If you're looking to refresh your home's decor, good news: This spring, there are more than a few new interior design books to serving up inspiration. From fearless design schemes with daring furniture, and genteel farms for the country-house fanatic, to the advice for any color-obsessed individual, these five books are a sure-fire way to keep your house—and your bookshelf—looking fresh.
If you've caught yourself looking at Bright Bazaar blogger Will Taylor's colorful Instagram account, wondering how you, too, can have the cheery, personality-packed interiors he often features, you're going to love his newest book: Dream Decor ($35, Jacqui Small LLP).
In the first part of the book, Taylor provides a step-by-step guide to building up a room's design scheme, dedicating chapters to the use of pattern, color, and texture. Have you been afraid of mixing strong colors in a room, or combining multiple patterns? Taylor is here to show you how it can all be done. There are even tips for picking the perfect lighting for any space, staging rooms, and adding smart (but still stylish) storage.
In the book's second half, Taylor examines interiors of varying styles—everything from a classic beach house to an industrial Parisian loft to, yes, even a Swedish house should you want a room inspired by the trending Scandi style—to expand upon the principles he lays down early on, add a few extra tips, and provide a whole heap of eye candy.
2. The Gentleman's Farm
Calling all lovers of traditional design and historic homes! The Gentleman's Farm: Elegant Country House Living ($55, Rizzoli) by Laurie Ossman and Debra A. McClane, provides an endless array of inspiration for anyone with dreams of owning a genteel estate brimming with woodwork.
Broken up into short chapters dedicated to houses like Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and Berry Hill (an estate-turned-boutique hotel), the hardcover traces the history of country house living from the 18th century to the present day. Though unlike in Dream Decor, you won't find any explicit decor tips here, it doesn't hurt that each house's profile is accompanied by copious—and gorgeous—photographs of its interiors, facades, and grounds.
3. Hollywood Interiors: Style and Design in Los Angeles
While the golden age of Hollywood may have come and gone, Los Angeles's moment in the style spotlight is far from finished. Hollywood Interiors: Style and Design in Los Angeles ($75, The Monacelli Press) by Anthony Iannacci shows the importance of the city's place in the design world through 19 homes that have all been renovated in the past 16 years.
While many of the houses have histories that stretch far beyond the turn of the millennium, and range in style from Spanish revival to midcentury modern, they have all been given a new life—and look—from designers like like Kelly Wearstler and Mike Powers.
Bright and colorful interiors, novel ways to mix patterns, and new interpretations of traditional decor styles fill the 200-plus-page tome (fans of the lavish Hollywood Regency style will not be disappointed). The book also answers an eternal question: How, exactly, do I best take advantage of the breathtaking view of Los Angeles from my hilltop patio?
4. Martyn Lawrence Bullard: Design & Decoration
Okay, we'll be honest with you: The aesthetic found in Martyn Lawrence Bullard: Design & Decoration ($50, Rizzoli) is very...specific. A mere glimpse of the cover is enough to hint at what's inside: a retrospective of Bullard's lavish and glamorous sense of style. But what we love most about this book is how the rooms on its lively pages communicate one message: Don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid to mix a gray paisley wall covering with an ornately carved wooden canopy bed. Don't be afraid to cover a bathroom—including the tub—in the same dramatic Brazilian marble. Don't be afraid to finish a conversation pit with semi-circular (hot-pink!) couches. If you can't figure out how to decorate a room in your house, chances are Martyn Lawrence Bullard has an answer, or—at least—a creative spark, to get you going.
5. Nomad Deluxe: Wandering With a Purpose
One of the newest titles from luxury publisher Assouline, Nomad Deluxe: Wandering With a Purpose ($85), explores what you can see if you just get up and go. It's a travel diary of sorts, and follows noted travel writer Herbert Ypma as he journeys across the earth—from Egypt to the Adirondacks to an ice hotel in the Arctic—snapping shots of everything that catches his eye.
The subjects vary wildly, including colorful building facades in Brazil, cozy lodges in France decorated with tartan furniture, and the austere and arid Australian Outback. Get ready to have some decor inspiration served up with a side of wanderlust.
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