Packed with inspiration and wisdom, this spring’s most exciting new design titles aren’t just a crash course in decorating—they’re a peek into the personal journeys of some of our favorite designers, many of whom took an unexpected path to where they are today, from Marshall Watson (formerly an actor) to Britt Zunino of Studio DB (a onetime professional snowboarder) to Peter Dunham (who started out as a realtor and auction habitué). What they all had in common was an irrepressible love and talent for design that couldn’t be squelched—all the better for us!
The World of Peter Dunham: Global Style from Paris to Hollywood by Peter Dunham
This book will earn pride of place on your coffee table with its Fig Leaf-fabric cover. But it’s more than just a pretty cover—Dunham’s fascinating biography, his exuberant, optimistic designs (both interiors and fabrics), and always-creative ideas will charm and enthrall you.
$75, Vendome (May 6)
Alfredo Paredes at Home by Alfredo Paredes
As chief creative officer at Ralph Lauren for over 30 years, Alfredo Paredes created the immersive store environments and fantasy-steeped home collections that Ralph Lauren is so well-known for. In his first book, he shares four of his own homes in captivating detail, while explaining his creative process. It’s a stunning yet warmly inviting book that explicates his singular point of view.
$60, Rizzoli
Marshall Watson: Defining Elegance by Marshall Watson
Watson’s timeless interiors draw on his knowledge of history, impeccable eye for detail, and ability to listen keenly to his clients and respond to the architecture and environment, as evidenced by the wide range of locations in these 14 homes—from a waterfront Hawaiian villa to an exquisite Manhattan jewel box.
$58, Rizzoli
Spatial Alchemy: Design Your Home to Transform Your Life by Olga Naiman
More psychological roadmap than decorating how-to, this debut book by Naiman, a seasoned stylist and designer, explores “the transformative process of aligning your home with what you want to bring forth in your life.” With intriguing exercises and visual examples, she makes a compelling case for how changing your home can lead to changes in your life.
$35, Artisan (April 15)
Interiors of a Storyteller by Stephanie Sabbe
This is the rare design book that you’ll want to read from cover to cover, and the rarer-still decorating book that shares the author’s unvarnished personal story. Sabbe’s refreshing honesty makes her hard-won appreciation of home all the more compelling. Alternating between her life and her design projects, each section is bookended with distinctive mood boards layered with personal snapshots.
$50, Gibbs Smith
David Kleinberg: Interiors by David Kleinberg with Mayer Rus
Kleinberg brings a calm rigor, erudite elegance, and thoughtful consideration to every interior he designs, as evidenced by this second volume of projects (14 years after his first)—a dozen marvelous examples of excellence in the world of interiors.
$65, Monacelli
Drawn Together: Studio DB Architecture and Interiors by Britt and Damian Zunino
Equal parts downtown-cool and carefully considered, Studio DB’s always-inventive work reflects the yin-yang sensibilities of husband-and-wife, architect-and-designer partners Damian and Britt Zunino. Their first book showcases the unique, handcrafted elements; modern approach to wallpaper; and playful, unexpected details that set their work apart.
$65 Rizzoli
A New English Style: Timeless Interiors by Nicole Salvesen and Mary Graham with David Nicholls
As the title of Nicole Salvesen and Mary Graham’s debut book suggests, the duo’s ethos is grounded in classic English decoration, but with a sense of lightness and delight that feels fresh for today. Salvesen and Graham are widely admired for a facility with color that’s easy to live with, and their book is filled with practical advice and endless inspiration.
$50, Hardie Grant (May 6)
Interiors for a Life in Good Taste by Caroline Gidiere
For pure prettiness and pleasure, you needn’t look any further than Birmingham, Alabama, designer Caroline Gidiere’s first book. Filled with beautiful details, she shares her appealing aesthetic, but also practical tips and inspiring ideas for “a life in good taste.”
$55, Rizzoli
This Is Home by Jeffrey Alan Marks
Marks’s welcoming, unfussy style is a product of his tripartite background, braiding California coastal ease with rigorous English training and East Coast coziness. The second book from the Million Dollar Decorators alumnus covers projects on both coasts and beyond, including his own homes.
$55, Rizzoli
The Waterfront House: Living With Style on the Coast by Phoebe Howard
Bound to ignite your wanderlust, or longings for a house by the sea, Howard takes us on a blue, white, and green tour of nine waterfront homes, from a colorful, family-friendly, old Florida Victorian to a sophisticated neutral home in Antigua to her own new house in Jacksonville Beach, each shown and explained in greatly satisfying detail.
$55, Abrams (April 22)
Tadao Ando: Light and Space by Tadao Ando and Richard Pare
One of our finest living architects, Japanese architect Tadao Ando composes poetry in concrete and glass, always guided by, in his words, “a quest for light.” In Ando’s first monograph since 1996, photographer Richard Pare captures 28 of the architect’s extraordinary projects worldwide to create a book that is a work of art in itself.
$150, Phaidon (April 10)
Patina Homes & Gardens by Steve and Brooke Giannetti
Over four books and two decades, the Giannettis’ bucolic lifestyle at Patina Farm in Ojai has enchanted countless followers. In their latest book, they’ve moved cross country to rural Tennessee and restored an 1850s log house on a 100-acre property, with adorable goats still poking at the door. They share six additional projects they’ve designed, from a seaside villa in Malibu to an English cottage.
$50, Gibbs Smith
Relaxed Elegance: Rooms for Living Well by Brittany Bromley
This New York– and Palm Beach–based designer’s first book is brimming with color, layered patterns, clever details, and inspired ideas for bringing traditional interiors to life, as showcased in eight different projects ranging from a classic Park Avenue apartment to a Georgian Revival in St. Louis.
$55, Rizzoli
Embracing Southern Homes by Eric Ross
The second book from Nashville-based decorator Eric Ross shares a dozen homes throughout the South. His traditional-with-a-twist interiors offer plenty of inspiration for formal window treatments, wallpapers, and patterned fabrics woven together in harmonious schemes.
$50 Gibbs Smith (April 15)
Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction: Expanded Edition by Christopher Rawlins
This new, expanded edition of an out-of-print modern classic features the dramatic glass-and-cedar beach houses designed in the 1960s and ’70s by architect Horace Gifford in the gay enclave of Fire Island Pines in New York. Featuring five new houses, the book explores how Gifford, using simple materials on small lots, “thought about space as sculpture,” as designer Miles Redd notes.
$65, Metropolis Books (April 29)
Veranda Designer Secrets: Expert Lessons from Top Decorators’ Own Homes by Susan Hall Mahon
Veranda magazine’s latest book compiles spaces from 40 designers and architects’ own homes. It’s organized by room, which helps as a way to compare features, with informative captions that dive into the design decisions behind them.
$40, Hearst Home (May 13)
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