Showing Yourself Off: The Statement-Making Role of Coffee Table Books
They sit untouched and unread but, according to design psychologists, coffee table books play an important identity defining role.
It’s a familiar scene. You’re Scrolling through Pinterest, the place to be for anyone wanting to rearrange their living space. You’re inundated with stunning interiors and impossible-to-recreate living spaces. Envy is induced with every second passed. Whether you’re drawn to an eclectic mishmash of antiques and textiles or a more minimalist aesthetic, one thing appears to be a necessity for every space, and that is coffee table books.
They sit seemingly untouched, unread, used more as an extravagant drink coaster than an actual book. In the world of interior design, the coffee table book is delegated to a furniture role. Something to add texture and interest to an otherwise flat surface. Subsequently, some may ask, ‘aren’t coffee table books simply decorative? or an often eye-wateringly expensive way to keep guests entertained?’ Well, according to design and environmental psychologists, that’s not entirely true.
Contrary to popular belief, coffee table books do do more than just lie there and look effortlessly chic. Because, unlike the other pieces of furniture that fill our homes, coffee table books are not picked out with function in mind. They consciously or subconsciously represent who we are and what we want to attract into our space. Whether it’s through pictures or words, or simply a beautiful cover, they represent individual taste, personal style, and aspirations more than anything else.
Speaking with Clever, Paul Harris, Ph.D, an environmental psychologist and professor of psychology at Florida’s Rollins College, explains that coffee table books are really an extension of ourselves — or who we want to be seen as. “Identity display is the primary motivation for strategically displaying books,” he says. “Much of home decoration serves identity functions, particularly personalisation in areas like the living room where guests are most likely to be entertained. We know that others judge us based on our surroundings and we attempt to shape those judgments when decorating our homes.”
It’s not just about showing others who we are, says Sally Augustin, Ph.D, principal at Design With Science in Illinois and a fellow of the American Psychological Association, but also reminding yourself of who you are and the things you value. In the same way you choose a poster, print, or even tattoo, by picking out a book for display, you are quietly declaring to both yourself and the world who you are in all your unapologetic glory. You find the book meaningful. You feel it reflects a part of who you are, or at least who you want to be. And, by placing it in your home, you’re creating a constant reminder of your personality, interests, or values.
“This ability to expose large audiences to previously out-of-reach topics ranging from art to architecture to fashion, often for a fraction of the price, is the true brilliance of coffee table books — though the internet may have damped that slightly.”
Using coffee table books as a display of identity is nothing new. One of the first references to a book used as decoration rather than to be read dates all the way back to 1580. At the time, coffee tables did not yet exist so these books were referred to as ‘books for a parlour window,’ or, in other words, a book to simply sit and look pretty.
In an essay titled Upon Some Verses of Virgil, author Michel de Montaigne was particularly upset at the whole idea. He wrote, “I am vexed that my essays only serve the ladies for a common movable, a book to lay in the parlour window.” Later, in 1759, Laurence Sterne proved the ever-lasting popularity of displaying books by referencing Montaigne’s comment in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Commenting on Montaigne’s work, Sterne wrote that it would “in the end, prove the very thing Montaigne dreaded his Essays should turn out, that is, a book for a parlour window.”
When Laurence Sterne was writing, books had become an increasingly popular choice of gift. Because of this, book covers became more extravagant as to be the perfect thing to unwrap on Christmas morning. These gorgeous designs led many to display the books, rather than pack them away.
The use of books as ornamental objects continued to be a popular idea and, in the 1950s, the concept saw a surge in popularity that, unsurprisingly, paralleled the rising popularity of coffee tables. Time Magazine noted the rise, and the fact it coincided with the increased purchasing of coffee tables. They called the books ‘nonbooks’ as they tended to be collections of cartoons or photographs that were meant purely for casual flipping-through.
As coffee table books, or ‘nonbooks’, catapulted into the public consciousness of the ’50s, one of the most alluring, and often overlooked, aspects of the medium was about to be realised.
Ernst Gombrich’s The Story of Art was first published in 1950 and continues to be a best seller even today. It was one of the first art books released with the aim to expose those outside the privileged classes to scholarly art at an affordable price. Alongside a discussion centred around a selection of great artworks, the book contained a huge number of illustrations, which soon became colour photographs, of the paintings, drawings, architecture and sculptures discussed by Gombrich.
Similarly, Phaidon’s The Art Book, first published in 1994, featured 500 images of classic and modern artwork. This immense number of visuals introduced a wide range of major art to a broader audience that would never have been able to view it in person.
This ability to expose large audiences to previously out-of-reach topics ranging from art to architecture to fashion, often for a fraction of the price, is the true brilliance of coffee table books — though the internet may have damped that slightly. You can buy Vincent van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet for approximately £150 million (it was sold back in 1990 for around £61 million) to hang in your living room, or you can buy a coffee table book filled with prints of his paintings for a little over a tenner on Amazon.
“We know that others judge us based on our surroundings and we attempt to shape those judgments when decorating our homes” — Paul Harris, Ph.D.
Coffee table books are perfectly capable of serving both shallow and deeper purposes. They can give a subtle insight into who you are, whether that shows you’re an art lover, a fashion-addict, or simply someone who loves to follow Pinterest trends. As we continue to move into the digital sphere, these books also offer something permanent in an ephemeral digital environment — something tangible that reminds us and those around us who we are. These books are physical signals that represent passion, belief, and love. Doesn’t that sound like something worth reading?
