Ah, 1971. A fine year for decorating the home, from what I can tell by looking at the really brightly colored rooms in a book recently donated to the collection by my mom.

According to a chapter titled “Television: The Right Type and Size for You, and Where to Place It”:

There is little doubt that television has changed our lives in many ways. As a source of information, education, and entertainment it has developed from a scientific and technological curiousity; as a medium of communication its role is now as important in modern life as that of the telephone and the radio.

That said, I think I’ll go snuggle in bed with the remote. Won’t you join me?

1971: Enjoy TV In Your Bedroom

For some people the idea of perfect relaxation is to lie in bed and watch the late, late show on TV. The problem often is how to include television attractively in a bedroom decorating plan. A simple solution is an adjustable tension pole that goes from floor to ceiling and can hold a portable TV set. This device uses a minimum of floor space, and it eliminates the need for a TV stand. Slimline TVs are a good choice for the bedroom; they are light and easy to store.

Another possibility for reclining television viewers is to build the set into the wall. Remove the framed mirror that hangs over the dresser and build a niche for the television set in its place. Then rehang the mirror, attaching it to the wall with hinges at the side so it can swing away from the TV screen like a door. If another location for a built-in television set is more suitable than over the dresser, it is still possible to conceal the screen when it is not in use. A door that matches those in the room makes an excellent cover-up, and so does a painting on hinges.

Wherever you decide to place your built-in television set in the bedroom, you should bear in mind that your line of vision while reclining is not the same as when you are sitting up. The television set should be placed higher than usual for the most comfortable viewing while in bed. For added convenience, plan to operate your bedroom TV with a remove-control device.

Source: The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement: Vol. 16, SIL-TEL. New York: Greystone Press, 1971.
~ pp. 3056-57 ~

Couches. You don’t think too much about them until a really gigantic one shows up on your doorstep. This happened to my friend Deborah recently. A birthday present to herself, the new furniture was overwhelming. I suggested that to fully appreciate it she needed to embrace the couch, become one with the couch ~ or in other words, get a blanket, lie down, and take a long nap.

I hear this helped, but to assist her and others faced with the perils of decorating a room here are some words of wisdom from none other than Barbara Taylor Bradford in Easy Steps to Successful Decorating. Now I wonder if Deborah’s couch will match the fabulous orange and yellow color schemes that appear throughout this book?

1971: Basics of a Beautiful Room

I truly believe that you can turn any room in your home into a beautiful setting for relaxation and enjoyment. All it requires on your part is a real desire to do this, plus a little decorating know-how, which I feel sure this book will give you.

When you look at the room about to be born, consider your aims and what you want the finished result to be. In essence, it should be a welcoming room, where your family and friends feel at their best ~ relaxed, stimulated, comfortable and truly at ease among attractive furnishings. The true measure of your success as a decorator will be apparent when you see your family and friends enjoying the room from every level….

[It is] important to consider some basic elements that contribute toward a beautiful room at all times. In combination, they provide the ultimate finished effect. They are:

1. Space. It is important to utilize this to the fullest. Preplanning will enable you to do this and avoid either an empty or a cluttered look.

2. Scale. Every piece of furniture should be related in size to the others and also compatible with the dimensions of the room. This careful balancing of scale ensures a smooth look in the room.

3. Furniture Arrangements. Each grouping must add to the room’s visual beauty and function perfectly for the occupants.

4. Lighting. All fixtures should be carefully distributed to properly highlight furnishings, provide visual comfort and create a pleasing atmosphere.

5. Color. This must be carefully selected and used correctly to create the mood you desire and integrate all the other elements into a cohesive whole.

6. Harmony. Fabrics, floor coverings, wall covering, woods and all other textures should be selectively chosen both to match and to contrast with one another. Proper keying of these materials produces a harmonious look.

This, then, has been your introduction to decorating. In fact, you might think of it as the beginning of your adventure in the wonderful world of color, design and home furnishing. And decorating a home is an adventure, one to be embarked upon with enthusiasm and love. For after all, you are setting out to create beautiful surroundings for those you love.

Source: Bradford, Barbara Taylor. Easy Steps to Successful Decorating. New York: Simon and Schuster,1971.
~ pp. 216-18 ~

As I work to make my house mine by painting every wall possible, I figured it would be only be appropriate to post something related to color and light. You can’t imagine how many hours I’ve spent staring at paint chips wondering how they’d look on my walls. So what do you think of a candy lime and mandarin orange kitchen? Wheeee!!!

1955: Color and Light

Color and light can increase or decrease the size of a room and of the objects in it. They can hold a room together or, seemingly, push it apart. In terms of your home, here is what these optical illusions ~ that is what they really are ~ can do.

Warm colors are said to advance, to come closer to you, than cool colors. They seem to pull the walls of a room together, making it look smaller. They unite furniture groups; separate chairs appear to be larger and closer focusing your attention on them. One warm-colored wall almost immediately attracts your eye, becoming a center of interest. High ceilings may be visually lowered and the narrow walls of long rooms brought into scale when a warm color is applied to them.

Cool, or receding, colors make rooms optically larger by pushing out the walls, and low ceilings are raised. Furniture may look smaller and seem farther away from you. An oversize sofa in a soft green, for instance, will not appear to be as big as it actually is.

Oddly enough, the very light tints of all colors ~ warm or cool ~ and most whites impart an illusion of openness and spaciousness.

Source: Commery, E. W. and C. Eugene Stephenson. How to Decorate and Light Your Home. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1955.
~ p. 37-38 ~

As you can probably imagine, I’ve got a lot of books (and other stuff), and not a lot of space. I’m feeling a bit cramped. But I’m confident that it’s for the best ~ as Elizabeth Ogg says in her book Decorating The Small Apartment (1949), it’s okay to display my treasures in my home. I shouldn’t feel bad about having so many treasures. Treasures are good. Yeah, that’s right. Lots of treasures are really, really, really good.

1949: Rooms that Reflect Personality

Of coure, you may be a collector of fine china or pottery. If so, you certainly ought to display your treasures in your home so that you and your friends can enjoy them. Collections and other hobbies offer wonderful opportunities for decoration with a purely personal touch. One man has mounted his old-coin collection in small glass-fronted cases on his bookshelves. Another has a collection of knives with carved handles, culled from the primitive tribes he studied as an anthropologist. A woman who went to Florida for a holiday came back so enthusiastic about the sea shells she had gathered (and had even learned the names of) that she mounted them most attractively on a sand-colored board fastened to her coffee table, and covered them with a framed glass panel. A girl who makes marionettes has a tiny marionette stage set up in her living room, with footlights and spotlights ready to switch on. Her guests are always enchanted to see the newest of the ‘little people’ she has created. If your hobby is no more than collecting picture postcards, you can still use it decoratively. Mount four or six of them at a time on a canvas bulletin board or on a sheet of cardboard which you can cover with glass and hang in a braquette. Change the cards on display as often as you like.

No matter what the things which have personal meaning for you may be ~ a picture or two, your favorite books, some small pieces of sculpture, a bit of lovely old silver or china, your international-doll collection ~ they deserve a place of honor in your home. More than anything else, they make your home a reflection of you.

Source: Ogg, Elizabeth. Decorating the Small Apartment. New York: Woman’s Press, 1949.
~ p. 127 ~

Mom and I spent some time perusing some of my books while she was here over Thanksgiving, including a one appropriately titled Mother’s Guide and Daughter’s Friend, which was written by “an old practitioner” in 1890. This bit about building a tub was one that mom insists you read. She is a mother, after all. She knows best.

1890: A Bath-Room

Not an essential room, as a bath may be taken anywhere, but a convenient one. It need not be larger than six by eight feet square. Any one can make a bath-tub. Make a strong box of one and a half inch plank, about four feet long, two feet wide and two feet deep, and get a tinsmith to line it with zinc or galvanized iron. Make a hole at one end and put in a spout to extend outside of the house, to carry away the waste water. The bath-room may be warmed by having the pipe from the kitchen stove or a stove in some adjoining room pass through a drum in the bathroom A small sheet iron stove which will get hot quickly will perhaps be more satisfactory.

Source: “An Old Practitioner.” The Mother’s Guide and Daughter’s Friend. Indianapolis, Ind.: Normal Publishing House, 1890.
~ pp. 460-61 ~