I love coffee table books that inspire me artistically, whether that’s with decor, architecture, fashion or art. The books are beautiful on the their own, and I love seeing all of the images of homes and people that are elegant or cozy or just plain gorgeous. When you’re creating a stack or display of books for your coffee table, you want to think about colors and sizes of the books so that they work together visually, but I also love to use books that remind me of certain people or vacations, so that I have those happy memories when I look at the arrangement.

Many of the books in the picture above have special memories attached from when I purchased them. The Patton family loves to stay at the Greenbrier Hotel, which was recently decorated by Carleton Varney, and he happened to be there on our last trip the resort, so Chad stopped by the book signing on got one of his books for me. Gil Schafer is an architect that my mother and I both love. He has created some of my favorite homes of all time, and many of them he designed and then supervised every detail from the planting to the decor. They may be brand new, but they look like they’ve been there forever. I bought his books for inspiration when we moved into our current house, and they’re a great gift for friends who have just moved into a fixer-upper or who appreciate historic charm in a house.

Erin Gates is an MPS alum, like Dinah and I, and I love her design aesthetic that marries traditional New England style with a younger, more modern and family friendly vibe. Plus the bindings of her books have the best visual impact! She does a great job of mixing antique furniture with modern touches, and I love to look at her books and her blog for inspiration in decorating my house.

Slim Aarons, one of the quintessential society photographers of the 20th Century, gets the most amazing behind the scenes shots of high society that are glamorous and inspiring. When I flip through this book, I’m often left feeling like I should put on some lipstick and a silk caftan and open a bottle of good champagne. Or at least brush my hair and change out of my yoga pants!

Some of my other favorite books that aren’t pictured include: Lee, which is about Lee Radziwill and includes photos, letters, articles and interviews. This is one of my top 10 books of all time because I’m a huge Lee fan, and the book is so beautifully put together. It’s hard to tell from the pictures online, but the cover is a sort of grasscloth texture and totally gorgeous. For fans of Wes Anderson, I also love this book and gave it to Chad for Christmas one year. We’ve watched and loved all of his movies and it’s fun to be able to study the images and really see all of the tiny details that he carefully incoporates.

Do you have any favorite coffee table books with special memories or that you recommend to friends?