As most designers do, I seek inspiration from other designers. I thought it might be fun to start a series on some of the interior designers that kick started the profession. My quest took me to the public library where I brought home an awesome book featuring the interiors of the esteemed interior decorator, Dorothy Draper. I was so enthralled with her (could be the title – In the Pink), that I had to purchase this book for my library. It arrived today and I’m smitten all over again.
Dorothy Draper came to fame in the 1930’s & 40’s. She was an influential and innovative American interior decorator and helped inspire a generation of home improvement devotees with her 1939 book Decorating is Fun!, subtitled “How to Be Your Own Decorator”. She was a proto-feminist, an enthusiastic self promoter and a savvy marketer (long before this was the thing to do!). She wrote a monthly how-to column i Good Housekeeping and became a household name.
In reviewing the book, I see lots of ideas that find there way into lots of design now. Several of her styles were her signature and it was said that many of the large and prestigious homes she decorated were “Draperized”!
Enjoy to gallery!
