11 Best Books for Interior Design

Looking to start redesigning your home interior? Trying to save some money and do it yourself instead of hiring a professional designer? One of the best ways to get a start on the process is by using resources published by experienced professionals.

Is not it so pretty? Photo Credit: charlotte holmes at Flickr.

The nuances of interior design may seem simple at first, but as you begin to get into it, you may find yourself stumped. The books on this list create a fairly comprehensive base of knowledge. Many of them cover general design tips and tricks, but others are based around some of the core principles of design.

1) The Interior Design Reference & Specification Book: Everything Interior Designers Need to Know Every Day by Linda O’Shea and Chris Grimley

Photo Credit: Amazon.com.

This is a book that covers the basics of interior design. It is an excellent resource for professional designers, design students, and someone looking to do their own interior design. It is a very technical reference type book.

Every design element is broken down into simple terms that are easy to follow. It is not heavy-handed with its technical terms. If you are completely lost as you begin your interior design work, this book can provide with a good look into the basics of good interior design. Read more here.

2) Designers at Home: Personal Reflections on Stylish Living by Ronda Rice Carman

Featuring a foreword by the successful (and infamous) interior design maven Martha Stewart, offers a guided tour of the homes of several famous designers. “The Designer at Home” gives you a glimpse of the kind of home a designer wants to live in. Styles vary from modern to glamorous to serene. The book’s tone is very conversational, featuring a lot of useful; little tips and tricks from masters of interior design.

The photos are very fun to look at and a sure to provide you with inspiration for your own home. The variety of homes and sizes are interesting to look at. If you’re looking for inspiration, or just a glimpse at beautiful places and the minds that created them, this is a great book for you.

3) 501 Decorating Ideas Under $100 from Better Homes and Gardens

One of the biggest concerns everyone has once they begin redesigning their home is the expense. This book is all about tackling that concern. Every page is full of clever little do-it-yourself ideas for all sorts of interior design styles.

The book not only gives you images of all manner of little design hacks, but also gives you instructions on how to do them.  Even if you can’t use the ideas in the book, they can offer you a good starting point and offer some inspiration for other do-it-yourself home décor projects.

4) Change Your Home, Change Your Life with Color: What’s Your Color Story? By Moll Anderson

Color can be the most difficult and contentious part of interior design, especially if you share your home with one or more other people. Ugly walls are often expensive mistakes. This book is all about how to use color well as you decorate your home, all while making sure the colors you use express your personality and preferences.

This is more a psychological book than many others on this list. It discusses how to use colors to help the atmosphere and mood of the rooms in your home.  This is defiantly something to pick up if you are thinking about repainting any part of your home.

Want to read this book? Visit here then.

5) Elements of Style: Designing a Home & a Life by Erin Gates

This book is a deeply personal, yet pragmatic guide to designing a home. The author details the trials and travails of her own life as an interior designer while explaining how to make a space into a lovely and comfortable space.

It covers a lot of topics about home design, from the design of living spaces to how to organize closets or create a beautiful garden. If you want to learn home design alongside someone as they also learn it, this is the book for you. Buy it here.

6) Interior Design Master Class: 100 Lessons from America’s Finest Designers on the Art of Decoration by Carl Dellatore

This book is an interesting essay collection on interior design. Every one of the 100 essays is written by separate designer.

The book is filled with their inspiring home decor ideas, useful advice and knowledge to make your home a new look. Get ready to be dazzled by the gorgeous photos of classic interior designs.

It is not a book on specific elements of design, but rather covers the more abstract core ideas behind the designers’ own particular styles. This book is a great glimpse into the world of interior design.

7) Quick and Easy Paint Transformations: 50 step-by-step ways to makeover your home for next to nothing by Annie Sloan

Looking to repaint your home? This book has you covered. There is more to painting your walls than just using a brush and a roller. Quick and Easy Paint Transformations details different finishes and affects that you can add to your home.

Every one of these techniques is described so it can be turned into a do-it-yourself project. It is an excellent book for anyone looking to do more than simply paint their walls in the same old way.

Buy this book now to get some ideas to repaint your home and wow your neighbors.

8) 37 Stress-Free Ways to Declutter Your Home by Abigail Rosenberg

Is there a better time to declutter your home? Maybe your time has arrived to think of this question.

Many people decide to redesign their home in order to keep it from becoming a cluttered nightmare. Decluttering a space, or even an entire house, is an intimating process.

37 Stress-Free Ways to Declutter Your Home” breaks the process of cleaning and decluttering your home and keeping it that way!—into simple steps. Written in a down-to-earth manner from the perspective of someone who has been there to, this book is a good way to start the decluttering of your home.

9) Styled: Secrets for Arranging Rooms, from Tabletops to Bookshelves by Emily Henderson and AngelinBorsics

Styling is an oft forgotten element of interior décor. This book is written for a beginner and can help you tweak your existing design into something amazing.

With a diversity of ideas inside the pages, this is a good read if you are looking to redecorate without spending too much money or using up too much time.

According to many inspired readers who have a great passion in Interior Design, this book shares a wide range of home decorating ideas that everyone would like to learn.

10) The Inspired Room by Melissa Michaels

This book is all about do-it-yourself projects and homey style. The author walks you through her own home and explains how even the simplest changes can transform spaces.

She doesn’t neglect small spaces and her conversational writing style is a delight to read. Pick this up for some great interior design tips and tricks.

Besides, people who are highly interested in pursuing a career in Interior Design would defiantly benefit from reading this outstanding interior design book. A truly classic!

11) Domino: The Book of Decorating: A Room-by-Room Guide to Creating a Home That Makes You Happy by Deborah Needleman

We are not supposed to follow all the detailed instructions we read about in a book. Don’t you think so? Domino: The Book of Decorating, written by Deborah Needleman, is surprisingly one of the classic books ever published on interior design. Indeed, this book inspires you to generate your own ideas to make your room a picture-perfect!

Every project (room) shared in the book is very straight forward with providing in detail information and eye-catching photographs. While reading each section of the book, you would find a lot of ideas on home decor. It’s true that the author’s decorating ideas for each room can be modified with your own ideas. How cool is that!

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