Daring and Darling Design Ideas From The Past
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November 24, 2007 @ 08:28 am
I am a decorating bibliophile. It’s taken me about 20 years to amass my collection of vintage and contemporary design books, magazines and brochures. It is so large we basically had to buy another house to keep most of it in. I am a complete amateur but like professional interior designers, I get many great ideas from old books (there were also a lot of bad ideas back in the day), which I have implemented in my rooms. 
Reading design and decorating books is a simple pleasure too. Like the foodie who curls up with a cookbook at night but who never actually gets around to making Yucatan pulled pork with pickled onion, or pistachio-crusted arctic char with pomegranate relish, I’ll probably never get a chance to redo my office with a red lacquered desk, a pair of silver-grey mohair club chairs, Madeline Weinrib rug, and George Nelson bubble lamps. No matter. I can dream, can’t I?
Today I pulled a book at random, and it happened to be one of my favorites, 1601 Decorating Ideas for Modern Living by Gerd Hatje and Peter Kaspar, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in the late 1960s. You can find copies on eBay. Last time I looked there were two: one for $45 and one for $75. I bought mine on Alibris a few years ago for $25. The ideas in 1601 are as fresh as any you could find in Dwell or Blueprint or Domino. Here are a few of my favorite design solutions (see pictures from the book – I snapped ‘em with my digital camera so don’t expect miracles):
1. Bamboo blind as room divider. Hang one blind from the ceiling to provide an airy division between spaces in a room that is used for more than one purpose. In the photo here it is used in a living room to separate lounging and eating areas. You could use a blind to mark off an office space, or hang one between two beds to create moderate privacy in a shared children’s room or guest room. It’s an affordable solution: Kmart sells very good quality tortoise shell finish bamboo blinds in a variety of widths, from 24 inches to 60 inches, which are all 6 feet long when fully extended. Most cost less than $25. The length means you’ll have a few feet of air space up from the floor. Best Blinds has versions that are 8 feet long, but they cost more than Kmart versions. Still, the company’s largest 8’ X 8’ square is just $217.
2. Plexiglas as room divider. Wow – I love this big pink acrylic circle sitting on a console table in back of a sofa. Have an acrylic fabricator cut a 1/8 or ¼ inch thick circle in the diameter of your choosing and have the fabricator mount it to another piece of acrylic so it can sit on a table to divide a space. The Pierce-Ohio Companies seem willing to accommodate all your acrylic needs. Check “acrylic” and “plastic” in local yellow pages.
3. Plastic folding chairs. These simple plastic-dining chairs set around a glass dining room table is such a great dining solution for a small space. The arrangement takes up very little visual space, and it looks sparkly and glamorous without being too formal. Agilest makes one for $85.
4. Victorian chairs in an all-white modern dining room. Little Victorian chairs like the ones in the picture are pretty easy to find at antique malls and even on eBay. Can’t find four that match? No problem, two pairs or four unique examples would also looks good. Either way, Victorian wooden dining chairs will make that white Ikea dining table/desk look important and expensive.
5. Kids and fruit hanging from ceiling. This is a perfect idea for a loft kitchen (or anywhere in a loft) with exposed piping. Please check the pipes for strength before installing a swing (I am sure hanging onions and bananas won’t be a problem, but your 14-year-old hockey player might be). If you are a DIYer, you can make a swing with a piece of wood and some sturdy rope. If not, Breezy Swings sells really nice, simple, old-fashioned swings starting at around $40.
6. Floor lamp as “chandelier.” Don’t want to wire a chandelier into your ceiling? You don’t have to if you have one of these fantastic Arc floor lamps with a long, curved neck. I found a couple of vintage versions eBay for less than $400. And Lamps Plus sells a George Kovacs arc lamp for $250. It would look perfect with dining table arrangements suggested in 3 and 4, above.
Okay, I think six ideas are enough for now. I’ll be back with some more from the 1595 remaining very soon. In the meantime, please email me with your favorite decorating book or idea, and why, and I’ll compile them in a future post. Before I do that, I plan on delving into Lucite, vintage house plans, doors, building a house on a lake (maybe modular), and my deeply held beliefs about holiday décor.
Happy decorating…now off you go!
KK
