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Australia’s Best Coffee Table Books for Endless Inspiration
Perfect for show and substance, these are Australia's best coffee table books that we are adding to our gift wishlist.
Let’s be honest, half the joy of a coffee table book is how pretty it looks sitting there. The other half is the inspiration that hits when you finally flick it open, whether that’s Slim Aarons’ impossibly stylish photographic scenes, Chris Chen’s tour of Australia’s striking ocean pools or the mud-brick homes of Bush Modern. Add Lucy Laucht’s Italian summers and Roam, our own 340-page guide to Australian escapes, and you have our edit of the best coffee table books in Australia, each as good to read as they are to look at.
Best Coffee Table Books About Australian Travel
Roam: Curated Australian Travel Escapes by Sitchu, $49.99
Visually rich and brimming with insider know-how, our very own Australian travel guide Roam makes for a lovely coffee table addition. The 340-page hardback is packed with holiday inspiration, spanning oceanfront towns, wine country, bushland and city escapes. Each chapter pairs beautiful photography with thoughtful editor-curated itineraries, spotlighting the immersive stays, regional flavours and local secrets that only reveal themselves when you leave room to roam.
Ocean Pools by Chris Chen and Marie-Louise McDermott, $59.99
Australia’s ocean pools get the coffee-table-book treatment they deserve. Photographer Chris Chen and historian Marie-Louise McDermott explore 75 pools across Australia, looking at their architecture, history and place in local communities, with practical details on each pool alongside the photography.
Through the Cellar Door by Alison Weavers, $52.75
Through the Cellar Door is made for wine lovers who care just as much about the cellar door as what’s in the glass. Architect Alison Weavers visits 40 Australian wineries, exploring the architecture and design behind destinations across regions including Margaret River, the Yarra Valley, Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, with stories from the winemakers, architects and designers involved.
Best Travel Coffee Table Books From Around the World
Il Dolce Far Niente: The Italian Way of Summer by Lucy Laucht, $70
Lucy Laucht’s photographic love letter to southern Italy is essentially a summer holiday in book form. From Naples and the Aeolian Islands to Capri, Sicily, Puglia and Pantelleria, it captures the beaches, blue water, cliff jumps and long, lazy afternoons that make an Italian summer so easy to romanticise.
Mindful Places to Stay by Gestalten, $85
If your holiday mood is slow, serene and built for genuine restoration, you’ll fall deeply into this beauty. Mindful Places to Stay travels the world in search of picturesque destinations for yoga and meditation, combining atmospheric photography with stories from retreats, boutique hotels and resorts designed to encourage a slower pace.
Holiday: The Best Travel Magazine That Ever Was by Pamela Fiori, $174.99
Pamela Fiori traces the history of Holiday magazine, which ran from 1946 to 1977, bringing together its photography, writing, art and famously glamorous take on travel. The pages feature work by everyone from Henri Cartier-Bresson and Slim Aarons to Ernest Hemingway, Joan Didion and Truman Capote. Think of it as a way to transport you back to a time when travel unfolded completely separate from the algorithm.
Wish I Was Here by Sebastiaan Bedaux, $115
A book for the permanent salt and sun chasers. Photographer Sebastiaan Bedaux brings together 240 pages of extraordinary places on and around the water, from Bora Bora and the Maldives to Australia and far-flung islands, with aerial, underwater and destination photography that makes a strong case for keeping your passport within reach.
Barefoot Living by Natalia Swarz, $165
Natalia Swarz takes the idea of barefoot living well beyond the beach. Her book moves between the Mediterranean, islands, the countryside, Latin America and city life, visiting homes, guest houses and boutique hotels where the pace is slower and the connection to place is stronger.
Designed to Stay: The Design Hotels Book by Gestalten & Design Hotels, $129.99
For anyone who saves hotels on Instagram purely because of the interiors, Designed to Stay is essentially 320 pages of justification. Published by Gestalten and Design Hotels, the book visits independently owned hotels where architecture, local culture and interiors are closely tied to their surroundings, from city hideaways to remote escapes. A strong one for the perpetual trip planner and design obsessive alike.
Best Art and Photography Coffee Table Books
POTS: Robert Auguste & Gyn Gausserand by Graziella Semerciyan, $105
A deep dive into the work and world of French potters Robert Auguste and Gyn Gausserand, who met at pottery school in Montpellier in 1948 and spent almost 70 years working side by side. Written by Graziella Semerciyan, this bilingual monograph combines archival photographs, letters, drawings, poems and studio records with contemporary photographs by Ben Russell, offering a fascinating look at a little-known chapter of French ceramics.
Collecting: Living with Art by Kym Elphinstone, $79.99
What does an art-filled home actually look like when the collection has been built over a lifetime? Arts advisor Kym Elphinstone explores the answer across 26 Australian collectors’ homes, from artists and architects to gallerists, curators and philanthropists. With photography by Dave Wheeler and profiles by Jo Higgins, Collecting looks at everything from bold contemporary works and photography to sculpture and mid-century pieces, with plenty of insight into making art feel at home.
Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection by Shawn Waldron, $260
Poolside glamour and impossibly stylish holidays are Slim Aarons territory, and this book celebrates it all. Curator Shawn Waldron brings together five decades of the photographer’s work, including more than 100 previously unpublished images, alongside essays exploring Aarons’ life, career and enduring influence on the way we picture the good life.
Best Australian Home and Garden Coffee Table Books
Curated Style Artfully Edited Homes by Kerrie-Ann Jones, $79.99
Australian interior stylist Kerrie-Ann Jones makes a case for homes with personality. Curated Style explores colour, texture, layering, furniture, art and objects through a mix of homes across Copenhagen, LA, New York, Toronto and Australia, with practical ideas for finding and refining a style that actually feels like your own.
Colour House by Harper by Design, $34.99
For anyone trying to break free of white walls, Colour House is a welcome dose of colour. The 208-page book explores bold, personality-filled interiors through shades ranging from calming blues to vivid yellows and energising reds, with full-colour photography to prove just how much a good dose of colour can do.
Australian Dreamscapes: The Art of Planting in Gardens Inspired by Nature by Claire Takacs, $80
If your idea of a dream home includes an equally dreamy garden, Australian Dreamscapes is worth a look. Acclaimed garden photographer Claire Takacs visits 22 Australian gardens across 15 chapters, from lush green retreats to semi-arid landscapes, meeting the gardeners and designers behind spaces inspired by the way plants grow in nature.
Resident Dog by Nicole England, $49.99
Proof that even the most beautifully designed homes are better with an adorable dog wandering through them. Architecture and interiors photographer Nicole England pairs striking Australian homes with their resident pups, from mid-century houses and beach homes to sophisticated city apartments. A great find for the architecture lover who also happens to be dog-obsessed.
Still: The Slow Home by Natalie Walton, $70
Natalie Walton’s Still looks at the homes of people who have embraced a slower, more considered way of living. Across 20 interiors around the world, the book explores sustainable materials, local and organic choices and the relationship between our surroundings and wellbeing, photographed by Chris Warnes.
Bush Modern by Jessica Lillico & Sean Fennessy, $85
Bush Modern digs into one of Australia’s most distinctive architectural stories: the mud-brick and recycled-timber homes that appeared around Melbourne’s north-eastern fringe from the post-war years onwards. Creative director Jessica Lillico and photographer Sean Fennessy profile 23 of these tactile, landscape-led houses, many associated with architect Alistair Knox, alongside the stories of the people who live in them.
Three Birds Renovations: Vacay Vibes at Home by Bonnie Hindmarsh, Erin Cayless and Lana Taylor, $45
The renovation trio behind Three Birds Renovations are back with a third book, this time making the case for bringing holiday mode home. Vacay Vibes at Home features more than 140 new rooms, packed with renovation inspiration, practical advice and savvy ways to save, drawing on the trio’s decade of experience transforming kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and outdoor spaces.
Best Interior Design and Architecture Coffee Table Books From Around the World
Architectural Digest at 100: A Century of Style by Architectural Digest, $190
A century of very good houses, in one enormous book. Created to mark Architectural Digest’s 100th anniversary, this 464-page visual history pulls together some of the magazine’s most memorable interiors and architecture, making it a particularly good pick for anyone who treats AD as their idea of recreational reading.
The Touch: Spaces Designed for the Senses by Kinfolk & Norm Architects, $145
A design book for people who care about how a space feels, not just how it photographs. Created by Kinfolk’s Nathan Williams and Norm Architects’ Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen, The Touch explores more than 25 spaces through five ideas: light, materiality, colour, nature and community.
Retreat: The Modern House in Nature by Ron Broadhurst, $120
Architecture writer Ron Broadhurst rounds up contemporary retreats from around the world, from the Pacific Northwest to Japan, exploring houses that pair modern architecture with dramatic landscapes, off-grid living and plenty of connection to nature. It’s perfect for those who dream of disappearing into the wilderness.
Loving our edit of Australia’s best coffee table books and looking for more literary inspo? For foodies, check out our round-up of delicious cookbooks and, for avid readers, our pick of the best books of all time is guaranteed to keep you busy.
Our Sitchu editors work hard to deliver you the best products, events and venues that we hope you will love and each one is selected independently. Sitchu may receive an affiliate commission when you follow some links.
