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HISTORIC VALUES FOR HOME DECORATING
In this pursuit, I am not offering a critical appraisal of historical works. Set to a different socio-cultural context, much of what these historical writers are communicating is outdated. But in the search for inspiration, I am deliberately selecting to highlight only those ideas that hold relevance today.
While there is no doubt that the idea of home is a dynamic and evolving concept, many thoughts and concerns that are on our minds today have accompanied those interested in homemaking since the industrial revolution changed the nature of home.
The understanding that topics discussed today were as relevant a few hundred years ago has significance. The industrial revolution had a wide-ranging impact in the Western World on everything from the nature of home, to manufacture and consumption. Today we still grapple with the challenges these changes brought with them and some of the issues have become increasingly pressing as the impact of our production becomes increasingly important to consider.
Walter Shaw Sparrow, a British writer on art and architecture, published a book in 1909 titled ‘Hints on House Furnishing.’ In the introduction to his book he shares his concern that the industrial revolution had so rapidly taken hold, that the new ways of living which were replacing established traditions, had come about without time to ensure they were established with care:
“Then the revolution took place in social life and was so complete that it spared only the good old-fashioned cottages and farmers. Steam and machinery passed from one conquest to another: a wonderful industrialism swallowed up large country districts; and by this means, with amazing rapidity, a new civilisation was made in the rough, for there was no time to build with care.”
Sparrow’s statement, written over a century ago, holds as much relevance today as it did in his time. The speed of change we are grappling with in all areas of life from production to social change leaves us with a challenge: on the one hand tradition alone is not enough to guide modern-day thought and conduct through all of the challenges that arise in modern life. On the other hand, discarding the past completely simply because many aspects seem outdated, irrelevant or unsuitable for modern living leaves us with the monumental task of having to recreate everything from scratch. While not everything from the past can or should be applied to modern living, there are timeless lessons in historical writings that hold true through changing times and changing fashions.
I am curious about the essence of good design. What advice has stood the test of time and can serve us today in our efforts to make more conscious decisions and create homes that will serve us as well as possible for as long as possible? What thoughts and ideas from the past ring as true today as they did in decades and centuries gone by? What aspects of the historical context of homemaking can help us to understand more about where we find ourselves today?
In ‘Hints on House Furnishing’ Sparrow highlights three values which he deems essential for good design that hold as true today as they did 110 years ago:
1. On the value of common sense (ie thoughtfulness) as a design principal
What has captured my imagination in historical writings on design is the emphasis placed on thoughtfulness. Like Mary Eliza Haweis before him, Sparrow argues for the importance of using common sense ie being thoughtful, when it comes to the design of our homes. In offering advice on home decorating he makes the point that while tastes differ, and there are countless variations in style to which home décor can adhere to, a starting point of common sense or thoughtful design should be considered a valuable starting point for all.
“The greatest connoisseurs hold very different views on styles of decoration, and quarrel over them with blind pugnacity, forgetting that discordant tastes are not reconciled by arguments; and so our aim must be to look for a court of arbitration where peace may have a chance of reigning, and this court we find in common sense.”
Both Sparrow and Haweis before him, argue that good design must be informed by more than aesthetics alone, taking into consideration the functional and emotional benefits that design can provide.
“The difference between good and bad furnishing is quite easy to state; the one gives comfort to the body and pleasure to the eye, while the other does not, but wastes money on jerry-made work, as if ugliness and discomfort were not like gambling debts, which give hostages to ill-luck”.
This point is as relevant a guiding principle today as it was in 1909: design which merely looks good but does not enhance our life in terms of providing functional and emotional benefits will always fall
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