Styling 101 - Coffee Table Books

I looooove coffee table books, they’re nice to look at and are a great way of adding colour or volume to a space.

Here are some striking ways to display coffee table books in your design:

Are you bored with your coffee table or console? A stack of three coffee table books is a quick and easy way to make them look styled. Or you can even do several stacks. That little gesture creates an intentional "look."

Sometimes, if I want to create some height, I will put a plant or “objet” on top of a stack of books. It could be an interesting looking rock, paperweight, candle -anything really. In this case, the books act like a tray to your item(s).

My Tips:

Because there are tons of different types of coffee table books, you can choose ones that are in the colour scheme you’re working with. It’s a very effective way of injecting a bright colour in a small dose - talk about low commitment! I’ve been known to change the books according to seasons, moods, you name it.

Architect: Mauricio Arruda via onekindesign

I have a girlfriend who buys all of her coffee table books at second-hand stores. Sometimes the dust jacket is beat up, but she removes it and gets a great-looking bound book.

The other thing with coffee table books is that they make great gifts because it’s something that people don’t necessarily buy for themselves but they always appreciate receiving, especially if it’s personalized to the recipient’s interests (architecture, nature, etc).