A quality collection of coffee table books and magazines is one that goes beyond just looking great on display. They’re books you never get sick of reaching for, ones you often turn to for inspiration or an easy read, while adding character and personality to your home space. Here are a few budget-friendly coffee table books and magazines to add to your stack!
Kinfolk Magazine
Kinfolk Magazine’s intended audience is lovers of various art forms; the art of design, fashion, architecture, food, music, writing, and travel. Each magazine issue includes stories and beautiful visuals geared towards all aspects of style, culture, work and home life. Based out of Copenhagen since 2011, Kinfolk’s quarterly magazines each hone in on a theme that is announced on the cover—past themes varying from hair to hospitality, and from Paris to weekends. Depending on the theme, each publication then contains interviews, features and visual stories that surround the said topic. Kinfolk’s minimalist art direction makes for a publication that is both a breeze to briefly flip through alongside your morning coffee, or great for an in-depth read.
See The Kinfolk Table for a great coffee table magazine turned cookbook.
Unconditional Magazine
Unconditional is a magazine “made by women for women.” Each biannual publication creates a world in which the work, style or lives of individual women are celebrated and reflected through text and stunning photographs. Their most recent series, Nº8: The Body Issue, is “shaped by women—their bodies and stories, their lines, shapes and figures, and all the collective strength, character and experience conveyed in the female form.” The stories and interviews about women are inspiring and beautifully written, but it’s the photography that takes the cake for me—sees Unconditional Magazine’s photographer and creative director’s Instagram for a look at her style of photography. Alexandra Nataf’s photos are raw, real and breathtaking, and to be taken as an “antidote to everything unreal, artificial and filtered that is distorting the way women see themselves.”
If you like the sound of Unconditional, be sure to also check out The Gentlewoman Magazine for a similar read.
Sporty & Rich
Emily Oberg’s publication Sporty and Rich launched in 2016 and is a great addition to your collection of coffee table books. The vintage, the retro-inspired editorial is a carefully curated collection of old school fashion and architecture, with a few current streetwear features. It’s less text than it is pictures, and the fact that the magazine is small makes it an easy and casual read. In Sporty & Rich’s third and most recent issue, you can expect imagery of a Spanish architect’s work, 1992-1997 Nikes modelled on one of Nike’s Master trainers, vintage Patagonia, and an homage to the clothing worn by Formula 1 drivers in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Oberg******** feels that her publication “has a direct relation to [her] blog and Sporty & Rich Instagram. There is a fluidity throughout,” so be sure to check out her online aesthetic and vision for a sneak peek of what’s to expect in print form.