Dorothy Draper was the first to “professionalize” the interior design industry by establishing, in 1923, the first interior design company in the United States, something that until then was unheard of, and also at a time when it was considered daring for a woman to go into business for herself.
She helped inspire a generation of home improvement devotees with her 1939 book, “Decorating is Fun! How to Be Your Own Decorator.”
Dorothy Draper’s style was big, brash, bodacious, bold, and bordered on what some would consider gaudy, with color combinations, outsize furniture, and embellishments that shocked both men and women of her day. Projects included makeovers for the Hotel Carlyle, New York’s Hampshire House, Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, West Virginia’s Greenbrier and others. Among decorators, it was said that these locations had been “Draperized.”
Her style influenced a range of architects and designers, including Morris Lapidus, Robert Denning and Philippe Starck. Carleton Varney, her protégé and and the current owner of Dorothy Draper and Company, Inc. has written several books about her work.
For more information, please visit dorothydraper.com. To purchase “Decorating is Fun!”, “Entertaining is Fun!”, “In The Pink,” and related books, please visit bn.com.
Image courtesy Wikipedia. Info courtesy Wikipedia and dorothydraper.com. Thanks to House Beautiful for the inspiration!
No comments:
Post a Comment