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20 Book Covers featuring Chairs & Beds

20 book covers you will chair-ish

20 Book Covers featuring Chairs & Beds

20 book covers you will chair-ish
This week’s blog post cover image is by the brilliant ©Jessica Brilli

“A chair is for sitting on,” writes Karl Ove Knausgaard, but when emblazoned on the following book covers, they do so much more.

Why have so many designers, publishers, and authors opted for a piece of furniture on their book covers? Unoccupied furniture can sometimes feel lonely, particularly when it’s an object that we associate with a specific person. Rather than being “just a part of the room,” a chair or stool might become a symbol of an absent individual. In such instances, a simple chair takes on new significance and is laden with memories, emotions, and longing.

Certain types of chairs bring out different emotions in all of us. Adirondack chairs and rocking chairs evoke a sense of relaxation, while an electric chair brings with it a sense of doom. Kings have thrones, therapists have chaises, and children have musical chairs. In AA meetings, chairs are arranged in a circle, as shown on some of the covers below.

More on chairs from my favorite author:

“The chair is related to the bench and the sofa, which are also for sitting on, yet is still radically separate from them, for the chair is for one person, and one person only, which is an essential aspect of its character. The chair isolates us, it is like a little island in the room, to which no one else has access as long as someone is in possession of it. In other words, the chair always has an element of reserve about it, even though in principle it is open to anyone.”

Karl Ove Knausgaard, “Winter,” Penguin Press, 2015

Beds are used on book covers for similar reasons. A bed can feel like a warm sanctuary, as described by Knausgaard below, or it might remind a reader of romantic entanglements and sex.

A bed is a handy, PG-rated, visual cue that can be used to symbolize what happens atop it.

More on beds from Knausgaard:

“The bed is placed in the bedroom, which is often the inner-most room in the house or apartment, and in two-storey houses the bedroom is usually on the upper floor. This is so because we are never as vulnerable as when we are asleep, we lie defenceless in our beds at night without knowing what is going on around us, and to withdraw from sight at such a time, to conceal ourselves from other animals and human beings, is an instinct that runs deep in us.”

Karl Ove Knausgaard, “Autumn,” Penguin Press, 2017

So, pull up a chair and get comfortable. Here are 14 book covers that feature furniture. Explore the tags chair, bed, and furniture to see more covers like these.

*If you are able to provide missing design credits, or if you can think of other covers that feature furniture (tables?!), please write me at ineedabookcover.site@gmail.com.

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

Designed by Vivian Lopez Rowe

Come Closer and Listen by Charles Simic

Designed by Alison Saltzman

chair painting by Jessica Brilli

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

Designed by David Litman

Making Meetings Work by Richard Hooper

Designed by Steve Leard

The Houseguest by Amparo Danila

Designed by Oliver Munday

Half The Kingdom by Lore Segal

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton

Group by Christie Tate

Designed by Sara Wood

Hey, Good Luck Out There by Georgia Toews

Designed by Emma Dolan

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

Designed by Nicolette Seeback Ruggiero

hardcover edition

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

Designed by Nicolette Seeback Ruggiero

paperback edition

Notes On Heartbreak by Annie Lord

Designed by Anna Morrison

The Cheater’s Guide to Love by Junot Diaz

Designed by Jack Smyth

The Art of Sleeping Alone by Sophie Fontanel

Lying In by Elizabeth Metzger

The Art of Lying Down by Bernd Brunner

Missing Men by Joyce Johnson

The Hop by Diana Clarke

Designed by Joanne O’Neill

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

Bonus: In 2006, Esther Perel’s publisher goes quite literal with her cover by using a couple in bed on a book about marriage. In 2017, they get a bit more creative and that bed becomes a matchbox. Fun!

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Designer Requirements

Only a carefully curated group of designers are given access to the creative briefs posted on the INABC Jobs Board. This system ensures that clients receive top-notch, focused proposals from professionals whose talents have been vetted

All designers who will be bidding on your cover design have applied to receive job notifications and have been approved by the INABC admin team. Our approved designers:

  • Are professional book cover designers, not simply generalist graphic designers.
  • Have been working in the industry for a minimum of 3 years, usually more.
  • Must demonstrate a contemporary aesthetic, creating work that feels current and relevant to today’s book design market. We seek professionals who stay informed on industry trends while pushing boundaries with innovative, forward-thinking designs. Our designers know that our clients are not looking for designs that feel “dated.”
  • Work on multiple book cover projects in any given month
  • Are committed to delivering high-quality, original designs tailored to each client’s unique vision. 
  • Do NOT sell or offer book cover premades. At INABC, we do not condone the offering of pre-made book covers. We are fans of highly bespoke cover work.
  • Do NOT use AI-generated imagery in their commercial work.
  • Have accessible online portfolios showcasing book cover work that are easy for anyone to review.
  • Have extensive experience working with self-publishing authors AND commercial presses.
  • Are available and excited to receive these weekly briefs.

If you are contacted by a designer that doesn’t align with the requirements described above, we ask that you please contact the INABC admin team at ineedabookcover.assistant@gmail.com.

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