Learning interior design books
8 Essential Design Books Every Interiors Lover Should Read
Whether you’re looking to brush up on the basic principles of good design or seeking some eye-candy inspiration, it’s always a good idea to stock up on design books. These classic tomes offer an aesthetic foundation for any interior designer’s toolkit, and are the perfect introductory education for anyone even just dabbling in the field.
Home: The Foundations of Enduring Spaces
By Ellen S. Fisher
The New York School of Interior Design wrote the book, quite literally, when it comes to the basics of decoration. Keep a copy of Home: The Foundations of Enduring Spaces (Clarkson Potter), written by NYSID dean Ellen Fisher, Ph.D., close by for whenever it’s time for a refresher on the fundamental concepts behind such grounding principles as the process of design.
The House in Good Taste: Design Advice From America’s First Interior Decorator
By Elsie de Wolfe
Since 1913, The House in Good Taste: Design Advice From America’s First Interior Decorator (Dover Publications) has guided designers looking to cultivate their sense of taste with advice from none other than Elsie de Wolfe, the “first lady” of American interior design.
The Decoration of Houses
By Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman Jr.
Long before Edith Wharton published her tales of life in New York’s upper crust, she collaborated with the architect of her own Newport, Rhode Island, renovation, Ogden Codman Jr., on what would become her first published book: 1897’s The Decoration of Houses (Dover Publications). More than 100 years later, her advice still resonates: Keep it simple, don’t worry about trends, and feel free to take cues from the best examples you can find.
Interiors: The Greatest Rooms of the Century
By Phaidon Editors
When it comes to inspirational imagery, there’s little need to look further than Interiors: The Greatest Rooms of the Century (Phaidon). Covering 400 spaces from around the world and representing the work of some 300 creatives, the collection highlights legendary designers past and present, from Billy Baldwin to Karim Rashid, while also offering a look at the private domestic spaces of such iconic stylemakers as Bill Blass and Peggy Guggenheim.
On Decorating
By Mark Hampton
An aesthetic guide from one of the most famous interior designers of all time, On Decorating (Potter Style) offers a dissertation on interiors penned by Mark Hampton, the tastemaker who left his mark everywhere from the White House to the American Embassy in Paris. Since it was first published in 1989, On Decorating has inspired countless design professionals and enthusiasts to take risks when making spaces, with Hampton-approved strategies for approaching color, comfort, and, of course, elegance.
Interaction of Color: 50th Anniversary Edition
By Josef Albers
Few people are as closely associated with color theory as Josef Albers, the artist and educator known for his series of hue-on-hue square compositions. Albers was teaching graphic design at Yale when he published his influential guide to the principles of color theory in 1963. Featuring some 150 plates showcasing color relationships, Albers’s treatise on combining colors has been in print for more than half a century, most recently as Interaction of Color: 50th Anniversary Edition (Yale University Press).
The World of Ornament
By David Batterham
Expand your visual vocabulary with The World of Ornament (Taschen), a primer to decorative patterns throughout history. Curated by antiquarian bookseller David Batterham, the book combines two 19th-century French collections of pattern and decoration into one richly illustrated sourcebook that breaks down the aesthetic principles behind everything from textiles to tiles to illustrated texts, with examples drawn from cultures ranging from ancient Egypt to the European Middle Ages and beyond.
1000 Chairs
By Charlotte & Peter Fiell
If a designer is only as good as her sources, 1000 Chairs (Taschen) is all you need for a one-stop crash course in the history of seating. From the craftsmanship of Charles Rennie MacKintosh to the Eameses’ early fiberglass experiments and the faceted creations of Konstantin Grcic, this field guide to famous chairs is more than just a designers’ dream sourcebook—it offers a world of inspiration for rethinking even the most everyday of objects around us.
20 Go-To Interior Design Books for Students and Beginners — Nicole Janes Design
I consider the titles on this list staples of an Interior Designers personal library. Books you will read, reread and reference time and time again. I see seasoned designers (myself included) recommending these books to beginners almost daily. If you've been in the design game a while, many of these titles are likely already in your collection. If not, I'm sure at least a few are on your wish list.
These subjects are the foundation of our trade. Clearances, interior details, residential code, branding, accounting, business practices and sound advice. Edith Wharton first published The Decoration of Houses in 1897 and Elsie De Wolfe followed with The House in Good Taste in 1914. Both are still in publication. What more needs to be said? Time-Saver Standards is known as the Interior Designers Silver Bible and Chings Building Construction Illustrated is in its 5th edition and still used in colleges across the country.
I've owned some of these books for almost 20 years and I still find myself turning a page and learning something new.
Click on the book covers or the list of titles below the images to learn more or purchase a few classics for your library.
Time-Saver Standards for Interior Design and Space Planning
The Interior Design Productivity Toolbox
A Field Guide to American Houses
Get Your House Right: Architectural Elements to Use & Avoid
Building Construction Illustrated 5th Edition
Interior Detailing: Concept to Construction
Residential Interior Design: A Guide To Planning Spaces 3rd Edition
Interior Construction & Detailing for Designers & Architects, 6th Edition
Interior Design Reference Manual: Everything You Need to Know to Pass the NCIDQ Exam, 6th Ed
The Codes Guidebook for Interiors 7th Edition
NKBA Professional Resource Library, 9 Volume Set
Branding + Interior Design: Visibility and Business Strategy for Interior Designers
Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine
Business of Design: Volume 1: Have the Professional Life You've Always Wanted
Business of Design: Volume 2: Make Every Project Satisfying for Both You and Your Client
Business of Design: Volume 3: Win the Flat Fee Game
Design Directory of Window Treatments
Interior Design Master Class: 100 Lessons from America's Finest Designers on the Art of Decoration
The House in Good Taste: Design Advice from America's First Interior Decorator
The Decoration of Houses
20 Go-To Interior Design Books For Students And Beginners
Row 1:
Time-Saver Standards for Interior Design and Space Planning / The Silver Bible
The Interior Designer Productivity Toolbox, Phyllis Harbinger
A Field Guide to American Houses, Virginia Savage McAlester
Get Your House Right: Architectural Elements to Use & Avoid, Marianne Cusato
Row 2:
Building Construction Illustrated 5th Edition, Francis D.
K. Ching
Interior Detailing: Concept to Construction, David Kent Ballast
Residential Interior Design: A Guide To Planning Spaces, Maureen Mitton
Interior Construction & Detailing for Designers & Architects, David Kent Ballast
Row 3:
Interior Design Reference Manual: Everything You Need to Know to Pass the NCIDQ Exam, David Kent Ballast
The Codes Guidebook for Interiors, Katherine E. Kennon
NKBA Professional Resource Library, 9 Volume Set
Branding + Interior Design: Visibility and Business Strategy for Interior Designers, Kim Kuhteubl
Row 4:
Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine, Mike Michalowicz
Business of Design: Volume 1: Have the Professional Life You've Always Wanted, Kimberley Seldon
Business of Design: Volume 2: Make Every Project Satisfying for Both You and Your Client, Kimberley Seldon
Business of Design: Volume 3: Win the Flat Fee Game, Kimberley Seldon
Row 5:
Design Directory of Window Treatments, Jackie Von Tobel
Interior Design Master Class: 100 Lessons from America's Finest Designers on the Art of Decoration, Carl Dellatore
The House in Good Taste, Elsie De Wolfe
The Decoration of Houses, Edith Wharton
Which indispensable books have you added to your library?
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Top 10 interior design books for beginners in 2022
The most popular interior design books for beginners and experienced designers, as well as those who want to make their home unique.
There are a great many luxurious books with glossy photographs of beautiful apartments and houses. But there are two problems.
First, the world of interior design is as changeable as the world of fashion. Therefore, projects made 10-15 years ago already seem outdated today.
Secondly, professional interior designers need not just “picture books”, but full-fledged manuals, including information on color schemes, required materials, cost of work, preparation of estimates, detailed descriptions of real projects of office and home premises and practical recommendations for work. with clients.
This selection mainly contains books published from 2017 to 2021. Therefore, beginners and professional interior designers will receive up-to-date information, and amateur designers can be sure that the interiors they see and ideas for decorating apartments and houses will be not only original, but also the most fashionable.
Some of the books featured in this review may not be available for sale. Therefore, I give additional links to sections of bookstores with a large selection on this topic. How much do interior designers earn in Russia?
In this book you will find ready-made projects and design options for standard apartments, as well as advice and recommendations from professionals on all the complex issues that arise during the renovation.
The book illustrates step by step 9 styles of interior design that are ideal for small apartments: classic, minimalism, art deco, pop art, high-tech, modern, Russian and oriental, as well as the design of the apartment in the loft style. The following recommendations on working with color, choosing furniture, decor and textiles will help you. You will learn how to draw up a project on your own, taking into account all possible redevelopments and even replacing communications inside the apartment.
This wonderful book will not only introduce you to the basic concepts of professional interior design, but also teach you how to properly apply them in your professional work.
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The third edition of the popular guide will provide invaluable assistance to both customers and budding designers and planners when designing a garden and living space.
Readers will find in this book everything they need to know about designing a bathroom, kitchen, dining room, family room, bedroom, and utility rooms. The book will become your constant reference and assistant during construction or restructuring.
By the way, the book contains an extensive glossary of technical terms. It explains the meaning of more than 300 professional words and expressions.
The new edition includes sections: office and attic furnishing, prefabricated construction, storage of liquid fuel, construction and modernization of wooden houses, examples of classic furniture, pantries, wine cellar.
The manual will be very useful for interior designers, students of architecture and construction universities.
Where to buy a paper book
What is the secret of a designer who easily and simply transforms the interior of a room? The ability to use color.
This handy how-to guide features over 200 color options for every space in your home. The skillful use of color makes it possible to make changes both in traditional dwellings and in rooms decorated in the spirit of modern trends. Classical interior ensembles are refreshed by the presence of pale and light colors, they purify them and give them volume and harmonious sound. Intense colors such as emerald green and dark ruby lend intensity to other colors to create a cozy and romantic atmosphere.
However, the colors of the interior cannot be changed as often as we change our clothes. This book will help you choose the essentials when it comes to coloring your home.
Review:
“Color combinations are very well presented here and there are many tips on how to combine shades in the interior. If you want to know on what plane of the room and in what volumes this or that color will most favorably reveal, you are here! If you just want to feel the energy of shades, to know that the powdery pink tone creates a sensual and enveloping aura in the room, then it is all the more worth enjoying the book. As a copywriter who writes a lot about color and interior environment, the encyclopedia gave me an emotion! And not even one, but a whole range of them. This is exactly the edition that can become a desktop guide for “interiorized” and color-addicted people.”
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An excellent guide to the art of interior design. Its authors, professional designers and decorators Katherine Kayi McMillan and Patricia Hart McMillan, step by step introduce the reader into the world of beautiful and harmonious spaces.
How to change the old and already boring apartment interior? Where to start decorating a new home? How to make a room in the style of Louis XVI, modern or country? These and many other questions are answered in this book.
The reader will get acquainted with the basic concepts and elements of design, the features of various decorative styles, the main principles for decorating different rooms. In addition, he will have the opportunity to create his own original and unique style.
The book provides advice on the design of walls, ceilings, floors and windows, the correct placement of lamps, works of art and accessories.
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Another book by the popular designer will allow every owner of an apartment or house to equip their personal space to their liking, giving it a unique individual style.
The guide contains all the necessary information on interior styles, color matching, rules for arranging furniture and textiles for each room, adjusted for typical urban housing.
Ready-made solutions, ideas and design techniques will help you choose finishing materials, design elements and create a harmonious ensemble of details and accessories.
Some reviews:
“A good guide, especially for the beginning of self-education in this matter. Everything is sorted out in detail, but without overloading, only the essence, in order to understand the main thing, and if it captivates, go further to study this topic.
“This book, in my opinion, gives basic knowledge about interior design. As an introductory course, it's very good. Popular styles are described. Stands out from the existing sale. Gives the basics of color matching.
Where to buy a paper book
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Interior design consists of hundreds of rules and a million little things. But there is not a single resource where they would be described. Many are not even formulated, you have to look for information bit by bit.
Even before the repair begins, you can go crazy with scattered information and attempts to calculate the budget.
Interior designer Iolanta Fedotova has created a system of rules that will make it possible to correctly design a house.
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The author showed the features of the interiors of premises for various purposes in accordance with 25 popular styles (country, pseudo -African, pseudo -Skandinavinsky, pseudo -priest, pseudo -media. pseudo-Egyptian, pseudo-Japanese, pseudo-Indian, pseudo-Russian, pseudo-Ukrainian, minimalism, hi-tech, loft, kitsch, expressionism, surrealism, art nouveau, art deco, pop art, romanesque, gothic, renaissance, baroque, rococo, classicism, empire).
For each style, the characteristic materials used for the manufacture of the main building elements are listed: walls, floors, ceilings, etc. The features of the choice of furniture, color palette, decor and lighting are described.
It is convenient that everything is accompanied by examples created in the 3D modeling program and real photographs, and practical recommendations are given on the development of an interior design project, depending on its purpose.
Some reviews:
“Everything is described in a very accessible way, read in one breath. Suitable for both beginners and professionals in this field. Visual examples make it easy to understand everything).
“I liked the system and brevity in writing. Everything is clear and concise. Nothing extra. Gives an idea of the main style elements. Recommended for beginners in design.
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What does a designer need to be successful? Ability to create unique designs and projects? Oh sure. But in the first place is not the project, but the customer, who will pay for its creation. Therefore, the main condition for professional and financial success is clients.
And the more the better. Even popular and well-known designers need a constant influx of new clients, what can we say about novice specialists?
And just as professionalism does not come by itself, but requires hard, long-term work, so the search for clients should begin even during training and not stop for a single day. A well-built search strategy, promotions, creating a system of “word of mouth advertising”, that is, recommendations from satisfied customers - these are just some of the necessary steps to ensure constant demand for your services.
Natalija Mitina, interior designer and board member of the Latvian Designers' Union, author of the bestseller “Interior Design. How to start your own business”, and Kirill Gorsky, the author of the publication “Business in Interior Design”, collected in the new book all the ways they know to attract and retain customers. Use these guidelines to create a steady customer flow and you are guaranteed both professional and commercial success.
Buy an e-book in LitRes
Win-win interior decorating techniques from one of America's leading designers and lifestyle experts.
“I am laying out here some of the practical standards and timeless rules for decorating rooms that experts check daily in their work, but they are not known to the general public. These are the basics of design, independent of fashion, era and changing aesthetics, as well as tips and professional secrets that will help you create cozy and beautiful rooms that are pleasing to the eye and comfortable - regardless of the interior style you prefer.
We will walk through the house, room by room, and I will show you exactly what you need to know so that everything harmonizes with each other and is pleasing to the eye. We'll look at furniture placement, size and color, lighting, window treatments, painting, flooring, woodwork, materials, finishes, specific proportions and sizes, and of course accessories!
I'll tell you everything you need to know about decorating.
.. and you and I will laugh a lot as we read this book because, as Dorothy Draper once said, "Decorating is fun!" (Elaine Griffin)
Where to buy a paper book
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This is the third edition of the bestseller dedicated to the creation and promotion of the "design business".
Have you decided to become a professional interior designer as a sole proprietor or open your own studio?
Let's start with the fact that in no case should one judge the work of a designer by popular TV shows devoted to repairs. Of course, creativity is a must for designers, but these specialists spend 80% of their time and effort on technical work, communication with customers and material suppliers. After all, this profession does not often give the opportunity for freedom of action when customers fully trust the decisions of the designer.
Natalia Mitina, an experienced architect and interior designer, talks in detail about how to become a real professional - from a clear understanding of your future activities and the right choice of an educational institution to independent project management and creating your own design studio.
Where to buy a paper book
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The book, published in 2020, is intended for novice designers, as well as those who dream of a designer apartment renovation and renovation professional, had no experience in the field of construction, repair work, did not deal with finishing, decorating, estimates and design.
Practical recommendations from an experienced designer will help even beginners to correctly choose the layout of the premises and draw up a project of work. Thanks to the practical recommendations of the book, you will be able to independently choose the appropriate style and determine the approximate budget for repairs or redevelopment.
Where to buy a paper book
Buy an e-book in LitRes
Interior styling is an extremely exciting and uncomplicated task that will allow you to completely transform a boring interior in the shortest possible time and at minimal cost.
Emily Henderson, stylist and interior designer, will help you create a comfortable and stylish space.
Review:
“What I liked about this book is the speed with which you can get the results you want. Already on the 49th page, I generally knew what my dream house should look like. And this despite the fact that I do not have the ability of a designer. Moreover, like many amateurs, I was afraid to start and afraid to make a mistake. The talented design of the book easily removes fears, blocks and clamps associated with creativity and the need for choice. The most concise and capacious and at the same time simple (there is no place easier) advice was given on page 29, it was immediately a good start in determining the style of the house. The chosen direction was complemented by the passed test and style circle. Everything! By page 50, everything became clear. Then I was happy to look at the illustrations and read the advice.”
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TOP-7 Best Interior Design
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12 books for interior designers - recommendations by Viktor Dembovsky
- Read
- Experience
- 12 books for interior designers - recommendations by Viktor Dembovsky read to an interior designer.
“After reading hundreds of publications, I settled on these books as the most concise and accurate description of the issues of history and design theory. They are enough to form a complete picture of both modern design and historical interior styles,” says Dembovsky. Victor Dembowski interior designer, architecture and design historian, lecturer
"History of Design", Charlotte Phill, Peter Phill
The book provides the necessary basic understanding of the history and theory of design, the structure of design thinking. Written in a simple and understandable language, contains many illustrations. Buy book
“Objects of Desire. Design and society since 1750”, Adrian Forti
The book describes design in close connection with society and its demands. Gives a clear understanding of the mechanisms for creating a design work. Buy book
Through Design, Ralph Kaplan
Logically complements and in many ways continues the previous book.
Addresses deep issues of design and material culture. Read more about the book Buy the book "Design in the culture of the 20th century", Vladimir Aronov
The book tells in detail about the formation of modern design thinking, prominent names in the design of the 20th century and the connection between design and art and science. Buy book
History of Design, Alexander Lavrentiev
On the whole, the book is slightly inferior to The History of Design by the Phills, but it complements it very well in terms of domestic design. Alexander Lavrentiev is a leading specialist in the field of domestic design in the world. Buy the book
"The General History of the Interior", Nikolai Solovyov, Maria Maystrovskaya, Valery Turchin, Vera Dazhina
There are no higher-level specialists in the history of interior design in Russia than Nikolai Kirillovich and Maria Terentyevna. I had a chance to study with them, and my ideas about the history and theory of design were formed directly with their participation.
This book is the most detailed publication on the subject of interior history in Russian. Buy book "History of Modern Interior", Nikolai Soloviev
This is my reference book. It was after reading it more than 10 years ago that I began to think about my place in the profession. It describes the history of modern interior design from the point of view of a designer rather than a historian, emphasizing the practical aspects of design. Buy book
"A History of Interior Design (Fourth Edition)", John Pile & Judith Gura
At the moment, this is the most comprehensive publication on the history of interior design in the world. The book describes both European and Oriental interiors. Creates a clear understanding of the world's historical styles in design. From history, the authors seamlessly move on to the design of the 20th century and modern styles. Unfortunately, only in English. Buy book
“Furniture Styles”, Gyula Kes
No matter what anyone says, Kes's book is still the best book on the history of furniture in Russia.
