The cover of a coffee table book is its most important feature aside from the spine and the shape.
#Coffee table book about coffee tables how to#
Here’s how to narrow them down and find the perfect coffee table book for your space (and, of course, your personality). Trying to decide which coffee table book speaks to you best can be difficult given the massive amount of options. Picking the Perfect Coffee Table BookĮntering a bookstore, you’ll likely see a section marked “coffee table books.” What started as a way to coyly suggest an air of importance one might not actually have is now a full-fledged, expected piece of home decor with its own genre section. Regardless of your choice, the items you choose to place atop your coffee table are important. Do you love modern, sophisticated pieces constructed with unsuspected materials? Perhaps you prefer more traditional, shaker-esque furniture. The type of coffee table you select is also a reflection of your personality, but usually a bit more about your preferred artistic style. Coffee tables became a staple in the home around which guests and family members could gather with their cups and glasses. Pieces of furniture that weren’t necessities were purchased for comfort. Overseas, the Brits were using parlor tables for tea time, but Americans wouldn’t catch the trend until the 1920s.Īgain, the rise of consumerism in the 1920s and 1930s saw Americans purchasing more lavish furnishings for their homes. Tables used in parlors date back to the 17th century. The foundational space used for coffee table books is, of course, the coffee table. If you thought virtue signaling was the stuff of online social networks, think again.Īlthough they do serve as conversation starters, the selection of the coffee table books you keep on your table space is more about creating a perception of who you are than providing an engaging, informative piece of literature to your guests. Sitting interesting books atop the coffee table became a way of promoting one’s own wealth, knowledge, and personality.Įven today, psychologists agree that coffee table books propagate your personality more than they actually reflect it.
The parlor was the general meeting area in the home where guests would be seated during visits. These books were typically larger (and still are) than could fit on a standard bookshelf and filled primarily with pictures instead of print. Parlor books, non-books, and grand piano books are all monickers of the coffee table book that began appearing in parlors in the 1920s and 1930s. Who could forget the famous “uncut” library in The Great Gatsby ? There are even references to artificial libraries in literary works themselves from this time period. In the earliest days of “bookaflage,” the use of books to adorn one’s home and signify wealth and knowledge, less fortunate souls who couldn’t afford an extensive library would simply craft one from cardboard and paint. It was in post-Civil War America that consumerism boomed, and with the boom, the rise of purchasing luxuries, such as books. Books As DecorĪlthough there are references to books used solely as decoration as early as the 1500s, coffee table books as we know them today didn’t make their official debut until the 1920s. While they may be picked up and skimmed by a guest in your living room, they’re not intended to be read from cover to cover, and they rarely have a storyline.Ī book that is used primarily for decoration may seem a little strange (and more than a little ostentatious), but there’s a deep history behind it. What Is a Coffee Table Book?Ĭoffee table books are books used more for display than for actual reading. We’ll give you those and also a little history about coffee tables and coffee table books to impress your friends once they’re done flipping through your tastefully artistic selections. You can make light work of selecting the perfect coffee table book with a few simple suggestions. The books we love to display conspicuously tell stories about us, whether or not their pages are ever explored. Such is the case with coffee table book selection. Small decisions have a major impact on how people perceive us and arguably how we perceive ourselves.
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