DECORATION IN A STUDY

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1073, 10 September 1930, Page 6

DECORATION IN A STUDY

Neutral Background for j Intellectual Work Cheap Materials that are Nevertheless Attractive Keeping Books and Papers in Order THE art of house decoration and furniture designing- has always, to a largo extent, expressed the spirit Of its time. But the last 40 years will offer in that respect next to ho clue to the antiquary of the future. Creation, even adaptation, completely disappeared after the gallant attempt of William Morris and a few others had degenerated into the “spaghetti and lily” style known as Nouvel Art; the antique dealer entered the field and decorating a house became, and is still, a matter of arranging it more or less tastefuily with genuine or imitation furniture of any style belonging to the last 300 years. What We Moderns Are Discovering The present day, however, is so conditioned by material conveniences that a few people are beginning to find old furniture is neither in harmony with the spirit of the period nor adequate to its requirements. They are beginning to find it as difficult to tolerate a Queen Anne wireless set as it would be to tolerate a “bai-oque” motor-car. They are beginning to find that the motor-car derives a certain elegance from the fact that it Is intelligently designed for comfort and efficiency, and does not attempt to look like the Lord Mayor’s coach, and, lastly, they are beginning to realise that beauty of decoration in the house is not always found in schemes that rely first and foremost upon ornament. Beginning With the Kitchen So far the kitchen and the bathroom have, been allowed something of a free hand in the direction of reform. Tables, cupboards, ranges, bath and a hundred gadgets of attractive design have largely replaced the horrors our fathers had to put up with. There is no reason why this should not extend to the other rooms in the house. It will be no more expensive for the rich to go to an artist who can translate their needs in terms of good design than go to one who will give them a rehash of the antique. The less fortunate can

replace cheap imitations by simple decoration based, like the motor-car, on comfort and efficiency, using materials that, though cheap, can he. nevertheless, attractive. Sentimental, Too! Besides the practical, there is also a sentimental side to the question of surroundings in the home. Before the general public can find pleasure in an intimate expression of the modern spirit, a personal taste for old-l'ash-ioned quaintness will linger in some room of the house, and this room may be the very private one in which one likes to be alone with one’s thoughts or one’s work. Plenty of Cupboard Room When I was asked, therefore, to design such a study for the “Daily Mail - ’ Ideal Home Exhibition, my first thought was to make it so that it should he acceptable to any intellectual worker—that is neutral and practical. The sentimental side could j be ignored, leaving it to each individual to satisfy his own requirements by way of pictures and ornaments. Those I have chosen represent my own personal tastes. A room of this kind, 1 imagined, should provide a maximum of classified storing space for papers, books, specimens, instruments, etc. It should not let any particular type of furniture or ornament interfere with the process of thought and imagination. At the same time, it should offer a sympathetic background for any decorative object required by the worker as a stimulant. It should also

By

Edmund Dulac

wellknown Artist and Illustrator in the “Daily Mail”

!j be such as a person of moderate , | means could afford. ; Why Japanese Taste is Followed I To that end, the materials I selected i were three-ply wood and silver paper, which are both durable and inexpen- ; sive, and following in that respect the Japanese taste, which relies on the natural beauty of substance rather than on ornamentation, I have chosen ash for the furniture and birch for the walls. The waves in the grain of the two woods give all the pattern that is required as fundamental decoration. The shapes are square in design. The furniture consists of a series ,of cupboards, shelves, pigeon-hole: , . and drawers disposed all round the i room, and closed by hinged and sliding doors. These features need little in the way of cabinetwork; they could be constructed in the room itself by any intelligent carpenter. The Better Source of Inspiration. Tho line of c upboards can be varied ; according to the space at one’s disposal or the desires of the owner, bearing in mind that dsefulness and comfort are a better source of inspiration than fantasy. Whether, so far as the general taste is concerned, the room achieves its purpose, I cannot say. There are brain workers who can only do their work in peculiar circumstances —on top of omnibuses, for instance, or in the noise and clatter of a restaurant. But: the majority, I believe, prefer quiet and repose for ears and eyes. It is for them that this setting has been designed.