The Rise of the Decorator

Along with many other interior designers, I too have my strong opinion towards the difference between Interior Decorators and Interior Designers. Unfortunately, in 1925, our opinions would not have stood a chance because Interior Decorating was the only way to go. The rise of decorators becoming more prominent began in Paris during the Art Deco period. At this time, they were known as Ensemblier or decorateur. The decorators of this time consist of Elsie de Wolfe, Dorothy Draper, and Billy Baldwin. Dorothy Draper happens to be one of my favorite out of this bunch due to her colorful style and use of traditional furniture. She designed with a very funky feel and was the type of decorator to transform traditional furnitureinto something unique. She was notorious for a such dramatic use of black and white on walls and floors but lively colors on other aspects. She has had appearances on the cover of both, the Time and Life magazine. Later, she became a writer of a well known news column.

Although Dorothy Draper was my favorite, Elsie de Wolfe and Billy Baldwin played a huge role in this period as well. Elsie was originally an actress that later decided to pursue inerior design. Elsie is the individual that assisted in making interior design a seperate profession fro architecture. Billy Baldwin was known designing for the middle class and rich, famous people. He only used a specific color scheme and believed that "Color is like icing on the cake. I never begin with a color scheme, I end with it." Modern Applications:

Discussion: For this period I viewed Rose and Natalie's blogs. I really enjoyed Rose's current applications of these designer's style. I foud Natalie's blog to be interesting because of her video on the Greebriar Hotel. Video: