Best Coffee Table Books to Give as Housewarming Gifts
Amongst the bottles of wine, pretty dishtowels, and random household items a new homeowner will receive, if you want your housewarming gift to stand out, there's no better gift than a nice item for displaying. Not only are coffee table books beautiful, they're a thoughtful gift when bought with the receiver in mind. If your new homeowners are into music, there's a coffee table book for that. If they're moving to a home on the coast, there's a coffee table book for that. If they love entertaining, there's a coffee table book for that, too. You get where we're going with this: You can never go wrong with gifting a unique coffee table book. With tons of options like travel, photography, and art-focused coffee table books, you can find an item for any person, couple, or family on your list. Coffee table books add a gorgeous design element to a table or shelf, and they're a gift that your housewarming host will have forever. We're planning how to make more space in our living rooms right now because these are the best coffee table books for gifting (and getting).
For the Traditional
The Finer Things: Timeless Furniture, Textiles, and Details, by Christiane Lemieux with a Foreword by Miles Redd
Buy It: $34.19; amazon.com
If your new homeowners have classic taste that outlasts every interior design fad, this expertly researched and curated book educates on every inch of the home and gives advice for decorating a timeless look with quality elements.
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For the Dreamers
Escape, by Gray Malin
Buy It: $29.02; amazon.com
The title couldn't be more fitting. Through Gray Malin's incredible photography, escape to multiple countries and jaw-dropping scenes without leaving the couch.
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For the Colorful
Living With Pattern, by Rebecca Atwood
Buy It: $22.09; amazon.com
From small elements like book spines to big commitments like floor tiles, Rebecca Atwood guides, shows, and advises how to add pattern to any room or space. With beautiful photographs and helpful tips, your homeowners will be inspired to add a little playfulness to their new home with patterns.
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For the Coastal Couple
The Seaside House: Living On The Water, by Nick Voulgaris III with Photography from Douglas Friedman and a Foreword by Martha Stewart
Buy It: $37.38; amazon.com
From stylish interiors to serene porches and gardens, this book offers seaside homeowners inspiration and escape.
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For the Quirky
Houseplants and Hot Sauce: A Seek-and-Find Book for Grown-Ups, by Sally Nixon
Buy It: $11.96; amazon.com
Just because they're buying a house doesn't mean they're "grown-ups," in spirit at least. This seek-and-find book is fun, amusing, and eye-catching.
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For the Hosts
All In Good Taste, by Kate Spade New York
Buy It: $20.65; amazon.com
If your new homeowners are sure to host countless supper clubs, cocktail parties, and random get-togethers, this tell-all book is the modern hosts' lifesaver. It has everything they'll need—from recipes, to anecdotes, to how-tos, and more—to be the ultimate hosts.
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For the Adventurers
The Bucket List: 1000 Adventures Big and Small, edited by Kath Stathers
Buy It: $23.79; amazon.com
Inspiring, beautiful, and sometimes a little scary, bucket lists shouldn't be put on hold just because someone is settling down in a new home.
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For the Creative
The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss, with Illustrations by Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) and an Introduction by Maurice Sendak
Buy It: $27.21; amazon.com
These magical paintings, drawn by Dr. Seuss and never published for his children's books, show a side of the artist you've never seen.
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For the Foodies
Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography, by Susan Bright
Buy It: $35.28; amazon.com
As Southerners know too well, food connects us all. This beautiful look into the history and influence of food photography will delight any fans of food and its cultural implication.
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For the Stylish
Victoria Hagan: Dream Spaces, by Victoria Hagan and David Colman
Buy It: $34.03; amazon.com
Just released this year, famed interior designer Victoria Hagan's follow-up to her extremely successful first book (Victoria Hagan: Interior Portraits) showcases her timelessly elegant, modern, and stylish design.
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For the Travelers
Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the Worlds' Hidden Wonders, by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, and Ella Morton
Buy It: $26.08; amazon.com
Highlighting more than 700 interesting places in the corners of the world, Atlas Obscura is full of facts, maps, and photos of bucket-list wonders.
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For the Movie Buffs
The Wes Anderson Collection, by Matt Zoller Seitz with an introduction by Michael Chabon
Buy It: $31.19; amazon.com
An overview of Wes Anderson's filmography, life, and career, with anecdotes, photos, artwork, and playful design, the cinema-obsessed will get lost in this book.
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For the Outdoorsy
Salt: Coastal and Flats Fishing, by Tom Rosenbauer with Photography from Andy Anderson and a Foreword by Guy de La Valdene
Buy It: $43.11; amazon.com
Everyone in the South knows a family who's all about fishing, and those families should all own this beautiful book. The South's own Gulf Coast and Florida Keys are featured alongside other picturesque coastal fly-fishing locations all around the country.
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For the Musicians
1000 Record Covers, by Michael Ochs
Buy It: $17.99; amazon.com
This self-explanatory book features album art from the 1960s-90s, a monumental age in rock. Music-obsessed couples need this collection.
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For the Dog-Lovers
Underwater Dogs, by Seth Casteel
Buy It: $13.35; amazon.com
If your dog-loving friends don't own this hilarious book already, do them a favor and give it to them. If this book is part of their current collection, At Home with Dogs and Their Designers: Sharing a Stylish Life is a new release that fashionable dog owners will adore.
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For the Romantics
Artists in Love, by Veronica Kavass
Buy It: $13.58; amazon.com
Romantics and artists can always appreciate a good love story (even the ones with not so happily ever afters), and this book offers a chance to learn about the romances of the world's most famous artists throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
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For the Homesick Southerners
Southern Living 50 Years: A Celebration of People, Places, and Culture, by Valerie Frasier Luesse and The Editors of Southern Living with an Introduction by Sid Evans
Buy It: $32.23; amazon.com
We might be a little (okay—a lot) biased, but our Golden Anniversary book really is a treasure. Filled with essays, beautiful photographs, Southern road trips, home and garden tips, and of course, recipes, displaced Southerners deserve to have this book on their shelves.
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For the Sandy-Toed
Beaches, by Gray Malin
Buy It: $25.61; amazon.com
Gray Malin's images of beaches around the world, shot from door-less helicopters, will make any new homeowner smile. The photographer's eye for color and artistry may even inspire a spontaneous beach trip.
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For the Instagrammers
100 Photographs: The Most Influential Images of All Time, by The Editors of TIME with a Foreword by Geoff Dyer
Buy It: $17.14; amazon.com
Published last year to mark the 175th anniversary of photography and the birth of photojournalism, this book holds a carefully selected collection of images that changed and inspired the world.
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For the Wordsmiths
Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities, by John M. Carrera
Buy It: $24.50; amazon.com
In the 19th century, Webster's dictionaries held more than words—the pages were also filled with engravings that illustrated those words. This collection of more than 1,500 restored engravings will delight any writer or artist.
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For the Big-Picture People
Overview: A New Perspective of Earth, by Benjamin Grant
Buy It: $27.19; amazon.com
More than 200 satellite photos fill this book, which is named after and inspired by the "Overview Effect" astronauts experience when looking at Earth's surface from space. There's no other way to describe this collection than seriously cool.
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For the Laid Back
India Hicks: Island Style, by India Hicks with a Foreword by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
Buy It: $30.99; amazon.com
India Hicks' bohemian, classy, warm style is explored in this book that gives tips to achieving her effortlessly perfect sense of design. Warning: This book will cause jealousy.
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For the Green Thumbs
In Full Flower: Inspired Designs by Floral's New Creatives, by Gemma and Andrew Ingalls
Buy It: $30.95; amazon.com
Even traditional florists and gardeners will appreciate this aesthetic look into contemporary floral design. Modern floral artists showcase and explain their approaches to gardens and arrangements.
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For the Techies
Dronescapes, by Dronestagram and Ayperi Karabuda Ecer
Buy It: $27.19; amazon.com
A collection of hundreds of images captured with drone photography, this modern, beautiful book showcases a new wave of photography that combines the technological and artistic worlds.
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For the Thinkers
The Art of Looking Sideways, by Alan Fletcher
Buy It: $34.97; amazon.com
Described as "the ultimate guide to visual awareness," this book is filled with anecdotes, images, science, bizarre facts, and artful design. Your thinkers will find something new to ponder each time they open it.
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For the Sports Enthusiasts
The Sports Bucket List: 101 Sights Every Fan Has to See Before the Clock Runs Out, by Rob Fleder and Steven Hoffman
Buy It: $22; amazon.com
The ultimate to-do list for any sports fan, this book is full of stories, histories, and recommendations for visiting the world's (not just the United States') most incredible events and venues.
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For the Southerners
Great Houses of the South, by Laurie Ossman with Photography from Steven Brooke
Buy It: $44.35; amazon.com
It's common knowledge that the South is home to gorgeous houses and estates, and this book showcases them beautifully. Any Southerner will appreciate this home tour and road trip across the South from Natchez, Mississippi, to Asheville, North Carolina.
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For the Readers
Remarkable Books: The World's Most Beautiful and Historic Works, from DK Publishers
Buy It: $19.49; amazon.com
Released earlier this year, this collection of more than 75 historical, famous, and rare books is a shoe-in present for the homeowners whose library is full of classic titles. Featuring discussions, illustrations, author biographies and more, this book of books is a must-have.
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For the Theatre-Goers
The Art of Movement, by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory
Buy It: $30.53; amazon.com
Anyone who appreciates the art of dance will be in awe of this book. A compilation of hundreds of photographs of the world's most talented and famous dancers, its beauty will inspire.
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For the Glamorous
Vogue Living: Country, City, Coast, edited by Chloe Malle with an Introduction by Hamish Bowles
Buy It: $55.57; amazon.com
A stunning volume of more than 400 photographs of the most lavish homes and gardens featured in the pages of Vogue throughout the past 10 years, this gorgeous book is a must-have.
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For the Nostalgic
Summertime, edited by Joanne Dugan
Buy It: $17.42; amazon.com
Photographs and words have the power to evoke memories, and this book transports the reader to every favorite summer moment.
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For the Literary
Highbrow, Lowbrow, Brilliant, Despicable: Fifty Years of New York Magazine, by The Editors of New York Magazine
Buy It: $40.41; amazon.com
Just released in honor of New York Magazine's 50th Anniversary, this must-have collectible tells stories of the past half-century in New York. Authors, editors, magazine-lovers, and those who look at the city with nostalgic longing or love should own this book.
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For the Curious
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, by Randall Munroe
Buy It: $13.46; amazon.com
A big life step like buying a house is full of "what ifs," so lighten the mood with this hilarious and informative dive into the questions they didn't need to know but might be glad they did.