The Decoration of Houses
The Decoration of Houses, a manual of interior design written by Edith Wharton with architect Ogden Codman in 1898. They denounced Victorian interior decoration and interior design for having rooms heavily curtained with Victorian bric-a-brac and filled with overstuffed furniture. This resulted in poorly planned and arranged rooms that were uncomfortable and that people did not enjoy and therefore rarely used. Codman and Wharton advocated the creation of houses based on the noble European tradition of strong architecture accentuated by furniture that suits the room. Wharton said rooms should be based on simple, classical design principles, such as symmetry, and proportion; and that a sense of balance in architecture is needed. The book was a great success, and led emergence of professional decorators working in such a manner, such as Elsie de Wolfe. The Decoration of Houses is a seminal work on the construction and decoration of sensible, comfortable, attractive rooms within a home. It was reprinted by The Mount and Rizzoli and in a hardcover facsimile in 2007.