I love a beautiful home design book. Here are 13 of my favorites full of beauty, creativity, and ideas to inspire both me and you!

Design Books

One of my favorite pastimes is to sit and flip through a design book.

For years, since long before Pinterest and Instagram, they have been my source for design inspiration and ideas.

They helped me define and refine my style.

Today here on the blog, I am sharing my favorites!

I came up with 13.

Is that somehow unlucky??

Of course I have many more than that. But these are the ones that have had the most impact on how I decorate my home. The ones I turn to again and again. Some for many years. So I didn’t want to leave any one of them off.

If you enjoy my home style, I think some of these books will resonate with you too. Or maybe they are already on your list of favorites!

There are a few oldies but still goodies, which goes to show you that good design is timeless.

A bunch that are more recent and best reflect my current design style.

And one which is brand new to me, but I know will continue to inspire me going forward.

So here you have it, my interior design book all-star list!

Oldies But Goodies

My love for interior decorating really began when I was a child.

And I have embraced many different styles through the years — bright yellow walls and orange and yellow furniture in my teenage room, traditional Williamsburg style in our first home, colorful and eclectic when the kids were young, cozy cottage when they were older.

These first three books, though, helped start me on the design path I continue to walk today.

Always evolving, but true to my Molly in Maine aesthetic — classic, New England, coastal, and collected.

Oh, yes, and blue.

At Home in Nantucket (Lisa McGee 2004)

Our family started spending a summer week or two on Nantucket in 2001.

I fell in love with the island the minute I stepped foot on it.

Cedar shingled homes, weathered to a soft gray, with crisp white trim.

Tailored but still laid back coastal style.

Nautical motifs.

Does any of this sound familiar?!

While I live in Maine, you can see the Nantucket influence in my home.

This book is a small one, but full of inspiration

An Affair With a House (Bunny Williams 2005)

An absolute classic.

Bunny taught me how to create a warm and gracious home layered with unique furnishings and antique treasures.

Diamond Barrata Design (William Diamond & Anthony Baratta 2006)

Diamond and Barrata designs can be a bit over the top.

But from them I learned to appreciate color, the value of a “theme” when decorating a room, and, most importantly, the visual joy a group of collected objects brings me.

More Recent

I have definitely settled into my personal design aesthetic.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t keep evolving over the years.

These more recent books have inspired me to tweak things in my home to keep it fresh and current.

The Way Home: Reflections on American Beauty (Jeffrey Bilhuber 2011)

The styling in this book, I would call it “overdone messy” — pillows tossed all over the place, leaves on the floor, stacks of magazines and newspapers — can be a bit distracting. But it is a good reminder that lived-in beautiful homes are also the most welcoming.

And these homes are certainly both beautiful and welcoming, with layer upon layer of pattern, color, and special objects.

The Victorian painted cottage bed and dresser in one bedroom definitely inspired my signature bedroom style!

Read about my love of this style of furniture in my post The Charm and Whimsy of Victorian Painted Cottage Furniture.

Tom Scheerer Decorates, Mimi Read (2013) and More Decorating (Tom Scheerer 2019)

Possibly my two favorite books!

Tom Scheerer’s style is clean and tailored, but still full of color, pattern, and well-curated objects which provide whimsy and charm. His homes have a wonderful sense of place, something you know is very important to me.

We share a love of bird and sailing ship prints, sea shells, gallery walls, and wicker.

Breaking news! In researching shopping links for this post, I learned that Tom has a new book coming out on Sept. 9th! It is available for preorder now. I know it will be wonderful!

Also note: For some reason these books are very expensive ($100-plus). I discovered this when trying to replace my copy of Tom Scheerer Decorates, which I seem to have lost. I ended up purchasing a set of his two books (for less than either sells for on their own). Be aware, though, that while these come as a pair in a hard slip-case, the books themselves are soft-cover.

Nora Murphy’s Country House Style (2018) and Country House Living (2024) (Nora Murphy)

Nora has been such a huge inspiration to me. From her blog years before I moved to Maine, to her IG account, to her first book in 2018.

And then a major fan-girl moment for me — meeting her in person when she came to shoot the house for, gasp, her second book. Such a huge honor!

Her books feature her own homes (she moved between the first and second books) as well as a variety of other homes, from minimalist to maximalist, coastal to traditional to farmhouse to French. All united by the general theme of elevated country style.

Summer to Summer: Houses by the Sea (Jennifer Ash Rudick 2020)

This book is a bit of a bible for me, as it showcases a variety of New England summer homes — modern, traditional, simple cottage, and grand Greek Revival.

And while I live here year round, I do embrace the summer home philosophy espoused in the book: “nothing should be too organized or fussy. Everything should be relaxed with very few rules. You should be able to return from the beach and hang a towel on the railing.”

Notes on Decorating (Markham Roberts 2020)

Another absolute favorite!

Markham’s style is bold but clean. An amazing mix of patterns and textures, modern forms mixed with antique, and artfully displayed objects. There are always plenty of cozy pillows and a quilt folded across the back of a chair or sofa.

The Maine House (2021) and The Maine House II (2024) (Maura McEvoy, Basha Burwell, and Kathleen Hackett)

I wouldn’t be Molly in Maine if these two books weren’t on my list.

These books perfectly capture the unique spirit of the Maine home. Something I have tried to add to my own new build.

Originality. Individuality. Creativity.

Nothing too perfect.

Homes that have a history and tell a story.

Filled with treasures collected from a walk in the woods or along the shore. And with objects that speak to this special place I call home.

A Recent Addition

Artful Home (Josh Young 2024)

This is a new designer and book for me. And while Josh Young’s aesthetic is much more neutral than mine, the 5 themes of this book — palette, texture, form, layers, and nostalgia — are all elements I think of when decorating my home.

Both his Washington D.C. townhouse and Virginia hunt country property are stunning.

This book will serve as inspiration to me to simplify some areas of my home and to embrace palette-cleansing neutrals.

Case in point, my new Sixpenny taupe chairs which fit so beautifully into the dining area . (Ordered before I got the book…)

Shop My List

I encourage you to look for these titles at your local bookstore!

However, since some of them can be hard to find, I am also including Amazon shopping links for your convenience.

Some books were not available or are low stock on Amazon. I suggest you look for used books on sites such as Thrift Book or Abe Books. It looks like Abe Books also allows you to search independent book sellers.

This Week Into Next

I missed you all last week!

I had a busy, but fun, week with my daughter and grandson in St. Paul.

Jamie talks non-stop these days. Sometimes we understand him, and sometimes we don’t. But he gets his point across — particularly when he is ordering everyone around!

Leah and I did a good clean in the the primary bedroom. Then I cleared one corner of the room and pulled together a little nursery area for Baby Girl (due April 20th). This included assembling a million-piece chest of drawers. Or at least it seemed that way when I opened up the box. The directions were actually quite good, though, and the piece came together fairly easily, albeit slowly.

I folded a Kantha quilt from the living room — that just happened to be the perfect colors — over the arm of the striped swivel chair. And Leah liked the cute flowered pillow from Target that I had on. my design board.

It all came together wonderfully, and brought me great joy to create a special space to welcome home the newest addition to our family.

I overlapped for about 8 hours with my son and daughter-in-law before I flew out on Friday afternoon. They came to take the next shift helping very-pregnant Leah until her husband returned from China. It was a treat to get to see them too!

This week was spent settling back in. I think I officially have too many plants. It is such a process to get them all watered!

And then next week I am heading out again. Down to the D.C. area to spend 10 days with my daughter Zoë to help them settle into their new home in Maryland. Poppy turned 2 this week, so there will be a party that occasion too!

Which means I need to sew her birthday crown. So I am off to the fabric store Saturday, despite the snow that is forecast. (Sunday is even worse, with ice…)

Ah, early spring in Maine!

That’s it for this week! I hope you find some inspiration in the books I shared. And maybe a new favorite!

Be well, friends!

Molly

Highlighting coastal decor and lifestyle, Maddie and Cisco, and the way life should be...

Share this post:

Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn