The House in Good Taste

Comfortable rooms begin with sensible choices in Elsie De Wolfe's guide to interior decoration. She argues for simplicity, suitability and proportion, treating a house as an expression of the person who lives there. Her opening rejects crowded displays of costly furnishings and urges householders to study color, form and practical use. The contents move from walls, windows and artificial light to individual rooms, small apartments and antique furniture reproductions.

Concrete examples give these principles a domestic scale. In a small French sitting room, balanced panels and mirrors create a sense of space. Elsewhere, De Wolfe explains how a day bed can serve both everyday comfort and an occasional guest, with fabric and painted wood bringing it into the room's design. Readers interested in decorating can follow her reasoning about arrangement and materials, while those studying domestic life can examine her period assumptions about women's role in shaping the home.