Coffee table books are one of my favorite holiday presents to give and receive. There’s something so enchanting about pouring through pages of inspiring images and it’s fun to surprise friends with a book that’s pegged perfectly to their personality. If I can get it signed by the author, even better! I once pulled up outside of photographer Matt Albiani’s Greenwich Village apartment and rolled down the window of my Uber as he tossed in a signed copy of his book, Lifeguard on Duty, without a single New York City car honking at the hold up. (I was gifting it to a friend who’d had me to stay at her beach house). This year, Signature Spaces: Well Travelled Interiors by Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylenis is top of my list. It’s the first book from the designers who helm Nicky Haslam Ltd and every page is more transporting than the next.

Not only is Signature Spaces filled with dazzling bathrooms (I love how this mirrored vanity reflects the tiled floor) but there are also loads of other rooms that could translate to a bathroom beautifully. This entry, for example, has me dreaming of a powder room. I envision a classic black and white tiled floor (in stone, not ceramic for this look) with the skirting board and window mullions painted high gloss black. Paneling is easy enough to add for depth and walls could be washed in Paint & Paper Library’s Canvas III. Looking at the bedroom image, I’m inspired to finally change the shutters on my bathroom window to a soft roman shade and to hang a series of architectural engravings on the wall. If you’re tempted to try it, The Map House on London’s Beauchamp Place has an endless selection of drawings, etchings and engravings to choose from.

 Photograph © Simon Upton