A room is comfortable when the furniture and decorations fit the space you live in. What looks fine in a showroom or on the Ikea website could be too large once it sits in your living room.
That is why designers check measurements early because a layout problem often shows up only after furniture arrives. Reading reliable home design books, in this case, can give you professional advice and ideas of the spatial frameworks to avoid expensive purchasing errors.
During a renovation, useful details and professional insights could be needed while you are checking materials. Designers often check information on their phones during projects, and those moments demonstrate clear mobile learning benefits tied to better decision-making. By using book summaries apps or digital guides, they can quickly verify specific rules or color codes directly at a furniture store.
We researched how professionals use digital resources and what type of home design nonfiction books they keep in their libraries to help with home renovation.
1. ‘Universal Principles of Interior Design’ by Chris Grimley: Learn Technical Foundations
We reviewed this guide to see how clearly it explains key design terms and basic principles, including biophilia and acoustics. You can use it to learn the language professionals expect when talking with a contractor or an architect. Each term appears in a reference-style entry that shows how building choices affect daily life inside a home. You can also check individual ideas through the Nibble app when you want a quick refresher on home or interior design.
You can reference this book during the early stages of a renovation project. It explains why certain rooms feel louder or colder, depending on the materials used in construction. The text provides a scientific basis for design choices that affect your daily comfort and energy usage:
- Acoustic principles explain how to reduce noise transfer between rooms
- The biophilia section details how to use plant life to improve indoor air quality
- Spatial efficiency case studies show you how to maximize square footage in narrow hallways
- The cross-referenced index allows you to find related concepts quickly
2. ‘The Interior Design Handbook’ by Frida Ramstedt: Apply Professional Rules to Any Room
This manual is a primary resource for anyone who wants to understand every crucial detail of furniture placement. Frida Ramstedt focuses on the proportions and measurements that professional stylists use but rarely explain to the public. You can find specific data on the appropriate distance between a coffee table and a sofa or the correct height for kitchen pendant lights.
This book has sold over 200K copies globally because it prioritizes ergonomics over fleeting trends. You can use these guidelines when you are moving into a new space and need to decide on a layout. The text acts as a technical reference for your home’s flow and functional zones:
- Lighting placement diagrams show you where to install fixtures to avoid glare
- The Golden Ratio calculation helps you determine the size of wall art relative to furniture
- Material durability charts explain which fabrics withstand high foot traffic
3. ‘The Minimalist Home’ by Joshua Becker: Focus on Intentional Living Spaces
You will find in this book how decluttering impacts the overall design of a residential property. Joshua Becker provides a room-by-room roadmap for removing items that do not serve a functional or emotional purpose.
Physical clutter competes for your attention, which can reduce your ability to focus in your own home. By following the steps in the book, you create a more intentional environment that highlights your most important furniture and decor.
It helps you identify which items are essential and which are simply taking up space. This process makes your home’s architectural features and intentional design choices more visible. Decluttering techniques help you let go of items without emotional stress.
4. ‘The Home Edit Life’ by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin: Build Functional Systems for Every Room
The founders’ organizing methods used by ‘The Home Edit’ show how they integrate aesthetics with efficiency. You can use their ‘edit, categorize, and contain’ system to manage everything from your closet to your home office.
This book focuses on creating systems that are easy to maintain, even for busy professionals or parents. By using clear containers and labeling, you ensure that every object has a designated, visible, and accessible place.
You can apply these systems when you find that your home becomes disorganized quickly after a cleaning session. It teaches you how to organize your belongings based on how frequently you use them:
- Sort items by category for better visibility
- Containment strategies show you how to choose the right shelves for your space
- Maintenance tips help you keep your organized systems intact over the long term
5. ‘Spark Joy’ by Marie Kondo: Connect with Your Environment Through Tidiness
The KonMari Method is about understanding how a mindful connection with belongings changes the feel of a home. You probably read her famous book‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,’ so you will find a similar approach in the category-based tidying system — focusing on clothing, books, papers, and miscellaneous items. This is how you contribute to a positive atmosphere. This book provides detailed illustrations for folding and storing items to maximize drawer space.
You use these techniques when you want to perform a deep tidy of your entire house at once. It encourages you to treat your belongings with respect, which often leads to a more serene and organized living environment. This approach focuses on the psychological benefits of a clean space:
- Illustrated folding guides show you how to store clothes vertically to save space
- Joy-sparking criteria help you make objective decisions about which items to keep
Final Inspiration: ‘Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life’ by Karen Rauch Carter to Optimize Energy Flow with Feng Shui
This book applies the ancient art of Feng Shui to modern interior design. You can use actionable tips to rearrange your furniture in a way that is intended to attract positive outcomes in areas like wealth and health. The book includes a Bagua map, a grid used to analyze the energy of a specific space.
By placing specific colors or elements in certain areas of a room, you aim to balance the environmental energy of your home. You can use these principles when you feel a room’s layout is uncomfortable but cannot identify why. It offers a different perspective on furniture placement that goes beyond simple aesthetics. The text serves as a bridge between traditional wisdom and modern living habits.
Understanding the principles found in the above professional home design books will help you create a space that supports your daily activities. You can use these texts to verify measurements, select sustainable materials, choose color palettes that match your lighting, and so much more. Test one option by applying a single rule to your living room today!
With a Master in Architectural Studies from University of Pennysylvania, Marwa Haydar has pioneered living spaces since 2005. Her expertise, initially honed in a prestigious architectural firm, is evident in her approach to creating environments. Marwa became part of our team in 2019 and has since been a driving force in our home improvement section, known for her practical yet stylish solutions. She’s been spearheading our design workshops since then, infusing her passion for teaching into her work. In her leisure time, Marwa enjoys exploring historic architecture and is an enthusiastic pottery hobbyist, further enriching her understanding of form and texture.
