is already among our favorite digital resources for all aspects of design and decorating, but their printed publications have even more to offer for DIY projects at home. Complete and Happy Home is the most comprehensive edition to date, and it focuses on the idea that putting a home together goes beyond decorating each room individually.

The printed guide features everything from floor plans to paint approaches (i.e., a one-stop shop for building your abode from the ground up). You'll learn everything the home design masters have to share when it comes to decorating, organizing, cleaning, and repairs to make your space as functional as it is beautiful.

06 of 07

Ivan Terestchenko’s Beyond Chic takes us all inside the whimsical and wonderful world of some of the most significant fashion designers in history, from Chanel to Alaïa, Yves Saint Laurent, Pucci, Kenzo, and beyond. The intimate all-access pass to the iconic personal worlds of tastemakers is right up our alley.

The book features everything you’d expect and more. Readers are introduced to an up-close and personal look at top designers' décor, works of art, and personal collections displayed in their homes. Chanel’s mythic apartment at 31 rue Cambon and Giorgio Armani’s châlet are just the tip of the wonderfully chic iceberg.

07 of 07

The brainchild behind the celebrated lifestyle blog Cupcakes and Cashmere, this book offers up designer Emily Schuman's tips that garnered her such an avid online following. Along with sharing her design ideas on styling a home suited for entertaining, the author also focuses on the ins and outs of showing guests a good time in your space.

Featuring never-before-seen content, the book touches on a range of topics from accessible DIY design projects to party planning. It’s especially perfect for aspiring hosts.

The One Interior Design Blog You Need to Follow

Ilya Melnikov - Feng Shui. Home decoration, garbage collection, workplace arrangement read online

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Feng Shui. Home decoration, garbage disposal, workplace improvement

Home decoration

Aquarium

People keep aquariums in the house, mainly for aesthetic purposes. But before you decide whether to purchase an aquarium, carefully consider whether it will disturb the distribution of qi in your home. After all, an aquarium, symbolizing the element of Water and the power of yin, does not always harmonize with the energy of the owner and with the general interior of the room.

In general, if the element of Fire predominates in a person, then it is undesirable for him to acquire an aquarium (element of Water), since Water and Fire are in hostile relations, following each other in the cycle of destruction (Water destroys Fire). However, if the element of Fire in the energy of a person dominates too much over other elements, then a small aquarium can be installed in the house: this compensates for the excess of Fire. In the same way, a person with a lack of the Water element in energy can make up for this lack by purchasing an aquarium, and a person with an excess of the Water element will no longer need an aquarium. The general principle is to achieve a balance of all five elements, compensating for deficiencies and excesses.

In Feng Shui, there are six basic rules regarding the placement of an aquarium:

1. Before purchasing an aquarium, you need to consult a geomancer and determine the proportions of the five elements in your energy.

2. It is best to place the aquarium in the eastern or southeastern part of the house. Below is a list of the correspondence of the elements prevailing in human energy to the cardinal points and colors for the aquarium stand:

Tree - north, green.

Soil - southwest, blue.

Metal - north, white.

Water - north or east, white or green.

Fire - Aquarium not recommended.

3. The best shape for an aquarium is rectangular or round. Geometric shapes are related to the five elements as follows:

Round - Metal (auspicious).

Hexagonal - Water (satisfactory).

Square - Soil (unfavorable).

Rectangular - Wood (satisfactory).

Triangular - Fire (unfavourable).

4. The number of fish in the aquarium - 1, 4, 6 or 9. The size of the fish does not play a role, and their number is related to the five elements as follows:

Water - 1, 6;

Tree - 3, 8;

Soil - 5, 10;

Fire - 2, 7;

Metal - 4, 9.

5. Decorative elements in the aquarium should imitate the natural habitat of fish - aquatic plants and stones. Do not place strange, unnatural objects in the aquarium.

6. a) to avoid financial loss, do not put an aquarium in the bedroom;

b) if the aquarium is in a classroom, do not place it in a place where it will particularly attract the attention of children; otherwise, children will stop obeying and will not be able to learn;

c) an aquarium in the kitchen has a negative effect on the course of pregnancy;

d) In general, the aquarium should preferably be placed in the living room. But you should not put it on the so-called "point of love", turning the front side out of the house. Otherwise, family members will be prone to forbidden love affairs.

Bells

It is customary to hang bundles of bells on doors, windows and walls. The ringing of a bell soothes and softens a bad mood. It can warn about the appearance of a guest in the room. These bells are often used in Feng Shui to regulate the flow of qi. They are able to disperse harmful qi, redistributing it and balancing disharmonious flows.

Bells can also be used to attract beneficial qi to your home. By hanging them on the cornice, you thereby symbolically "raise" the qi in the house. By placing them in the living room, you will balance the chi and the five elements in that room. But in order for the bells to work effectively, certain rules must be taken into account when placing them. Here are some recommendations:

1. First of all, set whether you need bells or not.

2. Ask the geomancer where the so-called "ngo-gon" and "dee-o" places are located in your house. These are the sources of evil qi and dead qi; the flows emanating from them must be corrected by hanging bells in these places.

3. It is desirable that the bells be blessed.

4. Select an appropriate date for hanging the bells.

5. For Feng Shui purposes, bronze bells are commonly used. As a rule, they are covered with engraving in the form of an inscription or drawing.

6. Carefully choose the color of the bells. It should be in harmony with the element that prevails in your energy. The multicolored bells look nice, but they are not particularly effective and can sometimes even hurt.

Additional interior decorations

Nowadays, it is customary to decorate homes with plants, vases, toys, antiques, stuffed animals, etc. All these things have a certain influence on the behavior and course of a person's life. To ensure beneficial and healthy qi in the home, observe the following basic rules:

1. If you want to decorate your house with outdoor plants, opt for plants with round green leaves. Avoid thorny plants.

2. Wall plants should not be placed in the matrimonial bedroom.

3. It is better to place the piano on the "side of the dragon".

4. Swords should not be kept in a visible place in the children's room and in the classroom.

5. Stuffed wild animals are not recommended for keeping in the bedroom.

6. For jugs and large vases, a suitable place must be carefully selected; do not forget to rearrange them from time to time to other places.

7. A large fan should not be placed in front of the front door.

8. Dolls and stuffed toys should not be kept in the room if no one is using them (especially old, broken and torn toys).

9. If you decide to decorate your house with antiques, it is advisable to find out the origin of each item. Place stone objects in the southwestern or northeastern part of the house; porcelain - in the north; wooden - in the southeast or east; metal - in the western or northwestern.

10. Pictures and paintings related to water should not be hung in the bedroom, especially above the headboard. A picture that shows too many birds should not be hung in the dining room.

11. Images of lions should be paired and turned with their heads towards the door.

12. Images of tigers must be recumbent and turn their heads to the side opposite the door.

13. Images of horses should be in the amount of six or eight pieces and their heads should be turned inside the house.

14. Images of goats must be in the amount of three pieces, standing together.

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