The Decoration of Houses

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wharton, Edith, 1862-1937

Contributor:

Codman, Ogden

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The Decoration of Houses" by Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman is a practical guide on interior design, written in the late 19th century. The work explores the principles and foundations of house decoration, emphasizing the importance of architecture in the decorative arts. The text focuses on how to harmonize decorative elements with structural features, offering insights into creating aesthetically pleasing and functional spaces. The opening of the book presents the authors' thoughts on how rooms may be decorated through two contrasting methods: superficial application of ornamentation or integrating inherent architectural features. They discuss the evolution of decoration from medieval times, where practicality dictated aesthetics, to more modern approaches that sometimes disconnect the interior from the exterior. Wharton and Codman critique the current trend of separating architectural design from decoration, positing that a deeper understanding of historical styles and principles can lead to a more cohesive and pleasing aesthetic in modern homes. They also touch on the confusion and misconceptions surrounding house decoration, asserting that mastery of architectural proportion is essential for effective decoration. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

Notes:

Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decoration_of_Houses

Reading ease score: 48.5 (College-level). Difficult to read.

Release date is 2012-07-29