Defining Style: The Book of Interior Design

by Joan Barzilay Freund, Asad Syrkett (Introduction)

Overview

Discover 25 of the most recognizable design styles through 150 residential interiors from the world’s leading designers

From Coastal to Contemporary, Maximal to Mediterranean, Tailored to Textured, this inspirational lookbook guides beginners and enthusiasts alike through the most timeless interior design styles of the last century.

Learn to identify and understand each style like an expert through introductory texts describing key tenets and featured real-world examples by today’s best contemporary designers, such as Studio Shamshiri, Laura Gonzalez, and Vincenzo De Cotiis. Whether in a Manhattan skyscraper, along the coasts of Italy, or in the tropics of Bali, the rooms in this curated global collection offer a masterclass in how to navigate interior decor today.

An insightful introduction by design editor Asad Syrkett explores the meaning and recent history of interior style, and a visual directory in the back of the book allows readers to see and make connections between different styles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781838667818
Publisher:	Phaidon Press
Publication date:	03/06/2025
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	9.87(w) x 11.37(h) x 1.25(d)

About the Author

Joan Barzilay Freund is the author of multiple books on furniture and interior design, most recently contributing texts to Inside: At Home with Great Designers (Phaidon, 2022). She has written for such publications as the Chicago Tribune, Elle Decor, and 1stDibs’s Introspective magazine, among many others.

Asad Syrkett is a Brooklyn-based design editor and brand strategist. From 2020 to 2024, he served as Editor in Chief of Elle Decor. Previously, he managed special projects as deputy editor at Curbed. Asad began his career at Architectural Digest and Architectural Record.

Editorial Reviews

03/03/2025

Journalist Freund (coauthor of Hidden Treasures) serves up a delectable survey of contemporary approaches to interior design. She pairs background on each style with profiles of its practitioners, as when she describes how today’s modernists draw inspiration from the “clean, function-forward designs” of their early 20th-century predecessors and shows how Andre Mellone uses a custom-made back-to-back sofa to divide the sitting areas in the living room of a Brazilian home. Suggesting that rustic interiors “celebrate the rugged and the unadorned,” Freund discusses how Benito Escat restored a 19th-century townhouse in Menorca, Spain, by removing paint from the wooden ceiling beams and exposing fresco work previously hidden behind wallpaper. Other styles are less familiar but no less arresting. For instance, Freund touts the “nerve and verve” of “spirited” design and showcases the rainbow-colored staircase in a San Francisco house and the massive Gaetano Pesce foot sculpture that takes up nearly the entire dining table in a Missouri artist’s abode. The eclectic range of interiors ensures there’s something for everyone, and Freund provides illuminating historical context, noting, for instance, that the “timeless” approach’s emphasis on “balance, symmetry, and proportion” stems from the 18th-century vogue for ancient Greek and Roman aesthetics that followed excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii. This dazzles. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

‘A guide to the rich palette of decorating styles enlivening our current age.’ – 1stDibs’ Introspective Magazine

'Beautifully photographed...a visual directory makes it easy to join the dots between aesthetics.' – ELLE Decoration

'A new interior design bible.' – The Telegraph

‘Offers a singular look into an array of interior possibilities.’ – Forbes

‘You'll learn how to identify each style like an expert.’ – USA Today

‘Call it your design style cheat sheet...connect[ing] the dots between what you love and why.’ – Domino

‘The best interior lookbook of the year.’ – Brit + Co.

‘A font of inspiration…[that] taps into the expertise of numerous design leaders.’ – Surface Magazine

‘Both a primer and a reference guide to the aesthetics shaping contemporary living spaces.’ – Rain Magazine

‘Demonstrates the variability of contemporary design in an accessible and inspiring way.’ – Upscale Living Magazine

‘A masterclass in interior sophistication.’ – Luxury Portfolio International

‘To keep or give, [this] title will brighten any design lover’s shelves or screens.’ – Canadian Interiors

‘Offers inspiration from around the globe.’ – Detroit News

‘A freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.’ – Bookpage

‘The eclectic range of interiors ensures there’s something for everyone.’ – Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher