Our go-to styling accessory? Books. Coffee table books are the perfect way to add pops of color to your spaces, while doubling as a way to make a room feel unique to your interests. In formal spaces where you might entertain guests, we love keeping two or three books on hand to serve as conversation-starters, especially titles that reflect what you enjoy most.

The best coffee table books for residential spaces are those that reflect your personal interests and hobbies, be it travel, art, sports, food or design. And as the adage says, don’t judge a book by its cover. Look for pages within each book to seek out beautiful imagery that could be left open as a flat-lay on your table.

Choosing Coffee Table Books

When sourcing coffee table books for styling rooms, similar principals of shelf styling apply. Here are key considerations to bear in mind:

1. Titles

Seek out engaging titles that reflect your personal interests, be it travel, art, sports, food, or design. Tantalizing titles like Ultimate Collector Cars or A Man and His Car, are fun ideas of what you might find in a car enthusiast’s living room, for example.

2. Color

Keep your room’s larger color palette in mind, seeking out colorful spines that either align with or complement the colors you’ve selected for your space. Keep both the face of the book as well as the color of the spine in mind, as books will often be stacked on top of each other. And, don’t be afraid to take a peek under the dust jacket; sometimes the bare hardcover on its own may be the perfect fit for a stylish stack.

3. Size

Not all coffee table books are created equal. Some coffee table books are expansive in size, intended to take up much of your table’s real estate, while others are more compact. Play with a mix of size, color and height until you’ve created a stack that feels right atop your table.

Best Coffee Table Books

Below are just some of our design team’s favorite titles. Click the pictures below to shop individual items.

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