5 unique design books

Ever look around your home and think "This is lovely, but it needs a little something to make it less cookie cutter?” We hear you -- with all the great shopping outlets out there these days, creating a reasonably stylish interior is easier done than ever. But then what?

If you’re wondering how to add personality and edge your interior design, look no further than these five outside-the-box decorating and design resources. They offer unique perspectives on style and provide some useful tips and tricks for adding artsy, alternative and outside-the-box elements to any room in your house.

Lickshot: A Photo Scrapbook
By Ben Watts; Princeton Architectural Press, $63

Who will love this book: Contemporary photography buffs, fashionistas, pop culture vultures and coffee-table-book connoisseurs

Why: Ben Watts is an internationally renowned photog whose images have appeared in Vanity Fair, Elle, Rolling Stone and other trendsetting magazines. His edgy, street-inflected style of photography is presented here in scrapbook form, complete with hand-scrawled notes, coloured tape and Polaroid test shots. Images are black-and-white and full-colour, encompassing subject matter ranging from urban landscapes to the beach, surfers to supermodels, Brooklyn biker gangs to break dancers -- oh, and stars like Heath Ledger, Coldplay and Lance Armstrong, too. The perfect book for cutting-edge coffee tables.

Sample wisdom: Watts’s photo aesthetic could just as easily apply to interior design: "I try to go for a combination punch, whether it be with color or with the attitude of a person… I want pictures with visual impact, pictures that are in your face."