When you're getting ready to redecorate your home, interior design books can be an excellent resource. However, a quick walk through any bookstore will reveal that there are a plethora of titles to choose from. How do you decide which books will be the most useful? While customer reviews can be helpful for choosing a new laptop or mp3 player, interior design is a very subjective field. A room someone else finds breathtakingly beautiful may not appeal to you at all.
The first step in choosing the right interior design books is to spend some time thinking about how you'd describe your personal style. Do you like contemporary and eclectic furnishings or do you prefer something with a more traditional appearance? Is practicality your primary concern or are you willing to be slightly inconvenienced by interior designs if they are aesthetically appealing? What aspects of your house interior design do you like now and what elements are you hoping to change?
Your budget and lifestyle are also important factors to take into consideration when choosing interior design books. If you're a recent college graduate trying to decorate your first apartment, a book filled with furnishings from fancy boutique stores isn't going to be too helpful. If you have small children at home, safety will obviously have to take priority over appearance. For a well-established professional with no children, however, interior design books that convey upscale tastes and formal design are perfectly appropriate.
If you're the type of person who is going to want to try to copy a room exactly, look for interior design books that provided detailed information on where you can purchase the featured items for each design. You'll also want to check the book's publication date to make sure it isn't featuring items that are likely to be discontinued. If the book is intended for a do-it-yourself audience, make sure the instructions for the featured items are easy enough for you to follow. Generally, step-by-step photo tutorials are the most helpful.
When all else fails, keep in mind that books published by leading interior design magazines usually feature a nice assortment of very professional ideas. For example, if you're a fan of the rooms featured in Better Homes & Gardens, it's a fairly safe bet that most of the interior design books published under this imprint will appeal to your tastes. On a similar note, many of the featured interior designers on HGTV and other popular home improvement shows also have their own books.
