Best Home Design & Construction Books of 2025

Live Beautiful by Athena Calderone is a beautiful coffee table book that offers a practical guide to creating a thoughtfully designed home. Calderone explores the initial spark of inspiration that incited each homeowner's design journey and breaks down the details of the rooms, offering helpful tips on how to bring elevated elements into one's own space. Filled with gorgeous photography by Nicole Franzen, this book is both a showpiece of exquisite design and a guide to creating a home that always feels like home. Overall, Live Beautiful is a great addition to any interior design enthusiast's bookshelf.

Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre is a comprehensive guide that covers everything you need to know about small-area farming. It offers a holistic approach to producing 85% of an average family's food on just a quarter acre while earning $10,000 in cash annually. The book includes topics such as composting, raising chickens, water and irrigation, dealing with pests, and much more. Brett L. Markham, the author of the bestselling Mini Farming series, provides detailed materials, tools, and techniques with photographs, tables, diagrams, and illustrations. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in self-sufficiency and small-scale farming.

The No Grid Survival Projects Bible by Brandon G. Chasey is the ultimate guide for those who want to become self-sufficient and master bushcraft. With 1000 days' worth of ingenious DIY projects and ideas, this book covers everything from generating energy, collecting and purifying water, to creating a defense system for your disaster-ready home. The author's practical and easy-to-follow ideas offer a refreshing perspective on sustainable living. This book is a must-read for anyone looking to become more self-reliant and prepared for uncertain times ahead.

The Interior Design Handbook is a comprehensive guide to achieving a balanced and beautiful home, no matter your style or living space. Author Frida Ramstedt breaks down the fundamental principles and skills of interior design, providing readers with useful rules of thumb and tricks, complete with helpful illustrations. Unlike other interior design books that focus on showcasing spectacular homes, this book offers concrete advice for ordinary houses and apartments. This useful and easy approach to interior design makes The Interior Design Handbook a must-read for anyone looking to elevate their living space.

The 2021 International Residential Code (International Code Council Series) is a comprehensive guide that covers all building, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas, and electrical requirements for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses up to three stories. The book contains many important changes, including updated wind speed maps, specific requirements for deck guardrails, and new appendices for cob construction and 3D printed construction. The book also requires a habitable attic to be limited to one-half the area of the story below and the dwelling to have sprinklers. Overall, this is a must-have reference for anyone involved in the construction industry.

Own Your Space by Alexandra Gater is a must-read for renters and new homeowners looking to decorate their spaces creatively, inexpensively, and beautifully. The book is an inviting and accessible definitive guide to décor ideas, covering everything from making your home smell better to essential kitchen utensils. With approximately 300 four-color photographs, practical advice, DIY tips, and fun anecdotes, this book is gorgeously designed and will help you turn your apartment or starter house into the place you want it to be. Overall, it is a comprehensive and inspiring book that will make you feel empowered to own your space.

The 2021 International Building Code is an essential guide for architects, builders, and engineers. It covers all buildings except detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses up to three stories. The code has been updated to include important changes such as enhanced classroom acoustics, simplification of metal composite materials and systems requirements, and automatic sprinkler protection. ICC, the author, is a leading organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive, coordinated national model construction codes. This book is a valuable resource for anyone involved in building design and construction.

Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills is an eminently useful, full-color guide that teaches basic living skills employed by our forefathers and adapts them for a better life in the twenty-first century. This book is perfect for anyone who wants to learn old-fashioned skills and escape to an era before power saws and fast-food restaurants. The book is complete with tips for old-fashioned fun, including homemade toys, kayaking tips, and square dancing calls. Highly recommended for dreamers and those who want to live a healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient lifestyle.

This book, titled "2018 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (International Code Council Series)," is a comprehensive guide that covers all the necessary building, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas and electrical requirements for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses up to three stories. The updated seismic map and townhouse separation provisions, among other changes, make it a valuable resource for builders and contractors. The author, ICC, is a leading organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive, coordinated national model construction codes. This book is a must-have for anyone in the home design and construction industry.

The Ultimate Guide: Plumbing, Updated 5th Edition by Creative Homeowner is an excellent resource for anyone looking to save money on plumbing repairs and improvements. With over 800 photos and detailed diagrams, the book guides readers through each step-by-step process, from fixing leaky faucets to installing plumbing fixtures like sinks, bathtubs, and showers. The book also covers green solutions for conserving resources and the basic physics of a home's plumbing system. The emphasis on code-compliant techniques ensures that all projects are done correctly. Overall, this comprehensive plumbing how-to book is perfect for both major and minor DIY plumbing repairs and improvements.