The Decoration of Houses

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The Decoration of Houses
The Decoration of Houses, 1898 edition
Author	Edith Wharton
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	interior design
Publisher	B.T. Batsford
Publication date	1898
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	204
ISBN	978-0847829163 (2007 Rizzoli reprint)

The Decoration of Houses, a manual of interior design written by Edith Wharton with architect Ogden Codman in 1898. They denounced Victorian interior decoration and interior design for having rooms heavily curtained with Victorian bric-a-brac and filled with overstuffed furniture. This resulted in poorly planned and arranged rooms that were uncomfortable and that people did not enjoy and therefore rarely used. Codman and Wharton advocated the creation of houses based on the noble European tradition of strong architecture accentuated by furniture that suits the room. Wharton said rooms should be based on simple, classical design principles, such as symmetry, and proportion; and that a sense of balance in architecture is needed. The book was a great success, and led emergence of professional decorators working in such a manner, such as Elsie de Wolfe.[1] The Decoration of Houses is a seminal work on the construction and decoration of sensible, comfortable, attractive rooms within a home. Some^{[citation needed]} would consider it the first modern American manual of interior design. It was reprinted by The Mount and Rizzoli and in a hardcover facsimile in 2007.

[edit] Concepts

Wharton and Ogden wrote 198 pages divided into sixteen chapters. The first few chapters focus on the importance of balance, symmetry and good use of space, while later chapters have to do with the specific use of rooms and how rooms ought to be arranged in order to ensure optimal comfort and usefulness.

Wharton and Ogden were very fond of past styles of furniture in comparison with the upstart Victorian furnishings surrounding them. Much preferring simplicity and order in decoration, they warned readers not to mix and match styles of furniture eclectically. They also preferred the use of less detail, looking down on the Victorian love for clutter and busy wallpapers and fabrics.