Decoration

While moving books around, as we so often do, this lovely Rex Whistler cover popped out at us. A comfy chair, a window open to the courtyard, some books and a banjo for our knee.

I believe the best thing about this book might just be Rex Whistler's cover art, buy Mrs. Lockwood offers us a brief and concise history of house types from ancient Egypt to those available to the future homeowner of the early 1930's. She seems most at home with the Colonial period. The book is a fine little primer on style through the ages. Her introduction to Decoration and beauty are as modern as anything one might fine in any coffee table book of in this century.

Mrs. Lockwood tells us, "Details are the stuff that dreams are made of."


There is not a decorator out there who could have said it better, and she seems downright modern and quite to the point in her introduction to why we decorate. Why do we decorate?

"We are born that way. fundamentally, it is the universal impulse to express the things of the spirit in visible form, the divine urge( or its devilish perversion) that sets mankind apart from his fellow creatures on this earth and denies him their peaceful existence."

Here's to opposable thumbs.

Restoration Hardware

I just picked up the new Restoration Hardware catalogue or Source Book/Magalog/Catalog "we're not quite sure what to call it" as Gary Friedman, Chairman and Co-CEO, we're not quite sure what to call him, puts it.

The mailman is not speaking to me. This catalogue, all 616 pages of it, is already stirring up controversy. And that might just be the point. Keep an eye out for your haggard mail person as he/she starts dragging these behemoths to your mail slot.

Unfolding Florence

About a year ago, I saw a wonderful documentary directed by Gillian Armstrong called Unfolding Florence. It is a docudrama about the life of designer Florence Broadhurst, who's career has often been overshadowed by her untimely murder. In the last decade, however, people like Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, and Carly Simon began collecting Broadhurst's prints. After seeing the film, I wanted to see it again, but alas, it is not available in the US (though a DVD is available for Region 4 if you own a multi-format player.)

Broadhurst was far ahead of her time in her designs and how she constructed her wallpaper. Her designs were all hand printed in her studio, which was as technical as it was artistic. She developed a process to print onto metallic surfaces, she developed a washable coating, and instituted a racking system that allowed for drying her wallpapers so they could be mass produced. In addition, she allowed her designs to be reproduced in a myriad of colors.

Florence Broadhurst, Joshua Smith,1968

Broadhurst wanted her designs to be a cure for a disease she called, “ timid decorator syndrome." "You can spot them easily, they are afraid of colour and bold design, she said.”


In 2006, Helen O'Neill published Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret and Extraordinary Life. Apart from the biographical information which is quite fascinating, O'Neill's book also reproduced nearly a hundred of Broadhurst's designs which only a few people had ever seen in one place.



Here are just a few Broadhurst favorites!

The Egrets

Japanese Flora

Turnabouts

Horses Stampede

Circles and Squares

Recently, the Australian rug manufacturer, Cadrys, has licensed a collection featuring the iconic designs of Florence Broadhurst. If you ever get the chance to see Unfolding Florence, give it a look.

The Audacity of Taupe

Usually, I don't read much of Arianna Huffington, but I have to say her quote about the "new" Oval Office was perfect. She wrote:

It’s very cautious, neutral, inoffensive, neither one thing nor the other — the Audacity of Taupe.

Let me state here that I am not know, nor have I ever been a decorator. I never even played one on T.V. but I think this room looks like a Sears clearance sale. This is not the next Design Star, it is the third week elimination room.

Margaret Russell, formerly of Elle Decor and a personal friend of decorator Michael Smith was quoted in the New York Times after hearing some less than flattering comments:

“She said someone said it looked like a law office in a strip mall,” Ms. Russell said later. “I said, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s just mean.’ Everyone is a critic and everyone is a decorator. That room is quintessentially American. America is not gilded or glitzy or fancy-pants. Although it is a public room and everyone feels the need to comment on it, it is also the president’s office and he can do whatever he wants to it." And anyway, Ms. Russell added fiercely, “In our business, the client is always right, and from what I’ve heard, the client is happy.”

Well, I am glad he is happy.

The Great Lady Decorators

As I mentioned previously, Friday was a zippy mail day as I received two Birthday presents for last months birthday. The first, from Ann, was a color subscription to Field Notes. The second was from Harry Lowe. It was the new Rizzoli publication, The Great Lady Decorators: The Women Who Defined Interior Design, 1870 - 1955. Oh my, I was so excited. When I opened the box, the book was still in shrink wrap. I must admit there was this moment when I just wanted to leave it that way... but I overcame the desire.

Dorothy Draper

There are the famous and well known.

Ruby Ross Wood

And some interesting but lesser known names.

Eleanor Brown

Great photographs and drawings of interiors.

Rose Cummings

And lots and lots of hats. I propose that more interior designers should sport hats.

Thanks, Harry Lowe! For those of you who don't get birthday presents from Harry Lowe, grab up a copy of The Great Lady Decorators at your earliest. There's Mother's Day and Memorial Day and it is someone's birthday...