Furnishing the Home of Good Taste

Good proportion and a willingness to remove clutter guide Lucy Abbot Throop's advice on furnishing a home. Her handbook connects the history of interior decoration with practical choices for rooms in everyday use. Its opening chapters trace styles from Egypt and Greece through the Italian Renaissance, French court furniture and English designs associated with Queen Anne, Chippendale, Adam, Hepplewhite and Sheraton. The aim is to give householders a basis for recognizing sound design and choosing pieces that belong together.

Later chapters turn to country houses, children's rooms, curtains, floor coverings, walls, lighting and painted furniture. Throop warns that reproductions can lose the proportions of their originals through heavy carving or excessive ornament. She also urges readers to clear away unnecessary objects so that useful and beautiful furnishings have room to be appreciated. Readers interested in older furniture will find both a guide to period styles and a clear statement of her preference for simplicity in the home.