Designers and Book Nerds

Every interior designer will tell you they have a favorite book, a go-to for inspiration or instruction.

I’ve always loved books. I grew up reading and being read to. And while I purely loved the go-go boots I got for my birthday one year, the best gifts by far were the books that my parents’ educator friends gave me for every holiday. Unexpected, interesting books with beautiful covers and typography, and page-turner stories inside.

A friend recently gave me a copy of The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. Reading about the people who love and work with books I felt a kinship and knew that I wanted to dig deeper into that world – starting with design books.

Books about Interior design are as varied as they are ubiquitous. Some are all about glossy photos of beautiful spaces by celebrity designers. Some focus on a single design element like color, or a style like Art Deco. Some teach practices like Feng Shui or Minimalism. Some showcase public spaces, complete with detailed case studies. Still others are travelogs, exploring other cultures and traditions and inspiring the reader by sharing the writer’s inspiration. And there are those that aren’t design books at all, but that inspire by making a case for the significance, value, and necessity of good design to health, safety, and wellbeing.

In 2025 I launched Studio Human to offer healthy, sustainable, and accessible design and to talk about the impact of the built environment on human health, and how to create beautiful, personal interiors with wellness as the foundation.

Like every interior designer, I have books that have informed and inspired my path and my process.

And that’s the “Why” behind Design by the Book.

In upcoming posts I’ll talk with designers about their favorite design books and get insight into how they think and work and fuel their creativity. I know you’ll be inspired by their stories and come away with great book recommendations to build a fabulous design library.