The Most Inspiring Coffee Table Books (And Inspiration For My Bathroom Walls)

I don’t think I’ve ever done a book review on my blog, or if I have, it’s been years. But I recently bought a coffee table book that I found so inspiring that I wanted to pass it on to you. It is called The Art Of Anthropologie. Anthropologie, like, the retail store.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with Anthropologie. They sell clothes, housewares, decorations, furniture, and more. But they are also known for their artistic and creative window and in-store displays.

I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything from Anthropologie, although I did come close to buying one of their wallpaper murals at one point. (I don’t think I bought it because it wasn’t the right size.) But I can look at their window displays all day and never get bored.

I learned about this book because I followed Elizabeth Dunn on Instagram, and she works as an Anthropologie Display Coordinator. I think I spent at least an hour checking his Instagram account one day, watching all his videos showing the creative process, and studying all the beautiful pictures.

However, if you are a creative person who loves color, pattern, texture, art installation, etc., I think you will find this book full of inspiration.

There’s inspiration out there for almost every medium you can imagine – paint, paper, paper mâché, fabrics, and more. And in some of them, the book has instructions on how to make the item.

The whole thing is filled to the brim with eye candy. This display made of corks is one of my favorites.

Here’s a closer look at the same display…

I got so many ideas from this book for art that I want to do. And when my studio is functional (ie, has storage and everything is put in its place), I hope to try some of these ideas.

While I was looking at the book, I got the inspiration for the bathroom walls in the studio. I’ve decided to keep the wallpaper in the studio, but I’m going to do some tweaks to it to fix the things that bug me about it. (More on that later.)

When I did the studio bathroom, I used the colors from the wallpaper and created a crazy, vibrant design on the walls.

It was a fun project, and I’m glad I did it. It’s been fun living with that colorful, crazy bathroom for the past three and a half years, but I’m ready for a change. Someone ruined it for me when he said the walls looked like the LuLaRoe logo.

And then I spoiled it for myself when I watched LuLaRich on Amazon Prime. Ugh…what else are they in business?

However, ever since being told that my walls look like the LuLaRoe logo, and then seeing that documentary, I haven’t gotten that out of my head. So it’s time for a change.

When I saw this photo, the backdrop of this Anthropologie display, my immediate thought was, “That would look great on the wall!” I love the fade from the darker color at the bottom to the lighter color at the top, and the way it’s done adds so much interest without being overwhelming.

So I’m champing at the bit to get in there and make some changes, including trying my hand at this wall design for bathroom walls.

But back to the book, I recommend it if you are an artistic type of person, or like looking at artistic things (or know someone who does). it available at Anthropologie ($65), on Amazon ($65), and most major booksellers. but the cheapest price I found was at WalMart ($49.22 with free shipping). They seem to have very limited stock, though.