Decorating & Design
Gift Guide: The Best New Books For The Design Enthusiast On Your List
Published on December 5, 2025
Robert Stilin: New Work
This is the first book in six years from designer Robert Stilin, best known for his use of strong, clean lines, vintage furniture and contemporary photography. The 12 featured projects span a wide range of locations — mountain chalets, lakehouses and seaside retreats — and each captures Robert’s tailored, rigorous signature moves.
Merry & Chic: Your Most Dazzling Christmas Ever
The perfect hostess gift for the friend who waits all year for the holidays, this dazzling entertaining guide features tree decorating inspo, heirloom ornaments, tablescapes and bars. Practical tools include a to-do calendar by month and DIYs that you can gift, plus iconic recipes such as Jackie Kennedy’s tarragon chicken and Audrey Hepburn’s chocolate cake.
The Essentials: The Art Of Interior Design
Designer Caitlin Flemming has once again teamed up with her mother, Julie Goebel, to write their third bestselling book, which explores the “rules” of professional design. Leaning on the expertise of other designers and the authors’ own experiences, this book offers guidance on how to pick a paint colour, mix patterns, hang art and drapes, and place furniture and rugs. A section on designer homes brings the rules to life.
Flower Couture: From My Garden To My House
Romantics at heart will happily lose themselves in French tastemaker (and Dior Maison artistic director) Cordelia de Castellane’s second book. The pretty tome is the portal to her country garden, with tips for entertaining à la française, including floral arrangements and tablescapes organized by colour.
Wabi-Sabi Mood
Wabi-sabi is an ancient Japanese philosophy that values imperfection, and its influence is felt far beyond Japan’s borders. Antiques dealer Thierry Grundman and photographer Anne Emmanuelle Thion travelled through India, Europe and Morocco to catalogue global examples of wabi-sabi style. The 350 evocative images are compelling and soulful.
The Contemporary Garden
In this book, you’ll find 300 of the greatest gardens in more than 40 countries by leading landscape architects and garden designers over the past 30 years. See the Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm that grows more than 70,000 pounds of organic produce per year, the conceptual Blue Stick Garden in Quebec’s Reford Gardens and Anna Wintour’s English style garden in Long Island, N.Y., by Miranda Brooks.
Interior Design Master Class: 100 Rooms
The design enthusiast on your list will turn to the wisdom of the 100 prominent designers featured here again and again. Divided by room type, this book offers solutions to common design dilemmas. Heidi Caillier weighs in on updating vintage patterns, Corey Damen Jenkins shares insights on murals, and Canada’s own Philip Mitchell emphasizes the importance of hardware.
House Cat: Inspirational Interiors And The Elegant Felines Who Call Them Home
Cat fanciers, rejoice. This book showcases 57 felines and the homes they inhabit (reign over). Fashionista Grace Coddington’s famous cats lounge in her cosmopolitan NYC apartment, and a humble farmhouse cat enjoys the lush environs of designer Bunny Williams’ perfectly appointed rooms.
Making Space: Interior Design By Women
Interior design is a rare milieu where women are held in equal esteem to their male peers. This book is a who’s who of powerhouse female designers, 250 in all, from established greats such as Ilse Crawford, Pamela Shamshiri and Kelly Wearstler to up-and-comers like Beata Heuman and Sophie Ashby. See iconic spaces including the former Brooklyn home of Athena Calderone and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Montecito, Calif., digs designed by Brigette Romanek.