Elements of Timeless Style: Creating a Forever Home

by Erin Gates

At once stunningly inspirational and filled with crisp takeaway advice for anyone who is designing their “forever” home, this is New York Times bestselling author Erin Gates’s most personal and comprehensive book yet.

Erin Gates is beloved for her unique blend of American approachability and elegance. The author of the bestselling classic Elements of Style, Erin now broadens her lens by looking at nine homes to learn how each homeowner approached the space to make it livable, versatile, and beautiful. The first home in the book is hers—and, in true Erin fashion, she shares her process, fumbles and all.

Your home is your sanctuary—a safe space that nurtures your emotional, physical, and mental well-being. In Elements of Timeless Style, Erin shares her decades of expertise to guide you in making thoughtful choices, big and small, that enhance your living space. She empowers you to make confident investments, so you and your home evolve together.

Organized by the nine home projects, Erin anticipates and answers every remodeling and decorating question, from the mundane to the material. Each home showcases a unique approach, shunning cookie-cutter solutions in favor of personalized, imaginative designs that celebrate individuality and personal taste. With insights on budgeting, decision-making, and design phases, Elements of Timeless Style is for anyone who wants a thought partner in design, whether you’re overhauling your entire space or making intentional, gradual changes.

Genres: Interior Design, Nonfiction, Design

416 pages, Hardcover

Published September 30, 2025

Reviews

[Halli · Rating 5 out of 5]

ERIN!!! You have arrived. This is THE book. Your observations were right on, the designs were nuanced, detailed, and specifically well thought-out. I am SO excited for how far you've come in your design career, let alone life. You've shared your entire life with us; struggles, wins, absolute joys, opinions on current events and there's absolutely one thing anyone can say about you: you absolutely put all of yourself into everything.

I love that you wrote an afterword. I had not wanted the book to end and here was a final love letter.

My favorite bit: ..."the crystallization of the importance of our homes, which makes what I do for a living feel like a worthy and important career choice." This speaks to my designer soul. I'm going to write this down for those days where I feel like a human coupon.

[Virginia Gillham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 80 pages of the book focus on the designer's own home and the book’s introduction, which I personally found less interesting. In my opinion, this section could have been significantly shortened. Although I usually appreciate seeing several photos of a room from different perspectives, some images felt unnecessarily repetitive.

The final eight chapters discuss a range of projects completed by the designer. While the homes featured are undoubtedly attractive, I noticed that the color palettes and overall aesthetics were quite alike—typically transitional in style, with light tones and an abundance of whites and neutrals accented by soft blues, greens, and greys.

The book gave the impression that the editors did not expect readers to focus on the text within these chapters. Often, a chapter's content was scattered across several pages, with only a paragraph per page and then several photo pages before reaching more text. This layout made reading feel fragmented and interrupted.

Chapter 4 was delightful and captured my interest the most. I found it intriguing that the home kept her engaged because the client's tastes were more modern than her own. While the house features contemporary furniture, its rich colors, artwork, and detailed touches lend it a more traditional appearance at first glance compared to some of her other projects. Both the living room and dining room in this home are stunning.

While the author frequently underscores the value of consulting professionals, I believe this book is particularly useful for those beginning their decorating journey. I was intrigued by her advice to hire experts for Venetian plastering, especially since my husband and I tackled that project ourselves in our powder room over 25 years ago—and it remains one of our favorites.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5? This is a really beautiful book ... almost too beautiful. The color palettes are too tight (and pretty much the same throughout the book, which got a little boring). and I craved more patina through antiques and more personal artwork (as opposed to paintings chosen for their colors and decorative value). My favorite rooms were the ones with hits of red or warm colors. The bedrooms felt like 5-star hotels, which aren't lived in enough for my taste. When I see a room or a house, I want to get a feeling of the people who live there, and this book did not do that for me. but it was fun eye candy, and I love the way Erin's books reflect her journey through life.

[Mary Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author is a former blogger and I thought her previous books were pretty average though pleasant if you liked her style. She has definitely taken it up a notch with her latest book. Her designs are approachable and I feel like this book would be inspirational for a person decorating their own home. Recommended for people who like a quiet transitional-modern traditional look. Heavy on blues, neutrals, whites and greens.

[She Who Shall Remain Nameless · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, I found this book bland and uninspiring. The exceptions were the Newton house in chapter four with the moody formal rooms, the green rec room bar, and the spectacular home gym. There was also a cool pass through bar in chapter eight. With those exceptions, the rest of the book was pretty forgettable for me.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful design book! Erin did a fabulous job. I will refer to it and look through this for inspiration for years to come. The design on the spine is absolutely stunning and so is the front. The photography is beautiful and so are the homes. Great coffee table book to elevate and add refined beauty to any space.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and full of ideas you could scale down to your own space. Shes’s heavy on patterns so it was great to see how to create a focal point
In what I’d call a noisy room. Also, there are cool quiet spaces oh just plain beauty. She has an eye.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did the editors assume that no one would actually read the book? The text stopped mid-sentence and then continued pages later. I had to search the book to find it and flip back to the start of the sentence, creating a disjointed reading experience.

[Linda Clements · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of inspiration in these pages. Many of the purchases are not in my price point comfort level, but I used those as inspiration to find (or make) things similar. Love the size of the book. Easy to hold and read. Not a fan of giant shelter books that feel unwieldy to handle.

4.5 🌟

[Katie Lessard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The photos are drop dead gorgeous and inspiring, which I’ve come to expect from Erin. However, the text that goes along with the photo curated stories often don’t line up. It just seems rushed and hobbled together. I wish the editor had made it more cohesive!

[Stephen Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The secret of amazing interior design and decoration is...

...have a colossal budget. I feel like such a fool now! LOL.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as a vehicle for thinking about design choices even though I didn't share the style preferences of all of the homeowners.

[Jody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful rooms but too many photos of the same room. Each home looks too similar.