2.2.10

Money Used to Go Further

From an article in a 1919 House & Garden, an $850 decorating job.  That's a lotta lacca povera for the lolly.


8 comments:

Janet said...

You would be amazed what I could do with $850...

soodie :: said...

i was just reading an issue of new york magazine from 1979 late last night stating the average job by a high-brow designer in NYC was $1,000-$5,000 (not including sister parish who sometimes needed the client to pay for her helicopter ride to survey the building from a birds-eye view.)

good lord, and the price today? oh, the price of everything today...

Magnaverde said...

At least it's still possible to copy the interesting color scheme. When I hear talk about how people used to be "afraid of color" I always wonder when, exactly, they're talking about. Obviously, not whoever created this room.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Oh, Janet, out loose with the glitter gun again?

Soodie, are you sure it wasn't 10,000-50,000? Wow. That would be an impressive escalation.

Magnaverde, like you, I consider myself to know more than the average puppy about the history of design, and I agree. I think the use of color in the past, just as now, was a matter of personal taste. Some people love bright green, some love soft beige. A lot of graduate students try to put everything into hard and fast 'rules' for what people did. I don't think so. The remaining evidence, and logic, say otherwise.

Excellent point.

Scott Fazzini said...

Man, if this were 1919 I wouldn't be poor! That'd be nice... : )

Blue said...

I remember when!

I wonder too, Magnaverde, what people mean when our ancestors are accused of being afraid of using color. I think it is probably the language of self-promotion justifying the use of too little color. Whenever I hear the description "earth tones" my heart sinks - the use of color in today's interiors, with few exceptions, is very boring.

Albert Hadley said once in an interview that today's newly-minted decorators don't use enough color. I actually think that is a product of design school teachers who themselves have little knowledge about color and how to use it. The teaching of so-called color theory is a total cop-out.

Toad said...

How did I not know about your blog? I love it.

The Down East Dilettante said...

But, Toad, I did not know about yours until yesterday, loved it, and instantly added it to my blogroll. What a coincidence!