Skip to content
LuvemBooks
LuvemBooks

Who it's for. Who should skip it. What to read next.

Joanna Gaines

About This Author
Reviewed

Read Time

7 min read

Our age bandAdult
Reader rating
4.8 · 12,162 Amazon ratings
reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
$20.09 on Amazon

Featured In

8 Best Books for Home Design and Interior Inspiration
Curated & edited by

LuvemBooks Editorial

How we create our reviews →
Share This Review
Front cover of Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave

Our review

Homebody

Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines Review: A Practical, Room-by-Room Design Guide

by Joanna Gaines

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.

$20.09 on Amazon
Interior spread showcasing two design styles—farmhouse and modern—with styled flat-lay photography and descriptive text for each aesthetic approach.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.Tap to enlarge
Our age band: Adult

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 if

You have at least some alignment with Gaines's warm, farmhouse-adjacent aesthetic and a real room or project to apply the guidance to, making the interactive fold-out planning section and practical per-room takeaways genuinely actionable.

Skip if

You're looking for technical guidance on construction, budgeting, or contractor management, or your taste runs strongly minimalist, maximalist, or contemporary — readers in those camps have found the book's stylistic range too narrow to be immediately generative.

StoryGraph readers describe the book as "absolutely beautiful to look at," praising its balance of functionality and aesthetics while noting it is more a study of beautiful rooms and their elements than a step-by-step how-to. Barbaraleeharper.com highlights Gaines's philosophy of designing for the people actually living in a space rather than for perfection, and naturallytimeless.net calls it "an interior designer's paradise" with an impeccable and well-explained depth of knowledge.

Sources: StoryGraph, StoryGraph (beta), barbaraleeharper.com, naturallytimeless.net
4.8from 12,162 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score

Preview the book

Front cover of Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave
Interior spread showcasing two design styles—farmhouse and modern—with styled flat-lay photography and descriptive text for each aesthetic approach.
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.
+5

Ask LuvemBooks

Was this helpful?

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.

Follow up

How is the book structured?
What is Joanna Gaines's design style?
What does the book NOT cover?

Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review

Ask LuvemBooks

What would you like to know about Homebody?

Answers come from our editorial notes on this book. If we haven't covered something, we'll say so.

Readers often ask

Our Review

We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.

This is a functional design guide with serious bestseller credentials and a clear instructional mission — readers seeking tested advice on applying its methods should consult hands-on reviews from named practitioners, as this editorial assessment draws on the book's documented content and published reception.

What the Book Actually Is

Interior spread showcasing two design styles—farmhouse and modern—with styled flat-lay photography and descriptive text for each aesthetic approach.
Interior spread showcasing two design styles—farmhouse and modern—with styled flat-lay photography and descriptive text for each aesthetic approach.
Homebody is a room-by-room interior design guide written by Joanna Gaines — co-founder of Magnolia and the designer behind the long-running HGTV series Fixer Upper — and published by Harper Design on November 6, 2018. Its stated purpose, as described by the publisher via Magnolia's own platform, is to walk readers through how to create a home that reflects the personalities and stories of the people who live there.
The book is structured to help readers assess their priorities, instincts, likes, and dislikes, with practical steps for navigating and embracing an authentic design style. Each chapter covers a distinct room, examining how different design styles manifest in that space and how to blend multiple genres to produce 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 as they work through the rooms.

Cultural Standing and Commercial Reach

Homebody arrived as an instant #1 New York Times bestseller, a designation confirmed by both the Barnes & Noble listing and corroborated across multiple retail sources. That commercial performance reflects Gaines's substantial existing audience from Fixer Upper, but the book has also demonstrably reached readers with no prior familiarity with her television work — reader accounts on StoryGraph describe discovering it independently and finding its framework useful when undertaking actual home renovation.
The book has maintained a broad readership in the years since publication, functioning both as a reference tool and, owing to its photography, as a display object in its own right.
Interior spread showcasing four illustrated house styles with descriptive text, demonstrating functional design approaches for different home types.
Interior spread showcasing four illustrated house styles with descriptive text, demonstrating functional design approaches for different home types.

Documented Strengths

The book's architecture is one of its most noted features. Beyond photography and general inspiration, it incorporates practical takeaways in each chapter to help problem-solve common pain points, and the fold-out planning section at the back is specifically designed to make the guide interactive rather than merely aspirational.
Some readers on StoryGraph highlight the troubleshooting pages and layout tools as the most useful element — the feature that separates Homebody from a purely visual coffee-table format. Gaines also draws on her own past projects, tracing how spaces evolved as her family grew, which gives the instructional content a documented, real-world foundation rather than presenting idealized scenarios detached from livable homes.
Readers note an emphasis on textures and plants as recurring design elements throughout.

Honest Limitations

Homebody is written from a specific aesthetic perspective — Gaines's signature Magnolia style, which tends toward warm, farmhouse-adjacent interiors — and readers whose tastes run toward minimalist, maximalist, or strongly contemporary directions have noted, in StoryGraph reviews, a degree of stylistic narrowness. One reader described returning the book on a first encounter, finding it uninspiring, before revisiting it later with greater appreciation once a renovation project provided practical context.
This points to a genuine limitation: the guide's value is most accessible to readers who already have some alignment with Gaines's visual sensibility or a specific project in mind, and it may feel less immediately generative to those browsing it without a concrete design question to answer. Its scope is residential interiors, and it does not address exterior design, landscaping, or large-scale architectural decisions.

Who This Book Is For

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. The room-by-room organization makes it practical as a reference to return to at different stages of a project rather than a cover-to-cover read.
Fans of Gaines's work on Fixer Upper will find the book consistent with her on-screen approach and more detailed in its written instruction. Readers new to her aesthetic who are open to a warm, story-led philosophy of interior design have also found it a useful entry point, particularly once they have a real space to apply it to.
For those seeking highly technical guidance on construction, budgeting, or contractor management, it is not that kind of manual — it operates at the level of style, mood, and personal expression within a finished or nearly finished space.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

  1. Cited in this review
  2. 1
    Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by JOANNA GAINES - Book: 9780062801975 | Rizzoli Bookstore

    rizzolibookstore.com

  3. 2
    Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®

    barnesandnoble.com

  4. Further reading
  5. 3
    Joanna Gaines — author profile

    Joanna Gaines, LuvemBooks

  6. 4
    Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave – Magnolia

    magnolia.com

  7. 5
    Reviews - Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave | The StoryGraph

    beta.thestorygraph.com

  8. 6
    Reviews - Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave | The StoryGraph

    app.thestorygraph.com

  9. 7
    Book Review: Homebody | Stray Thoughts

    barbaraleeharper.com

  10. 8
    Book Review: HOMEBODY BY JOANNA GAINES

    naturallytimeless.net

  11. 9
    HOMEBODY: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave

    insearchofsukoon.com

  12. 10
    Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines (Hardcover) : Target

    target.com

Age & Reading Level

Our age band

Adult

Our age band groups books for browsing; it isn't an age a review gave.

Browse all adult books

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

From our readers

Reader reviews

Be one of the first readers to answer.

Read it? Was it right for you?

Books like Homebody

Curated picks for readers who enjoyed Homebody, with our reasoning for each match.

If you liked Homebody

In our catalogue

Styled: Secrets for Arranging Rooms, from Tabletops to Bookshelves

Emily Henderson, Angelin Borsics

Room-by-room styling focus with a stronger visual grammar — practical for readers who want more step-by-step decorating mechanics.

Emily Henderson breaks down the compositional rules behind attractive arrangements — scale, layering, negative space — that Homebody gestures toward but doesn't always spell out. Both books treat decorating as a learnable skill rather than an innate talent, and both use real rooms as teaching examples. Readers who loved Homebody's room walkthroughs but wanted more concrete "how-to" will find Henderson's book a natural and satisfying next step.

In our catalogue

The Inspired Room: Simple Ideas to Love the Home You Have

Melissa Michaels

Shares Homebody's core message — work with what you have, reflect who you are — with a warmer, encouragement-first tone.

In our catalogue

The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful

Myquillyn Smith

Directly addresses the perfectionism that stops people from decorating — a warm, low-pressure complement to Homebody's self-assessment approach.

In our catalogue

Cozy White Cottage: 100 Ways to Love the Feeling of Being Home

Liz Marie Galvan

Farmhouse-adjacent aesthetic, personal storytelling, and seasonal home styling — strong overlap with Homebody's tone and visual sensibility.

Not your thing?

In our catalogue

Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure

Maxwell Ryan

For readers who wanted a structured, step-by-step system rather than Homebody's story-driven, room-by-room philosophy.

Reading Lists

8 Best Books for Home Design and Interior Inspiration

#8 in this list