I used to have a copy of this book. I hope I still do. Thanks for posting. Amazing how these cultures developed such intricate and beautiful ornament systems — which is functionally a design system — and the best we get now is all white and plywood. I know, I know.
Today I binged the Youtube of House & Garden, an upmarket English interior design magazine… now I was aware that in the mainstream minimalism has peaked, but I learned that all along there’s been this whole subculture of posh English people designing rooms with ornamental wallpapers, fabrics, moulding, antiques, trinkets—without it looking stuffy. My own house is going to look nothing like this but I found it inspiri…
A lot of antique furniture requires care and attention that most of the designers featured in the magazine don't need to worry about, because they move straight onto their next project after completing one. Wood furniture needs to be polished and kept dry, and one is only ever one hot cup away from leaving a heat ring that destroys the wood's finish forever! Brass is also really time-consuming to clean. Incandescent light bulbs are expensive and fail quickly. Antique clocks might need winding every day. Paying someone else to do the cleaning and maintenance doesn't always fix the problem either - my grandmother's cleaner unwittingly polished the patina off a 2000-year-old Roman glass jug!
Part of the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts movement (approx. 1880 to 1910), which is often featured in the magazine, was that a cleaner, more straightforward interior design is healthier and easier to live in. Unfortunately, a lot of designers don't understand that intention when they assemble much 'busier' interiors using Arts and Crafts antiques.
I live in a Victorian house with plenty of embossed wallpaper, period fabrics, ornamental plaster ceiling roses, chandeliers, antique cabinets and trinkets. Much of it is really nice and gives me pleasure every day, but to be honest, the effect is broken now and then by the power cords snaking between the bear-paw legs of Edwardian drinks cabinets, the patches of dust that occasionally get forgotten on the mantelpiece or the nested tables, and - most visibly - the piece of clear tape holding together the drawing room window because they don't make glass like that any longer.
Well I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, but when visiting the Netherlands last year, I found the houses there to be the most tasteful I have ever seen :)