Development of Interior Design Profession

History and Foundations of Interior Design

  • Historical Roots:

    • Interior design dates back to Cro-Magnon culture’s wall decorations and ancient interior designs created by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.
    • Prior to the emergence of interior design as a formal profession, interior spaces were designed primarily by furniture designers, cabinetmakers, and architects.

  • Early Integration of Interior Spaces:

    • Dr. Henry Hildebrandt from the University of Cincinnati notes that during the 1700s, English designer Robert Adam and his family formed a business dedicated to creating interior spaces.
    • Robert Adam integrated the entire interior environment by combining furniture design directly with interior architecture and decoration.
    • Interior design is considered a relatively new field when evaluated as a distinct profession.

19th-Century Development of the Profession

  • Design Principles and Human Comfort:

    • In the 1850s, authors began taking an active interest in documenting how human comfort is affected by core design principles.
    • The Industrial Revolution led to the mass production of low-quality household goods, prompting widespread condemnation of the use of machines to produce inferior products.

  • The Arts and Crafts Movement:

    • William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement promoted the core philosophy of "good design for everyone."
    • Gustav Stickley, a leading figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, published The Craftsman, a periodical featuring dedicated articles on home design.

  • Influential 19th-Century Publications and Books:

    • In 1868, Charles Eastlake authored Hints on Household Taste, which became one of the very first books written on interior decoration.
    • Key 19th-century publications advocating for more tasteful interior environments included Godey’s Lady’s Book, Harper’s New Monthly, Harper’s Bazaar, and Ladies’ Home Journal.
    • In 1890, Candace Wheeler published the landmark article titled "Interior Decoration as a Profession for Women."
    • Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman co-authored The Decoration of Houses, which demonstrated that the true purpose of interior decoration was to emphasize and bring out the proportions of well-designed rooms.
    • W. C. Ganner wrote a series of essays titled "The House Beautiful," which directly inspired the publication of the home decorating magazine of the same name and established a precedent for subsequent home decorating periodicals.

Early Female Decorators and Industry Pioneers

  • Candace Wheeler:

    • Considered by many historians to be the first professional interior decorator.
    • Worked initially as a textile designer hired by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
    • Created textiles used in the private residences of prominent figures, including Cornelius Vanderbilt II and actress Lily Langrty.
    • Designed home interiors for author Mark Twain.
    • Formally established the Society of Decorative Arts.

  • Elsie de Wolfe:

    • A former New York actress who offered public interior decoration services, possessing expert knowledge of French furniture and antiques.
    • Launched her professional business as "America’s first professional interior decorator" in 1901.
    • Authored the seminal interior design book The House in Good Taste.
    • Decorated New York City’s first social club for women, the Colony Club (including its famed Trellis Room), which catalyzed her career and led to extensive subsequent commissions.
    • Design Aesthetic and Innovations: Transformed dark, Victorian-style wealthy residences into bright environments featuring light, fresh colors and a heavy reliance on 18th-century French furniture and reproductions. Her designs were significantly brighter, softer, and more practical than traditional Victorian interiors.

  • Nancy McClelland:

    • A highly respected interior decorator, author, lecturer, and expert in antiques and fine wallpapers.
    • Established the dedicated interior decoration department at New York City’s Wanamaker Department Store in 1913.
    • Maintained a lifelong advocacy for educational standards and formal professional licensing for decorators.
    • Made history as the first woman to serve as national president of the American Institute of Interior Decorators.

  • Syrie Maugham:

    • Began her career as an apprentice in London during the 1910s.
    • Introduced greater artistic freedom and creativity into the interior design profession.
    • Combined diverse design influences ranging from modern Picasso works to traditional baroque antiques.
    • Credited with creating and designing the world's first all-white room.

  • Rose Cummings:

    • Revolutionized the commercial decorating business by opening a New York shop that offered professional decorating services alongside curated merchandise.
    • Invented metallic wallpaper.

Dorothy Draper and "Modern Baroque"

  • Professionalization of Interior Design:

    • Recognized as the first individual to fully "professionalize" the interior design industry.
    • Established the first official interior design company in the United States in 1923.
    • Invented the signature design style known as "Modern Baroque."

  • Signature Design Features ("The Draper Touch"):

    • Color Palette: Combined vibrant, "splashy" colors in unprecedented pairings, such as aubergine and pink with a "splash" of chartreuse and a touch of turquoise blue, as well as high-contrast pairs like "dull" white and "shiny" black.
    • Textiles: Paired her signature "cabbage rose" chintz with prominent, bold stripes.
    • Architectural Details: Installed ornate, elaborate plaster designs and architectural moldings over doorways, across walls, and on ceilings.
    • Doors and Flooring: Utilized black and white checkered floors alongside massive, paneled, lacquered doors (some framed with bolection moldings, elaborate plaster work, or intricate mirror frames).

  • Commercial, Residential, and Industrial Projects:

    • Authored a regular decorating advice column for Good Housekeeping Magazine.
    • Designed specialized lines of fabrics, custom furniture, cosmetic packaging, automobile interiors, and commercial jet plane interiors (including the Convair 800).
    • Executed high-end residential designs for private houses and apartments belonging to wealthy society figures.
    • Iconic Public and Commercial Commissions:
    • Carlyle Hotel (NYC): An early career project featuring geometric black, white, and gray marble floors paired with classical busts.
    • Restaurant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC): Designed the space nicknamed "The Dorotheum."
    • Arrowhead Springs Hotel (California).
    • The Quitandinah Palace & Casino Resort (Petropolis, Brazil).
    • Greenbrier Hotel (White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia): Commissioned post-WWII to design a sprawling country retreat centered around maximum guest comfort and pleasure.

  • Museum Retrospective: Honored in 2006 with a comprehensive retrospective exhibition of her work by the Museum of the City of New York—the first time an interior designer received a dedicated exhibition of this nature.

Sister Parish and American Country Style

  • Background and Origins:

    • Born Mrs. Henry Parish II; cousin to designer Dorothy Draper.
    • Earned the nickname "Sister" due to growing up with four brothers.
    • Launched her career by decorating her family's country home after relocating from Manhattan to Far Hills, New Jersey, after which neighboring homeowners asked her to decorate their residences.

  • White House Commissions:

    • Honored as the first interior designer hired to decorate the Kennedy White House.
    • Designed key executive residence spaces, including the Family Dining Room and the Yellow Oval Room.

  • Design Elements and Aesthetic:

    • Mastered an understated English country house aesthetic.
    • Combined unexpected and contrasting items: paired Colefax and Fowler chintzes, overstuffed armchairs, and rich brocade sofas with casual elements like patchwork quilts, four-poster beds, knitted throws, and traditional rag rugs.
    • Credited with originating and ushering in the popular American country style during the 1960s.

  • Core Philosophy on Homes:

    • Expressed her design approach through her core philosophy: "As a child, I discovered the happy feelings that familiar things can bring -- an old apple tree, a favorite garden, the smell of a fresh-clipped hedge, simply knowing that when you round the corner, nothing will be changed, nothing will be gone. I try to instill the lucky part of my life in each house that I do. Some think a decorator should change a house. I try to give permanence to a house, to bring out the experiences, the memories, the feelings that make it a home."

Albert Hadley and Parish-Hadley Associates

  • Early Career and Military Background:

    • Following high school and two years of college in Nashville, Hadley was hired as a junior assistant to A. Herbert Rogers, a prominent Nashville decorator, establishing his early expertise in high-end residential style.
    • Drafted into the United States Army in 1942, serving as a company payroll clerk stationed in Chelmsford, England.

  • Education and Teaching at Parsons:

    • Moved to New York City in 1947 to enroll at the Parsons School of Design.
    • Parsons President Van Day Truex recognized Hadley's talents and extended a teaching offer shortly after Hadley's graduation in 1949.

  • Partnership with Sister Parish:

    • Introduced himself to Sister Parish in 1962; she hired him, establishing the firm Parish-Hadley Associates.
    • His initial assignment at the firm was designing the White House breakfast room for Jacqueline and President John F. Kennedy.
    • Advanced to full partner two years later, maintaining a 33-year professional partnership with Sister Parish until her death in 1994.
    • The firm deeply influenced a generation of interior decorators, serving as a foundational training ground for many prominent New York designers.

  • Stylistic Range and Recognition:

    • Worked seamlessly across diverse design styles, including modern, Victorian, and Georgian aesthetics.
    • High-profile client roster included former Vice President Al Gore, Oscar de la Renta, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Diane Sawyer.
    • Inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1986.

Billy Baldwin: The "Dean of Decorators"

  • Design Philosophy and Aesthetics:

    • Widely referred to as the "Dean of Decorators."
    • Synthesized classicism with modernism, explicitly despising florid baroque and rococo styles in favor of a sleek, polished, and pared-down aesthetic.
    • Asserted that comfort was the absolute ultimate luxury, stating: "First and foremost, furniture must be comfortable. That is the original purpose of it, after all."

  • Core Design Principles and Elements:

    • Utilized eclectic furniture arrangements comprising "a mixture of all nationalities, old and new," linked by strong thematic connections between individual pieces.
    • Favored original contemporary furniture pieces over antique reproductions.
    • Signature design elements included dark walls painted in high-gloss finishes, heavy reliance on cotton fabrics, mixed patterns, rattan, bamboo, and furniture upholstered completely to the ground (noting that rooms containing too many exposed furniture legs looked restless).
    • Highly skilled in scale, proportion, and juxtaposition, while personally considering himself primarily a colorist.

  • Masterwork:

    • His most celebrated design project was Cole Porter’s apartment at the Waldorf Towers, with special acclaim given to the design of the library.

Architecture and Interior Integration: Frank Lloyd Wright

  • Architectural Philosophy and Principles:

    • Practiced as a pioneering architect in the early 1900s, focusing on the complete integration of architectural structure and interior design.
    • Designed buildings from the inside outward and popularized the open floor plan.
    • Created deliberate relationships between the house, its site, materials, and occupants, synthesizing all components into a single unified whole.
    • Core architectural principle: A building must appear to "grow out of the land."
    • Philosophy on human needs: Held that human spatial requirements extend far beyond basic comfort and convenience, requiring design to nurture the human spirit as well as the body.
    • Materiality: Utilized organic materials including wood, masonry, and glass, expanding his palette to include reinforced concrete and structural steel during the 1930s.

  • Four Identifying Traits of Wright's Work:

    • Development of residential designs from the inside outward.
    • Use of an original, standalone design vocabulary without reliance on traditional historical forms.
    • Heavy use of primary materials paired with bold structural cantilevers.
    • A level of personal dedication and intensity that allowed him to construct works within a cultural environment initially hostile to his ideas.

  • Iconic Projects and Masterpieces:

    • Robie House (Chicago, IL):
    • Recognized as the ultimate example of the Prairie Style—the first uniquely American architectural style.
    • Designed every aspect of the project, including all interior spaces, windows, lighting fixtures, rugs, furniture pieces, and textiles.
    • Articulated his holistic view: "it is quite impossible to consider the building one thing and its furnishings another. … They are all mere structural details of its character and completeness"
    • Key features: Visual continuity connecting exterior and interior spaces, massive overhanging eaves, and a pronounced horizontal emphasis.
    • Imperial Hotel (Tokyo):
    • Constructed using innovative floating foundations.
    • Gained international acclaim after surviving the catastrophic 1923 earthquake intact.
    • Auldbrass Plantation (Yemassee, SC):
    • The only Southern plantation designed by Wright.
    • Commissioned to construct a modern, self-sufficient plantation for farming, hunting, and entertaining, designed to exist in visual harmony with the Lowcountry landscape.
    • Broad Margin (Greenville, SC):
    • Title derived directly from Henry David Thoreau’s quote: "I love a broad margin to my life."
    • Custom built as a private residence for two sisters.
    • Taliesin West (Scottsdale, AR):
    • Built to serve as Wright’s winter residence and the base for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.
    • Designed to ensure the structure and surrounding desert landscape coexist in harmony.
    • Serves as the official headquarters of The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the winter home for the School of Architecture.
    • Fallingwater (Mill Run, PA):
    • Masterpiece home cantilevered directly over a natural waterfall.
    • Strongly reflects Wright's deep passion for Japanese architecture through interpenetrating interior/exterior spaces and an emphasis on harmony between humanity and nature.
    • Used reinforced concrete to advance the fundamental principles of Prairie house design.
    • Guggenheim Museum (NYC):
    • Designed around a continuous spiral ramp where visitors take an elevator to the top level and walk down the gentle slope.
    • Responded to critics who argued the design overpowered displayed artwork by stating he designed it "to make the building and the painting an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World of Art before."
    • Stands as the most significant building project of his late career.