Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Some interior decorating tips from 1969


The garish image above is from "Making the Most of the One-Room Apartment", a 64-page staplebound book written by David Holmes and published in 1969.

Holmes writes:
"[M]any sociologists say that apartment living is the way of the future, that the single family residence, as we have known it, is on the way out. ... [T]here is a magic about all apartment living, the lure of making a bright, personal world in the heart of the city, of creating, by oneself, a warm, inviting place to come to where the crushing problems and pace of the metropolis can be shut out. And curiously, this magic seems to increase as the size of the apartment diminishes."
It would also seem that, as the size of the apartment diminishes, so do the senses of style, taste and proper color coordination.1

Of color coordination, Holmes writes: "[W]e are ready to to extend the color plan to dispel any hint of monotony or lack of originality. The rule in a sound color plan is to have one basic hue and two or at most three accents. For example, if your background is a French gray for walls, woodwork, doors, etc., you could warm it up with red and yellow plus touches of black."

Some of the book's photo contributors, if you're looking for people to blame besides just Holmes, included Joanna Western Mills Co., Directional Industries Inc., Fostoria Glass Company, Herculon's olefin fiber carpets, the Latex Foam Rubber Council2, and Kodel polyester (which was introduced by Eastman Chemical Company in 1958).

Now, enjoy some additional photos from Holmes' book. Maybe you'll get some decorating ideas! As always, be sure to click on the photos for larger, more detailed versions. And you can thank me later for giving you the brilliant idea that you can lay your mandolin upon a cheetah pillow for a groovy effect.




If you can't get enough of this topic, here's one more thing you can check out: The 1960s subsection of the Ugly House Photos blog.

Footnotes
1. Unrelated footnote: The beauty (or curse) of writing this blog is that when I start doing research on an item or topic, I can easily veer way, way off course. Someday, perhaps, I'll be able to explain how my research for today's entry led me to "Drummer Dick's Discharge". Or maybe not.
2. You probably remember them as the group that brought you "101 Things to do with Foam Rubber".

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