Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines cover

Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave

by Joanna Gaines

$18.55 on AmazonRead our full review

At a glance

First published2018
AudienceAdult
ISBN006280197X
Joanna Gaines

About the Author

Joanna Gaines

3 books reviewed

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Homebody

A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave

by Joanna Gaines

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for: Homeowners and renters who want a personality-driven, room-by-room framework for decorating that begins with self-assessment and personal storytelling rather than prescriptive rules — especially those with a specific space or renovation project already in mind.

Worth it? Skip it? Read the full verdict →

Preview the book

Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines front cover
Interior spread showcasing four illustrated house styles with descriptive text, demonstrating functional design approaches for different home types.
Chapter 2 spread on entryways featuring a bright, minimalist foyer with wooden bench, pendant light, and shiplap walls.
Interior spread showing a cozy living room with exposed wooden beams, fireplace, and layered textures demonstrating functional, personalized home design.
Interior spread showcasing two design styles—farmhouse and modern—with styled flat-lay photography and descriptive text for each aesthetic approach.
Look inside the bookPreview the actual pages, via Google Books

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Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave is Joanna Gaines's room-by-room interior design guide, built around a philosophy of self-assessment and personal storytelling rather than prescriptive rules — an instant #1 New York Times bestseller with a broad, sustained readership. Most rewarding when read with a specific room or project in mind, it offers practical troubleshooting, a fold-out planning section for notes and sketches, and real-world examples drawn from Gaines's own evolving projects. Readers whose tastes lean minimalist, maximalist, or strongly contemporary may find its warm, farmhouse-adjacent aesthetic somewhat limiting in scope.
Is it worth reading?
For readers with a real room or renovation project in hand, Homebody earns its reputation — its room-by-room structure, troubleshooting pages, and fold-out planning section set it apart from purely inspirational coffee-table books. The guide has maintained a broad readership since its 2018 release, with reader accounts on StoryGraph describing it as a useful practical framework even for those who came to it with no prior familiarity with Fixer Upper. One documented pattern worth noting: at least one reader returned the book on first encounter before finding it far more valuable upon revisiting it with a concrete renovation project in mind. Readers who approach it as a browsable visual resource without a specific design question may find the value less immediate.
Who should read this?
Homebody is designed for homeowners and renters who want a structured, personality-driven approach to decorating — one that begins with self-assessment rather than prescriptive rules. It is particularly well-suited to readers who have a specific room or renovation project underway, as the troubleshooting pages and fold-out planning section are where the guide's practical value is most concentrated. Fans of Joanna Gaines's work on Fixer Upper will find the book consistent with her on-screen sensibility and more detailed in instruction. Readers whose tastes run strongly toward minimalist, maximalist, or contemporary directions may find the warm, farmhouse-adjacent Magnolia aesthetic somewhat limiting.
Similar books
Readers drawn to Homebody's personality-driven, story-led approach to decorating will find strong companions in the curated shelf below. Styled: Secrets for Arranging Rooms, from Tabletops to Bookshelves by Emily Henderson and Angelin Borsics offers a more technique-focused take on room arrangement and styling. Myquillyn Smith's The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful and Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff share Homebody's accessible, livable philosophy for readers who want warmth without perfectionism. The Inspired Room: Simple Ideas to Love the Home You Have by Melissa Michaels similarly champions embracing and improving the space you already have. For a more urban, apartment-focused framework, Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure by Maxwell Ryan provides a structured approach to smaller spaces.
About Joanna Gaines
Joanna Lee Stevens Gaines is an American interior designer, television personality, and author.
How does this compare to Magnolia Table?
Homebody and Magnolia Table represent two distinct sides of Joanna Gaines's output — Homebody is an interior design guide structured around room-by-room decoration and personal style development, while Magnolia Table (co-authored with Marah Stets) is a cookbook rooted in Gaines's approach to food and family. Readers who have enjoyed one as a window into the Magnolia world may find the other a natural companion, but the two books serve entirely different practical purposes. LuvemBooks has reviewed both titles for readers wanting to compare them directly.
Should I read it cover to cover?
Homebody's room-by-room organization is specifically designed to make it a practical reference to return to at different stages of a project rather than a sequential cover-to-cover read. The troubleshooting pages and fold-out planning section at the back are most useful when a reader is actively working on a specific space, and reader accounts on StoryGraph confirm that the book's value increases significantly when approached with a concrete design question in hand. That said, the photography gives it an appeal as a browsable object even without an active project.
Summarize this book

Summarize this book

Homebody is a room-by-room interior design guide by Joanna Gaines — co-founder of Magnolia and the designer behind the HGTV series Fixer Upper — published by Harper Design on November 6, 2018. Each chapter focuses on a distinct room, examining how different design styles manifest there and how to blend multiple genres into results that feel distinctly personal. A fold-out design guidebook at the back provides space for readers to take notes and sketch their own plans. Its stated purpose is to walk readers through creating a home that reflects the personalities and stories of the people who live there, beginning with self-assessment rather than prescriptive rules.

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Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Adult

Reading level

Adult

Skip if you're looking for a design guide that spans minimalist, maximalist, or strongly contemporary aesthetics beyond a warm, farmhouse-adjacent sensibility.

Editorial Review

Homebody is Joanna Gaines's comprehensive interior design guide, structured room by room to help readers identify their personal style, solve common decorating problems, and create homes that feel genuinely their own — an instant #1 New York Times bestseller upon its November release from Harper Design.

Read the Full Review

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