Decorating & Design
Home Library: 10 Design Books For Your Summer Reading List
Updated on November 17, 2023
Wondering which books should top your coffee table this summer? Venture into country houses, beach escapes and plant sanctuaries with some of our favorite design and decorating books — all from H&H’s Home Library pages.
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Sublime Hideaways: Remote Retreats and Residences
The solitary off-the-grid homes in this new book showcase stunning natural settings around the globe. Built by homeowners seeking a stronger connection to nature, the hideaways use construction and building materials tailored to the local environment and its natural resources. Arthur Erickson’s futuristic Eppich House II in Vancouver resembles a frozen waterfall cascading down a ravine, and a mirrored house in Monterrey, Mexico, is practically invisible, reflecting the trees and shrubs that surround it.
The New Antiquarians: At Home with Young Collectors
For those who suspect Millennials and Gen Z are thumbing their noses at antiques, this book counters the narrative with 22 youthful collectors who ferret out gems for their highly eclectic homes. Whether the collection revolves around Victorian majolica, Shaker chairs, alpine landscapes, braided rugs or porcelain vegetables, The New Antiquarians shows the power of curating on your own terms. These collectors make space for beautiful, meaningful pieces, even in compact homes.
Concrete Jungle: Tropical Architecture and its Surprising Origins
This book’s 48 homes — including Frida Kahlo’s Mexico City studio — will offer instant stress relief this summer. The “tropical modernist” houses bloom like rare flowers in the jungles of Malaysia, Brazil, India and Indonesia. Practical considerations such as green roofs, pivoting doors and vaulted ceilings help provide natural cooling, but it’s the daybeds on roof terraces, interior courtyards filled with mango trees and palms, and aquamarine pools that make these spaces so compelling.
Southern designer Bobby McAlpine may have been born in a hardscrabble Alabama sawmill town, but since founding his namesake firm in 1983, he specializes in designing aspirational homes from the Bahamas to the Pacific Palisades. The book’s spare, poetic text is accompanied by stunning country homes in the rolling hills of Tennessee and New England. Bobby’s mix of raw wood, plaster, floor-to-ceiling mullioned windows and a pale colour palette create his crisp, signature look.
Living Wild: How to Plant Style Your Home and Cultivate Happiness
As his 542K followers on Instagram can attest, plantfluencer Hilton Carter makes plant care sexy. His fourth book showcases eight homes styled by the plant guru to show how plants can transform a space. There’s also advice on kid-safe plants, living walls, planter selection and Hilton’s top 10 designer plants, including the coppery Alocasia cuprea, with its trendy fluted leaves.
Charm School: The Schumacher Guide to Traditional Decorating for Today
Chintz, wicker, ruffles, and skirts: granny-chic lives on for a new generation. Designers including Miles Redd, Celerie Kemble are putting their own unique spin on the classic textiles and wallcoverings from Schumacher, which make recurring starring roles on cozy canopied beds, walls, bedskirts, lampshades and tablecloths.
Jean-Louis Deniot: Destinations
French designer Jean-Louis Deniot’s new book is a passport to 18 destinations, with interior design that’s as distinctive and varied as the locations. Never-before-published projects by Jean-Louis include his own soignée Paris office and Eden-like home in Tangier (complete with giant tent).
Few decor styles reach the dizzying heights of Palm Beach, full of coral-stone patios, azure pools, Pulitzer-pink sofas, intricate tiles and chandeliers bedecked with real shells. Palm Beach writer Jennifer Ash Ruddick opens the doors to homes by designers like Tom Schereer, Jonathan Adler, Mark D. Sikes and Amanda Lindroth.
Design grande dame Nina Campbell hops across the pond to reimagine a turn-of-the-century family Maine home. Coastal mainstays like white painted wicker, botanical prints, and canopy beds with snowy monogram linens are all represented, along with unexpected surprises that hint at a strong element of fantasy.
A&P supermarket heir Huntington Hartford’s Ocean Club in the Bahamas has played host to James Bonds (Sean Connery and Daniel Craig), their bikini-clad babes and the Beatles. A magnet for the jet set, this book looks back at the most glamorous moments in this exclusive club’s 60-year history. If you’ve been lucky enough to stay at The Ocean Club, the pool and palm trees on the cover make this book the perfect souvenir — and an instant upgrade for any coffee table.
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