Week 11: The Rise of the Interior Decorator

The Rise of the Interior Decorator

During this time the World’s Fair started to recognize and categorize the difference between a functionalist and a decorator. According to our text, a functionalist focused on the form and theory of a structure. A decorator chooses decorations such as furniture, colors, textures, and any object that would occupy a space. Since then, the term interior designer was born to differentiate the roles of an architect and interior designer. Interior decorators oversaw choosing appropriate furnishings that fit the needs of the home and a client, who were mostly wealthy upper class. Three designers we focused on this week are Elsie de Wolfe, Dorothy Draper, and Billy Baldwin.

Elsie de Wolfe was an American actress who changed her career path to follow her passion for
designing. Throughout her career, she designed many homes and published “The House of Good Taste.” She built her style based on the needs of a client because she believed a home should reflect who inhabits it. By providing comfort through color and lighting, she created spaces that homeowners felt comfortable in. She achieved this through the use of natural light, light French colors and textures, exotic accent prints, and mirrors to reflect color and light. These qualities all rejected the Victorian style that she despised, which led her designs to be the first stepping stones to modern residential design.

Dorothy Draper was also an American designer who was self-taught. Although she had a lack of professional education, it didn’t hold her back from having a successful career. She was seen on the cover of Time and Life magazine and founded America's first design firm. Working in large public spaces, she pushed the boundaries by incorporating bold pieces into a space. Draper said, “I always put in one controversial item, it makes people talk.” She achieved this through the use of busy patterns, flashy colors, bold plastered moldings, and dramatic black and white walls and floors. The style can be described as modern baroque because of the futuristic form combined with light bold colors. Both Elsie and Dorothy built careers that inspired millions of women to enter the workforce and redefined women’s roles in society.

Billy Baldwin was also a self-taught designer who worked in residential homes for the middle and upper class. Here he too focused on the client’s needs all while using 90-degree angles to keep a clean-cut look. Because he worked with the middle class, he incorporated clients existing furniture to help them save on costs. The main characteristics of his designs include cotton fabrics, natural colors, light rugs, lacquer finishes, dark walls, and modern geometries. It is evident in his work that he focuses on simple neat spaces with pops of color, textures, and paintings.

One Step Further: Modern Woman Designer Petra Blaisse

Petra Blaisse is a woman of many talents including interior design, architecture, and landscaping. She based her concepts on the connection between interior and exteriors while incorporating interesting fabrics and materials that reflect nature. She is the queen of curtains and uses them in many designs whether it be fabrics, glass, or other unusual materials. These curtains acted as shields, dividers, and decorative pieces to create an interesting cohesive space. When asked about the curtains in an interview she responded by saying, “To me, the curtain is connected to the landscape. If you think of planting and filtering and creating screens that change through the seasons, becoming opaque during spring and summer, transparent during winter – all these things are the same language. Of course, it’s not a textile but a living material. And both curtains and landscapes are not only technically important to architecture, but they are also a recognizable, almost consoling, presence.” Specializing in curtains, Blaisse is researching new and innovative ways to harness sustainability in the materials used in her curtains. One is a photovoltaic curtain that catches the sun's energy to create energy. Blaisse has taken a simple decorative piece and turned it into a larger scale important piece in her designs. Her collaborations with large famous architecture firms have inspired many women designers to strive for success like hers.

Sources:

Behind the Phenomenal Curtains of Dutch Designer Petra Blaisse - Azure Magazine | Azure Magazine

Additional Information:

The Art of Living: Why Interior Design is Important for Our Well-Being - Brilliantio

20 Inspiring Female Designers to Know - Interior Design