Hearth & Home

Our favourite coffee table books on interior design

Slow Living LDNby Slow Living LDN
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Our favourite coffee table books on interior design

Like the occasional chair, a coffee table book represents a quiet, slow moment. These thick, beautifully bound books aim to inspire us with their words and photography, and often make attractive interiors accessories in their own right. Coffee table books are to be picked up and perused at leisure, the ideal accompaniment to a cup of tea on a weekend afternoon.

From travel to house plants, there’s a coffee table book out there suited to everyone’s interests, and a huge number dedicated to interior design. Our curated list of the best interior design coffee table books include titles which inspire authentic homes for slow living. To us, a home for slow living is a carefully curated collection of spaces where you can be authentically you and find calm and connection. They reflect your story and embrace the principles of slow interiors, which is the framework or process to create a home which combines your values, needs and style.

Many of the interior design coffee table books included also encourage a considered approach to decorating and styling which allows spaces to develop slowly over time, in addition to striving to be as mindful of environmental impact as possible.

For more inspiration for your reading list, head to our guide to the best slow living books or follow the Slow Living LDN. book club.

This article may include affiliate links, but these do not influence our editorial.

Best interior design coffee table books

  • Style: The Art of Creating a Beautiful Home – Natalie Walton
  • Curate: Inspiration for an Individual Home – Ali Heath and Lynda Gardener
  • The Foraged Home – Joanna and Oliver Maclennan
  • Travel Home – Caitlin Flemming and Julie Goebel
  • Calm: Interiors to nurture, relax and restore – Sally Denning
  • Still: The Slow Home – Natalie Walton
  • The Kinfolk Home – Nathan Williams
  • Home for the Soul: Sustainable and Thoughtful Decorating and Design – Sara Bird and Dan Duchars

Style: The Art of Creating a Beautiful Home – Natalie Walton

Style book Natalie Walton

Style by Natalie Walton illustrates the true meaning of individual ‘style’. Walton explains that style is the combination of our personal story, our feelings and our values, it transcends trends and does not seek the approval of others. Style also explains that our personal style is fluid as we navigate different eras of our lives and take on new experiences, but holds common threads. Natalie Walton is a revered designer, creative director and author, and Style is the perfect first read to hone your authentic style, while also understand the art of styling a space.

Published June 2022

Memorable quotes from Style:

  • “Style can seem complex because it is multifaceted, relating to people, places and periods in time. But, at its heart, it’s a form of expression. It’s who you are – your journey, your story, your feelings, your priorities and even your sense of self-worth.”
  • “Everyone’s style is different because we have all taken different journeys in life. Creating in your own truth is at the heart of knowing and expressing your style.”
  • “One of the best ways to connect with your style, and improve you home, is to cultivate awareness.”

Style is available from Waterstones and WHSmith

Curate: Inspiration for an Individual Home – Ali Heath and Lynda Gardener

Curate interiors book

Released in 2021, Curate is a celebration of creating a home that champions the owner’s individual personality and personal experiences. Featuring many of Lynda’s homes, the photography and styling is truly beautiful and the objects and antiques featured are a real testament to Lynda’s skill for seeking incredible finds and building collections. Curate considers eight elements – palette, nature, textiles, lighting, old and new, storage, collections and art, which when considered together, the authors believe ‘can help transform the alchemy of a space’. This book, including its carefully crafted words, is fantastic inspiration for mixing old and new and will have you itching to make a trip to a flea market, reclamation yard or antique shop.

Published June 2021

Memorable quotes from Curate:

  • “Imperfections are celebrated, environment is nurtured, and a sense of timeless longevity is enjoyed.”
  • “Spaces don’t need to be big and finds don’t need to be expensive, you just have to love them.”
  • “An authentic home takes thought and is something you build up slowly, with each purchase triggered by an emotional connection, not a designer name or passing trend.”
  • “It (Curate) is about unique, uncontrived spaces that reflect personal needs and life stories, and the slow curation of revered pieces, from different centuries and countries.”

Curate is available from Waterstones and Trouva

The Foraged Home – Joanna and Oliver Maclennan

The Foraged Home book

The Foraged Home is split into four sections: coastal, rural, wild and urban. Each section shares real homes across the world, curated by those who forage from nature and reclaim materials. The Foraged Home shows the creativity of home owners who see the potential in foraged or fixed items, encouraging readers to consider their own buying habits in addition to the often mindful, slow process of foraging.

Published in April 2019

Memorable quotes from The Foraged Home:

  • “Foraging is for anyone, anywhere.”
  • “For many foragers, these imperfections are celebrations of the thing itself, of the stories told through its chips and kinks and scratches. Embracing them is a modest push against consumerism and increasing waste.”

The Foraged Home is available from Waterstones and WHSmith

Travel Home – Caitlin Flemming and Julie Goebel

Moodboard for slow interiors

Written by a mother and daughter duo, this interior design coffee table book shares the work of twenty different designers which is deeply influenced by their travel experiences, in addition to more practical tips such as how to navigate a flea market and how to bring natural textures into your home.

Published September 2019

Memorable quotes from Travel Home:

  • “Your space should reflect your personality, passions, heritage, history, and dreams for the future.”
  • “You can incorporate objects with meaning to you in a way that feels organic and essential.”

Travel Home is available from Waterstones and WHSmith

Calm: Interiors to nurture, relax and restore – Sally Denning

Stack of calm interiors books

Sally Denning’s Calm shares tips around creating a calm interior and showcases 12 different homes for inspiration. This beautiful book reminds us that there’s no one single definition of a tranquil space. Turn the pages to explore what calm means inside a cottage, a Georgian home and a modern seaside retreat.

Published October 2021

Memorable quotes from Calm:

  • “Our physical surroundings have a direct correlation with the way that we feel and make an important contribution to our emotional well-being.”
  • “Home should be a place to retreat from the everyday.”
  • “For me, a home without texture is a home without soul.”

Calm is available from Waterstones, WHSmith and Trouva

Still: The Slow Home – Natalie Walton

Natalie’s moving introduction gets to the crux of the slow living mentality. She questions why we consume and why we are prone to constantly filling both our dairies and our homes with more stuff and more commitments. Her beautiful book shares twenty homes and the story of their inhabitants, who have all chosen to embrace slow living and start simplifying their lives. After reading Still: The Slow Home, you’ll feel encouraged to reflect on your own buying and lifestyle choices.

Published May 2020

Memorable quotes from Still: The Slow Home:

  • “When we simplify from the inside out – rather than attempting quick-fix solutions from the outside in – the changes we embrace become systematic rather than just surface-based.”
  • “We need to build a pause into our decision making and be more considered – from goods, media, marketing and messages, to unwanted advice and opinions, which sometimes are our own.”
  • “When we focus on the real beauty of our life – and not what we think will buy us happiness – there is less room for dissatisfaction, comparison and greed.”

Still: The Slow Home is available from Waterstones and WHSmith

The Kinfolk Home – Nathan Williams

Kinfolk Home book flatlay

The Kinfolk Home likely needs little introduction. This beautifully shot and artfully arranged book covers three types of homes; homes for community, homes for simplicity and homes for slow living. Williams talks about our homes as a reflection of our beliefs, shaped by what slow living means to each of us. It challenges the idea that there is one single slow living interiors aesthetic.

Published October 2015

Memorable quotes from The Kinfolk Home:

  • “Slow living is less of a style and more a deeply personal mentality.”
  • “The function of our homes should dictate the way we decorate them, not the other way around.”
  • “Slow living isn’t about determining how little we can live with – it’s about working out what we simply can’t live without.” (One of our favourite slow living quotes which applies beyond your home’s interiors)

The Kinfolk Home is available from Waterstones, WHSmith and Arket.

Home for the Soul: Sustainable and Thoughtful Decorating and Design – Sara Bird and Dan Duchars

Home for the Soul book

Home for the Soul‘s focus is on creating beautiful, soulful homes with sustainability and conscious design at the core. The first section shares practical tips and inspiration for thrifting, upcycling and mixing old and new, while the second visits real life homes that have been consciously decorated.

Published September 2020

Memorable quotes from Home for the Soul:

  • “In today’s fast-paced world, where haste and waste often dominate, we seem to be at a tipping point when it comes to how we design, decorate and inhabit our own spaces.”
  • “We are realizing that constantly acquiring new stuff and chasing trends doesn’t necessarily make for a nurturing, health-giving, happy home.”

Home for the Soul is available from Waterstones and WHSmith

For more ideas, try our list of slow living magazines, slow living books and guide to slow design principles.

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