The House in Good Taste

De Wolfe, Elsie

ISBN 10: 0847826317 / ISBN 13: 9780847826315

Published by Rizzoli, 2004

About this Item

The House in Good Taste is a seminal 1913 interior design book by Elsie de Wolfe, America's first professional decorator, offering timeless advice on creating elegant, comfortable, and personal homes by rejecting clutter and dark Victorian styles for simplicity, light, and functional beauty, advocating for principles like using white paint, comfortable chairs, and natural light that remain influential today.
Key themes and advice
Simplicity over ostentation: De Wolfe encouraged getting rid of heavy draperies and clutter to let in light and create a more open feel.
Comfort and function: She emphasized creating livable spaces with comfortable chairs, good lighting, and open fires, making the home a reflection of the owner's personality.
Color palette: She famously advocated for "plenty of optimism and white paint," along with beige and ivory, as a base for decor.
Attainability: Despite decorating for the wealthy, she believed her principles of elegant, comfortable living were accessible to everyone.
Timelessness: The book, compiled from her articles, provides enduring advice that shaped 20th-century American interior design.
Content and style
Written in a witty, conversational, and personal tone, drawing from her own experiences decorating homes in New York and Europe.
Includes practical advice on specific rooms like bedrooms, dressing rooms, and even small apartments, illustrated with period photographs.
Covers fundamental design principles like color, form, line, harmony, and proportion.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1776808921695

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The House in Good Taste
• Publisher: Rizzoli
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0847826317
• ISBN 13: 9780847826315
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dimensions: 0.94W x 9.31H x 6.25D inches 0.94 inches width by 9.31 inches height by 6.25 inches depth
• Weight: 1.199 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

After ninety years, The House in Good Taste by America's "first lady of interior decoration," Elsie de Wolfe, still offers timeless design advice.

Compiled from her articles in newspapers and magazines and first published in 1914, The House in Good Taste is a seminal book on interior design with ideas that have lasted a century because they influenced not only the wealthy clients of Park Avenue and Palm Beach, but popular taste as well.

De Wolfe advised Americans to shun ostentation and clutter in favor of simplicity, to dismantle the draperies in order to let in the light, and to replace garish colors with beige and ivory. "I believe in plenty of optimism and white paint," she declared, "comfortable chairs with lights beside them, open fires on the hearth and flowers wherever they 'belong,' mirrors and sunshine in all rooms." The rooms that Americans inhabited in the middle of the twentieth century still today owe much to de Wolfe's tastes.

About the Author

Elsie De Wolfe (1865–1951) was the first woman to create an occupation as an interior designer where none had existed before. In her quest to be admitted to the highest ranks of society, she introduced some of the most stylish and tasteful ideas into the American home. Her seminal work, The House in Good Taste, is lauded as an timeless guide for interior decorators.

Albert Hadley has been an interior designer for sixty years. In 1962, he partnered with Sister Parish and founded Parish-Hadley Associates, the legendary design firm synonymous with classic American elegance. His clients have included Brooke Astor, Happy Rockefeller, Oscar de la Renta, and Diane Sawyer and Mike Nichols. He now operates a smaller, more streamlined design firm known simply as Albert Hadley Inc.