There’s a healthy market for traditional DIY books, whether they teach basic skills or help consumers pick an overall vision for their home.

Barron’s Educational Series has done a brisk craft and hobby book business in recent years, including home improvement titles, with its strongest sales through arts and crafts stores and home improvement stores. Upstyle Your Furniture, by Stephanie Jones (available), shows readers how to restyle or repurpose existing objects rather than buying them new.

Anna Yudina, cofounder and editor-in-chief of the design magazine Monitor, spotlights new talents bringing architectural concepts to furniture design in Furnitecture: Furniture that Transforms Space (Thames & Hudson, Mar.). Sections include “space organizers” and “architectural shelving.”

Harper Design has a pair of guides out in July, each of which focuses on a different room: 150 Best New Bathroom Ideas, by Francesc Zamora, and 150 Best New Kitchen Ideas, by Manel Gutierrez.

Reader’s Digest home improvement titles are reference staples—particularly The Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual, a category heavyweight. First published in 1973, the manual has sold over 10 million units globally across all editions, according the publisher, and was refreshed in October 2014 (see “Top 10 House & Home Titles of 2015 to Date” at the bottom of the linked page). In April, Reader’s Digest will publish 100 Things Every Homeowner Must Know, from the editors of the magazine the Family Handyman, drawing from a field of 1,000 experts that includes architects, engineers, contractors, and real-estate agents.

Ken Collier, editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest trade publishing, says the title is “a little different than most of our DIY books,” adding, “This is meant to be the owner’s manual for your home.” For more advanced instruction on technical matters, Quarto Publishing Group publishes a series of regularly updated Black & Decker–branded books through its Cool Springs Press imprint. New editions this year include Advanced Home Wiring and The Complete Guide to Bathrooms, both by the editors of Cool Springs Press, and Codes for Homeowners, by Bruce Barker, which explains building codes in everyday language.

Fox Chapel Publishing acquired 100 titles from the Creative Homeowner imprint in fall 2014 and is expanding its offerings in the home improvement niche. Forthcoming titles include Building Outdoor Kitchens for Every Budget (May) and Deck Designs, Fourth Edition (Oct.), both by Steve Corey, and The Ultimate Book of Home Plans, Completely Updated and Revised Third Edition (Apr.).

Peter Chapman, Taunton’s executive editor for books, says that while there is a lot of interest in “smart” homes and conscious design, that isn’t necessarily where the publisher has seen the most demand. “The mainstays are still the old favorites,” he says, citing topics like plumbing, wiring, kitchen and bathroom projects, and tiling. To that end, Taunton is continuing to publish its Stanley Quick Guides, which use a flipbook format; new for 2015 are Easy Home Plumbing Repairs, by David Schiff; Home Energy Savings, by David Toht; Easy Home Wiring Repairs, by Clifford A. Popejoy; and Easy Home Drywall Repairs, by Myron R. Ferguson.

As signs point to a continued economic recovery, Chapman thinks that “homeowners should have a slightly bigger budget for home improvement projects this year.” If that pans out, they’ll have a raft of new titles to look to for help.

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