We reference a lot of books for design ideas and inspiration. Over the years we have collected many books, and some of them we find ourselves going back to again and again. All of these books may not be for everyone, but they have been a great inspiration to us over the years. Who knows, you might even have one or two of them on your book shelf.

Number 10: A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman

Probably the most famous architectural photographer in history responsible for photographing many of the case study houses in California in the 50′s.

Number 9: The New American House: Innovations in Residential Design and Construction

We cheated on this one. This link will take you to eight books in the series. This is the one that started it all. I think the best ones are by Oscar Ojeda, but James Trulove continually produces great architecture and design books.

Number 8: Outdoors: The Garden Design Book for the Twenty-First Century

Two of my favorite people did a book together. Terence Conran and Diarmud Gavin have put together what I think is the best example of garden and landscape ideas I have ever seen in one place.

Number 7: Eames Design

No list can be complete without a book about Charles and Ray Eames. If you have no idea who they are, or have a limited knowledge of their contributions to mid-century design, this book will answer all of your questions.

Number 6: The Essential House Book: Getting Back to Basics

Terence Conran started with The House Book, then The New House Book and later The Ultimate House Book. This book takes Terence’s great eye for design and puts his ideas in a beautiful book that encompasses decades of design knowledge.

Number 5: Architecture Now

It is hard to put just one Architecture Now book on a list when a whole series is pure eye candy. If you love modern architecture, Taschen’s Architecture Now series gives you what you are hankerin for.

Number 4: Designers on Design

This book is a who’s who list of contemporary modern day designers. The book takes you on a journey from who they are to what they design and why they design it.

Number 3: Prefab

This is the book that really started the whole Prefab craze. The author is Allison Arieff, who at the time was the Editor-in-chief of Dwell magazine.

Number 2: The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough

If you made it this far on the list, you may look at this book and wonder why it is even listed here. I picked this book up on a trip Rosemary Beach, Florida. After a quick glance at this book I loved how it seemed to bring the design ideas of classic and modern crashing together. This book proves that modern can be warm. Also check out the book Naturally Modern.

Number 1: The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture

You can now stock a library on green design since Noblel Peace Prize winner, Al Gore’s movie came out. As far as green goes, this little book does not get into the nitty-gritty, but it does show good examples of sustainable architecture. It highlights some of the systems that make the projects “green” without cramming green down your throat.

* If you have made it through the whole list then you probably realize that this is really just a list of books. There is no first or best….really. Every one of these books has its own set of influential and inspiring ideas. If you have a favorite design book, please let us know about it.

Thanks for reading.