The art of planning and producing interiors of structures based on function, comfort, convenience, and aesthetic appeal. The professional interior designer and decorator designs, plans, and furnishes the interiors of houses, commercial and institutional structures, hotels, clubs, theaters, restaurants, public areas, etc. He studies areas from the standpoint of the maximum use of space involved, traffic patterns, suitability of the design to the persons and purposes of the area, and the creation of desirable atmosphere. He makes drawings and plans of rooms showing the placement of furniture, floor coverings, wall decorations, lighting effects, and color schemes. He furnishes cost estimates for the client’s approval; makes necessary purchases; places contracts; and supervises the construction and installation of all the correlated furnishings until the project is completed.
Historical Background. The art of interior design and of decoration was conceived when the first elements of comfort, convenience, and attempts at beautification were introduced into dwellings. Interior decoration has long been considered by historians and philosophers to be indica¬tive of the culture of a period. The modern art of interior design as we now think of it emerged during the Italian Renaissance, when Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua, commissioned the Grotta in 1496. This was a small, simple apartment inside the great palace, where the Marchioness made an effort to have the interiors of rooms express her own personality. Another important influence on interior design was Catherine de Vivonne, Marquise of Rambouillet, who early in the 17th century sought to accommodate the great rooms of drafty French chateaux to human needs, with special emphasis on the bedroom, to which she contributed the alcove, boudoir, antechamber, and bath. She is also remembered for her influence on the armchair, to which she added width, warmth, yielding parts, padding, and new color designs.
In the United States, it was not until the eighteenth century that such an interest became apparent. Around 1700 the English classical trend in architecture was established in America. Early houses were sparsely furnished, but by 1750 the furniture of English cabinetmakers was both imported and reproduced, and there was a flourishing school of cabinetmakers in Philadelphia. The collections of Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture made in the American colonies, now at the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Del., provide an index to the style and quality of eighteenth-century American interiors. Williamsburg, Va., in its restored state, reflects the height of the English influence in the United States during this period.
After 1800 the designs of the Adam brothers reached America through English carpenters and cabinetmakers, and were reflected in the architecture of Charleston, S.C., and other Atlantic seaport towns. The influence of English furniture designers Thomas Sheraton and George Hepple-white also became apparent at this time. The Marquis de Lafayette was responsible for introducing the late eight¬eenth-century French influence into America, but it was
some time before it filtered through into decorative motifs. There were also definite traces of the Directoire and Empire periods (1804-1814) in design, showing a renewed interest in the classic arts of Greece and Rome. American Federal designs, which popularized the use of patriotic American symbols as ornaments for furnishings, began to appear early in the 19th century. It was around 1808 that Thomas Jeffer¬son completed Monticello, his magnificent home near Char¬lottesville, Va., after designs of the great 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. The American Victorian period, from 1830 to 1880, seemed bent on ornate display in furni¬ture, curtains, and accessories, without logic or discrimina¬tion; but the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 had a wholesome effect on artistic tastes and widened interest in American decorative and domestic arts.
American Society of Interior Designers. Frank W. Richardson and William Moore founded the Society of Decorators in 1919. Joining forces with the Art-In-Trade Club, founded in 1909, these two men and others interested in the future of their profession founded the American Institute of Decorators (now the American Society of Interior Designers) in 1931. This association, organized to maintain standards of design and professional practice as well as high ethical standards for the profession, now has chartered chapters in 50 states, and in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Europe, and the Far East.
Early US. Interior Designers. There are several impor¬tant names connected with the growth of the profession. Among them are Elsie de Wolfe, later Lady Mendl, who made her first impact on the public with her treatment of the Colony Club for women, early in the 20th century, and later did the Frick Mansion (now the Frick Museum), both located in New York City. Her influence was felt for well over 50 years. Another name was William Baum-garten and Company, responsible for such outstanding work as the John Jacob Astor house and the Schwab Mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York. About 1913 Nancy McClel¬land became associated with John Wanamaker’s and, to¬gether with Ruby Ross Wood and Mrs. Katherine Tysen, established Au Quatrieme, a department featuring fine fur¬niture and accessories. This section of the store probably had more influence on American taste than any other merchandising organization in the country. It combed the world for the finest objects and drew a national clientele.
Many U.S. interior designers of today received their basic training at Wanamaker’s. In fact, their influence so strongly shaped American taste for traditional lines of decor that when “modern” art was introduced to the United States in the Armory Show of 1913 it brought jeers from the press and public alike.
Public Areas. There is a large area in the field of in¬terior design that is nonresidential and is generally called contract work. This work encompasses all types of public buildings such as hotels, motels, hospitals, restaurants, clubs, department stores, shops, offices, universities, recreation cen¬ters, trains, ships, and airplanes. Here the experienced and thoroughly professional person must be in command. Large sums of money are usually involved for the purchase of furniture, fabrics, carpeting, and thousands of related items which must be coordinated and installed on schedule. The interior designer embarking on such a project must enjoy the full confidence and have the full cooperation of the organization for whom he undertakes the task if he is to complete the operation successfully. Business organizations have found that a well-designed interior not only functions better internally but enhances public relations as well and is good publicity for the firm.
Work Methods. The interior designer generally works on a retail basis—his revenue is derived from the difference between wholesale and retail prices. Professionals usually require a retainer as well, to be applied against the client’s account, before proceeding with a job. Consultation is on a fee or hourly charge basis. However, large department stores usually have interior decorating departments which give advice free of charge when purchases are made in or through the store. After a customer outlines his needs to someone in the decoration department, and the inquiry seems to warrant the expenditure of time* and effort, an experienced decorator is called in to advise the shopper. This arrangement is advantageous both to the store and to the customer and usually has very satisfactory results.
