3 Coffee Table Books | For Your Christmas List

Signature Spaces: Well-travelled Interiors by Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergleyn is an insider’s view of the interior design process, revealing how any room can be transformed into a space for inspired living, as opposed to simply existing. Illustrated with hundreds of stunning photographs, drawings, and mood boards, the book explores the fascinating way in which the designers are energised by the world around them to create chic rooms that are never predictable. These are rooms that always feel welcoming, and always contain an element of surprise.

Morning, Noon, Night is the second book by Soho House which takes readers behind the scenes at the different locations around the world. ‘I’ve been astonished by the number of people who went out and bought the first book, which really set out to explain our founding principles,’ says Soho House founder Nick Jones. ‘Since that was published, we’ve built Soho Farmhouse on 100 acres of Oxfordshire countryside, transformed a former belt factory in Chicago, reimagined a 140-year-old palazzo in Istanbul, restored the shell of a listed Georgian building in London’s Soho and launched our own collection of homeware, called Soho Home.’

The 300-page, cloth-bound book takes you through the day from the second you wake up to the moment you go to bed. Key elements of the Soho House way of living are illustrated and broken down into helpful features, like how to make a tasty vegan breakfast or creating the perfect bedroom, with plenty of inspirational new imagery along the way. Interior design, food and drink take centre stage, and with more than 20 years of design experience behind them, Soho House’s experts offer impactful insights into House style, including tips on their favourite sources and suppliers – all designed to help you take a little of the House home.

English Houses by Ben Pentreath sees him visit 12 very different homes to explore and appraise the unique spirit of the English House – at once restrained and simple yet overflowing with character and a richness of colour and texture.

The book is divided into three sections: London, Country, and Country House, and the interiors featured range from a 1930s pied-a-terre in London’s historic St James to designer Veere Grenney’s pocket-sized Palladian Temple folly in Suffolk and Wardington, a 16th-century stone manor house in North Oxfordshire. Ben’s own homes, in central London and West Dorset, are also included.

These homes vary greatly in architecture, size, shape and age, but they all have in common a peculiarly English style – richly-layered rooms that deftly intertwine colour and pattern and a mix of old and new furniture to create timeless and comfortable places to live.