Sister Parish Design: On Decorating

Comfort is the essential element of a successful interior and the hallmark of the Parish-Hadley style. In Sister Parish Design, Libby Cameron, Sister’s last protégé, and Susan B. Crater, Sister’s granddaughter, explore this aspect and much more in a series of conversations with the leading decorators of today.

Sister Parish is the iconic American decorator of her generation. Her use of flowered chintzes and overstuffed armchairs combined with unexpected items, like patchwork quilts and painted furniture, is credited with popularizing what is known as American Country–style during the 1960s. Her passion for bold color and mixed patterns invoked charm, imagination, and a lived-in look to her rooms. Her philosophy was to be unafraid and to put things together because you liked them--not because they matched.

Filled with beautifully-rendered watercolor illustrations, Sister Parish Design is more then just a stunning book—it is an inspirational resource that all decorating aficionados’ will want to add to their bookshelf.

SUSAN CRATER is the granddaughter of Sister Parish and co-author of Sister: the Life of Legendary Decorator Mrs. Henry Parish II. LIBBY CAMERON worked for Sister Parish and now runs her own design firm. In 2001 they started SISTER PARISH DESIGN, a fabric and wallpaper company based on designs from the Parish-Hadley archives. Their products are frequently featured in magazines such as Architectural Digest, House & Garden and House Beautiful.