8 of the Best New Design Books to Add Glamour to Your Shelf
From bold architectural gestures to effortlessly chic style, these new arrivals from Bunny Williams, Peter Marino, and more are sure to elevate your bookcase
Bunny Williams: Life in the Garden. Photo: Rizzoli
1. Bunny Williams: Life in the Garden
Design lovers with a green thumb will delight in this lush volume by design doyenne Bunny Williams. Filled with evocative images and packed with expert horticultural advice, Life in the Garden (Rizzoli) gives readers an intimate look at the grounds of Williams’s Connecticut estate, where she oversees a parterre garden, conservatory, vegetable garden, orchard, woodlands, an aviary, and a Greek Revival–style folly in the pool court. Best of all, the designer has provided an exhaustive list of the plant species in each of the areas, so readers know exactly which type of native ferns, flowers, and trees are needed to get the look.
Resort Style: Spaces of Celebration. Photo: the roger thomas collection
2. Resort Style: Spaces of Celebration
Designer Roger Thomas’s fruitful collaboration with casino magnate Steve Wynn began in 1980 with hotels including the Mirage and the Bellagio, extending later to Wynn’s namesake properties such as Wynn Las Vegas and Wynn Macau. In Resort Style: Spaces of Celebration (Rizzoli), the lavish resorts designed by Thomas are opulently captured in all of their gilded splendor. It’s the perfect gift for the card shark in your life who also loves a dash of drama.
Alexa Hampton: Design, Style, and Influence. Photo: Clarkson Potter
3. Alexa Hampton: Design, Style, and Influence
The deeply personal story of Alexa Hampton’s journey to become one of today’s leading designers is captured in this visually-rich memoir, which chronicles her upbringing in New York as the daughter of esteemed decorator Mark Hampton. Alexa Hampton: Design, Style, and Influence (Clarkson Potter) is told primarily through the art, objects, and spaces within her elegantly appointed East 59th Street apartment, as she explains the backstory of where the pieces were sourced, what they represent, and how they’ve affected her.
Star Style Photo: vendome
4. Star Style: Interiors of Martyn Lawrence Bullard
No one does high-glam like Martyn Lawrence Bullard, the famed designer-to-the-stars whose client roster includes the Kardashians, Gwen Stefani, and Ellen Pompeo. His latest tome, Star Style (Vendome), offers a look inside some of his most stunning projects, including Tommy Hilfiger’s sprawling Greenwich home, Kylie Jenner’s dazzling estate in Hidden Hills, and Cher’s villa in Malibu. Bullard is also known for his brand collaborations encompassing everything from homewares to jewelry, and many are highlighted throughout the book.
Livable Luxe. Photo: Chronicle Chroma
5. Livable Luxe
Known for her effortlessly chic style beloved by A-listers from Gwyneth Paltrow to Christian Bale, Los Angeles designer Brigette Romanek cultivates her interiors with an eclectic mix of powerhouse artworks and striking design pieces. “My ultimate goal is to please my clients in a way that surprises and delights,” she writes in the book, Livable Luxe (Chronicle Chroma), her first monograph. In addition to more than 150 photos are personal stories from Romanek’s peripatetic childhood as the daughter of a famous singer, which helps inform her current aesthetic.
Home at Last: Enduring Design for the New American House. Photo: Rizzoli
6. Home at Last: Enduring Design for the New American House (Rizzoli)
Completing the trilogy that began in 2012 with the release of The Great American House and continued with 2017’s A Place to Call Home, the latest book by celebrated architect Gil Schafer, founding partner at Schafer Buccellato Architects, is an ode to his timeless blend of classical and contemporary. With photography by Eric Piasecki, Home at Last: Enduring Design for the New American House (Rizzoli) features seven elegantly tailored residences across the country, from the coast of Maine to the Hudson Valley, each one perfectly encapsulating Schafer’s uniquely American style.
Veere Grenney: Seeking Beauty. Photo: Vendome
7. Veere Grenney: Seeking Beauty
Acclaimed interior designer Veere Grenney creates pure poetry for his extensive roster of clients, so it’s no surprise that his own private quarters can fill a whole book. In Seeking Beauty (Vendome), the legendary talent takes readers on a voyage through his trio of sumptuous estates, stopping first in his Moroccan and English country homes before getting to his new city house in London. Also creating poetry is photographer Francesco Lagnese, who expertly captures the journey, as always.
Peter Marino: Ten Modern Houses. Photo: Phaidon
8. Peter Marino: Ten Modern Houses
There’s a reason why Peter Marino is the go-to architect for luxury brands including Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co. when they want to create knock-out retail spaces. There’s simply nobody better at making bold architectural gestures imbued with sophisticated flair, a talent on full display his gorgeous new tome, Ten Modern Homes (Phadion), which focuses specifically on his residential projects—including this breathtaking estate in the Lebanese mountains. In addition to completed houses in Southampton, Malibu, Aspen, and the Dominican Republic, the book gives a sneak peek into several under-construction dwellings.
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