He was one of a kind... and was quite the 'layer'. ;-)

He inspired me to collect dog art, Staff dogs, and Chinese blu & wht..

Allison, that sounds like the perfect homage.

Chijim, in his book he said he was always disappointed when he returned to rooms he had decorated and nothing had changed. They should be lived in! He went so far as to say leave a few dogs in the rooms over the weekend to break the room in. Then it would be perfect. He started buying dog oil paintings since he couldn't have a dog.

Thanks, Beckysharp.

His obituary was in today's NYTimes.

He had a marvelous eye and understood how to make a room "livable", even if it held priceless items. My own decorating style was greatly influenced by him. I adore chintz and flower prints on linen. I love trim and lots of details. I learned how to use these from him and from Colefax & Fowler.

He was the speaker at a local charity antique show back in the 1990's. He knew my then brother-in-law from the Winter Antiques Show in NYC and I spoke with him after his talk. He was a delightful and charming man.

He will be greatly missed by those of us who loved his classic style.

A couple of takeaways from his obit in TAC: "Color is a mood setter," he told Ingrid Abramovitch. "It can make you feel great. But people have a fear of color. They're afraid of what their friends will say or not say." To me, nothing eschews the ethos of our time than this trend of making everything black, white or shades of grey. We live in such a world of constant criticism and the resulting decorating trend is a style that says nothing deep about us, a style that just says, "Carbon copy."

Also, "You can't treat decorating as fashion; it's not like a dress you can push to the back of the closet, a room is an investment in money and time. No room is a still life. It should look like it happened over years." I find that the younger generation has zero interest in stories or history, and so their rooms are full of disposable things with almost zero personality. I can't give away family heirlooms, and we're not talking about junk, we're talking about fine items with presence and history and quality. My self-absorbed younger relatives are barely aware that I exist, let alone have any interest in anyone who came before them. They have few deep relationships because of the fear of criticism or conflict.

Awww, Anglophilia, I understand your frustration. I would have been so happy to have inherited some beautiful, timeless heirlooms, but today's under-40's don't seem to enjoy beauty in design the way I do and the way my grandmother and mother did. I know they have a different lifestyle, but I'm afraid they will wake up when they are 60 with children and perhaps, grandchildren, and wish they had just a few cherished treasures to share with those younger generations.

I hope the pendulum will swing back to appreciate craftsmanship and history, soon.

I love those quotes too, pinkmountain.

Anglophilia, hopefully your children will come around before it's time to clear the house. I couldn't get our DS to take any furniture from my parents' house (he took a few momentos), and they needed furniture! At least the girls wanted some things and have their "areas" with more in our storage room.

I like this quote (from here):

In many ways, the "Buattapedia," actually called Mario Buatta: Fifty Years of American Interior Decoration, is a direct response to those monographs. "Waiting until now with the book was very smart. I go out on the road and see people, middle-aged women who have been fans for years. When you see what's going on today in decorating, where everything comes from Crate and Barrel and Restoration Hardware, it's nice to meet people that still have the wherewithal to live with beautiful things."

it's nice to meet people that still have the wherewithal to live with beautiful things

That is a very odd quote, since essentially he is ending it with "I like spending time with rich people." I also think he is a bit off the mark. Even after adjusting for means, younger people are making different choices. I think some of their choices are better. That whole Lenox generation that thought you simply could not entertain without "fine china" and such. It was mostly marketing spin to get people thinking that way. For many people it made no sense.

He certainly designed made many beautiful rooms, but I do think it can be a little much to live with, at least as executed in design mags.

Anglophilia, that's true --- can't choose throw pillows is kind of funny!

That's such an odd quote that it makes me think he misspoke, meaning "desire" rather than "financial resources".

Does anyone remember this?

Mtnredredux, my grandmother was married in the late 1870’s. She, like everyone else in SW Missouri, had little money. But she, like most brides of her day, had her “wedding china”. Hers was white with gold around the rim - it was bone china. It was used for Sunday dinner and other important occasions. Lenox and marketing had nothing to do with this - it was just what brides had to start a household. Using ones best for Sunday dinner after church was still the norm for most people until the 1970’s. Only wealthy people with help had “dinner parties” until after WWII - really until the 1950’s.

Of course, having ones husband’s boss and his wife for dinner, was de riguer, and it was important to show that one knew how to set a nice table, and cook a lovely meal. Promotions could be lost if a wife’s entertaining skills were not up to snuff, and helped if she was an especially gracious and charming hostess. Many a wife was very stressed doing this if her mother had not properly trained her to do so! It was another time...

I think what Mr Buatta meant was that few people today feel comfortable spending $25,000 painting the walls exquisitely in just one or two rooms. Or spending that much money on curtains for 2-3 windows in one room. His style of interior design was costly. Of course, one could do the general style such as his without the amazingly glazed walls. In fact, unless one lived in NYC, one could never find anyone who even knew how to do them! The curtains were always expensive and are even more today, due to the incredible rise in the cost of good fabrics such as beautiful chintz. Finding anyone who still knows how to make truly elaborate valences is very hard, too. Valances are rarely used and when they are, they are far simpler.

Today, most in the major US cities that have vast wealth, didn’t grow up with it. There are the hedge fund managers and the Silicone Valley people. They did not grow up with antiques and beautiful interior design, and only want the latest, hottest looks. They tire of houses and their furnishings very quickly.

Today’s young designers who have been inspired by his work, must find a way to use small amounts of chintz, few trims/details, and then use them in far simpler rooms. Even then, their client base is pretty limited to those who grew up in lovely homes - the daughters and granddaughters of clients of Mario Buatta, Sister Parish etc.

Well of course there have always been families who used and valued fine china, well-heeled or simply genteel. But it seems to me that our country went through a phase where every middle class bride had to pick three patterns; silver, china, and crystal. And then use them for life. It was unheard of not to. I have to guess that this particular phase of American consumerism had some help from mfr.s who instilled it in a generation.

I agree with you and Becky that Buatta probably misspoke, or did not understand the meaning of the word "wherewithal". Maybe he meant something like "Chutzpah", LOL. By accounts he was not only a gifted designer, he was not the stereotypical crazed and difficult "artiste" and fairly down to earth.

There are the hedge fund managers and the Silicone Valley people. They did not grow up with antiques and beautiful interior design, and only want the latest, hottest looks.

I am not in Silicon (sic) valley but I can speak of the former, and I am not sure why you think that people who made their way in industries that didn't exist a few decades ago are not products of wealth? I would say that *most* of the people, in finance at least, grew up in affluence. These industries tend to hire from elite schools and those schools are still, to this day, very much the province of the wealthy.

At any rate, I have hopes that a greater concern for the environment will lead new generations to look at this stuff differently. Buy to last, save what is good. I recently offered up a piece of furniture that is in my teen DD's room , and my nephews and nieces were all takers (young families). Hope springs eternal! In a similar vein, I am trying to add to my mother's silver pattern ( i now prefer it to mine) and not finding any bargains at all!

I was looking for an article about Lenox to see if anyone had talked about them as a middle class "phenom" and came across this which, funnily enough, mentions Buatta!

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/your-money/aging-parents-with-lots-of-stuff-and-children-who-dont-want-it.html

I wonder over the years how many brides selected Lenox as "the one?" I have, and use, my parents' Lenox wedding china. It's kept in the dining room breakfront. Meanwhile, our wedding china is packed away. I had DD1 sell the crystal (some was my paternal grandmothers, and others my mother gave me for Christmas - similar patterns.). I was happy someone bought to add to her collection that she actually uses. DD2 wanted the Sunday dishes from that grandmother (my children knew all four of my grandparents, which was a blessing) and uses them daily. fwiw, we were still having Sunday dinner into the mid-1990s, when she passed away.

Mtn, I've read several articles similar to the one you posted. I lived that nightmare when my parents passed away within six weeks. They always had second homes (sometimes three at a time), and would always bring back items when those homes sold. So there was the beach, CO mountains and the main house to disperse. It literally took almost a year, and I'm still trying to sell a few things no one is using or wants us to store. The donation truck guys probably hated me. lol

Anglo, getting access to some fabrics and finding an excellent workroom is not easy. DD1 has to the trade access to both, which has been a huge help. The workroom owner has a degree in apparel design, worked in the NYC fashion industry before becoming interested in custom drapery and upholstery (moved to San Francisco). His background in fashion is evident in his work. I love that he is a perfectionist, and that he decided to move back home.

Oh my Allison, that is a chore. Especially because, knowing how treasured these things were, one really wants to find the best home for them.

We cleaned out our basement recently and I said to DH as we were doing so ... this should be your mindset... pretend we are moving. And the van is in the driveway.

mtnrdredux, I think that what you describe was working class families moving into the middle class in the 1950's/post WWII, and wanting the trappings of such. Having nice china/crystal/silver was part of that, and brides typically registered and got all three. And yes, they used them (and enjoyed them!!) for life. Is this a problem?

Very few today are interested in "gracious living". Most everyone wants casual-everything - decorating, entertaining, clothing. Even wedding guests appear to think that casual is just fine these days. It's all about what's "easier".

No, I would not use dishes everyday that had to be hand washed. I do use my sterling everyday and I hand wash it - when my husband was alive and two children were at home, it went into the dishwasher, but it paid a price for this. Pretty easy to wash silverware for one! But I don't begrudge hand washing dishes for special occasions, and I WANT to use my pretty things for such! I don't mind ironing flatwork, and now I have my Miele rotary iron, it's a breeze. So I like to use nice linens when I use nice china/silver. Heck, I iron my everyday napkins - they look nicer.

Thank goodness my children (now mid/late 40's) feel the same way and have and use nice things. All my daughter's friends registered for good china/crystal when they married - no point in registering for sterling flatware - no one will give one just a teaspoon or salad fork, so either they had inherited silver or it was given to them as a wedding gift by grandparents. And they all use it.

BTW, all those "elite" schools haven't been "elite" since my husband graduated from boarding school in 1958 and an Ivy in 1962. He was the last of that era. Now, they all pride themselves on their diversity, both economic and racial/ethnic. My son has lived in 3 different Gold Coast CT towns, all filled with hedge fund types. I met many of them on the playground, and at swim lessons etc when I visited. I can promise you not one had come from an upper class background - not even upper-MIDDLE class. They were all very smart, got into Ivy League schools and now had a ton of money. They had no idea how to furnish their houses, let alone set a table. And they didn't care anyway. I kept wondering where were all the WASP's of yore? Well, they can no longer afford to live in Gold Coast CT towns and live further afield. What was once "money" is not "real money" any longer, when the residents of these towns often earn 8-9 figure salaries each year. That was the grandparent's total worth after a lifetime!

I spend a month each summer with many people who are "old money". Only a few of their children go to "elite" boarding schools or universities. Some actually go to high quality suburban public high schools, and they get into 2nd tier colleges. Some go to private boarding schools where the admission exam is "will the check clear and does the child have a pulse"! And in many cases, they are legacies for generations back - they just aren"t smart enough to get into an Ivy.

With the universities working so hard to NOT appear "elite" except academically, and their commitment to taking at least 1/3 of their freshman classes from either first-generation or under-represented minorities (read all bout this in the Harvard admissions trials coverage), the rest of the classes is made up of some legacies, athletes, and then the lucky few who have something that makes the schools want them that year - they have to have something "special" about them and that varies by the year.

I "know" this how? By talking (ad naseaum) to the grandmothers and mothers of the young who are applying to prep schools and college, by the fact that my late husband did college admissions for many years and was head of his Ivy's alumni group that did interviews and hosting the rep from the admissions dept each fall, and having seen my eldest grandson just go through this. I've seen nothing in the media about Harvard's admissions policies that is a surprise - it's been common knowledge for years.

Well, I think there is a "wherewithawl" element and it's not just about money. You need some residence stability to have a home filled with beautiful things. Otherwise, you risk damaging too much with all the moves. I had many lovely things that my mother wanted to give me, but when I was moving from apartment to apartment, I didn't want to risk things getting lost or broken. That transience lasts much longer these days. DH and I feel like we will never get over it, and worry about its effects on our children and grandchildren. Also, you need to be able to take care of nice things in your home with time for cleaning and maintenance, which is in short supply for the younger generation. And then there's the issue of space, can you afford to keep up a home with the storage space and room for nice furniture and art, etc.

Also, you need to be able to take care of nice things in your home with time for cleaning and maintenance, which is in short supply for the younger generation.

Mario Buatta was actually the perfect decorator for those with little time or inclination to clean, especially dusting. From yesterday's NYT obit: "Although exacting about other people’s homes, he was less so in decorating his own living quarters, two floors of a Georgian townhouse in Manhattan. He made no secret of his indifference to certain aspects of home care, including dust."

And from an interview about his upbringing: "My mother was a neurotic, and she hated dust–I think of dust as a protective coating for my furniture! If you lit a cigarette, she’d start cleaning out the already-clean ashtrays. She would vacuum herself out of the house. My father, who was a musician, would often come home late, and she could tell whether he was there or not by the footprints in the carpet."

LOL Becky, a man after my own heart! "Dust and then you just have to dust again," has always been my motto! But we are now very allergy sensitive in our old age, unfortunately. It's more than that though, it is just having the time to care for things so they don't get ruined over time, even proper washing and folding, etc. I have a hard time keeping up with my delicate fabrics, hence I rarely dress with much panache either . . .

Anglo,

Was it a problem? More to the point, I think it was a mistake. I think in hindsight many middle class people overspent on such things, bowing to social pressure and believing they would be a store of value. Just an opinion. How people spend their money is quite puzzling sometimes.

I work at a hedge fund and spent my career in IB and live in Fairfield County. IME, finance is absolutely dominated by people who came from wealth to begin with. For a few reasons. One, knowing about the industry and having familiarity and connections. Two, we recruit from a fairly narrow list of schools. Those schools have made strides toward meritocracy but there is still a huge correlation between wealth and elite admissions. The gist of what I have read on the subject is that the latest data shows that upward mobility has been overstated. The affluent still have very disproportionate access to these institutions.

I do totally agree that is not as "easy" as it once was, when, for example, graduates of elite BS would write down on a piece of paper whether they preferred Harvard or Yale!

But, back to the original point, I do not think that the reason people are less likely to decorate the way they used to is because those that can afford it did not grow up with it. It just has not been my experience.

I read this a while back and IIRC it has some interesting observations related to this.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/06/the-birth-of-a-new-american-aristocracy/559130/

PS Mr Buatta and Allison, apologies for the hijack

I think in hindsight many middle class people overspent on such things, bowing to social pressure and believing they would be a store of value. Just an opinion. How people spend their money is quite puzzling sometimes.

It was Lenox and, I think, Marshall Fields department store, who pioneered the wedding registry in the last century. And, from the Lenox website on the company history,

The fashion for art ceramics was overtaken by another trend in the early 20th century: fine home dining, often in a separate dining room. Lenox began offering custom-designed and elaborately decorated service plates to his discriminating clientele around 1902, despite the domination of European china.

Much like DeBeers started the "tradition" of diamond engagement rings lol.

Not for nothing did Vance Packard start writing about "The Hidden Persuaders" (and "The Status Seekers") in the fifties; followed up in the sixties by "The Waste Makers", about planned obsolescence. As the author of the Atlantic article mtnrd mentions writes, "One of the hazards of life in the 9.9 percent is that our necks get stuck in the upward position. We gaze upon the 0.1 percent with a mixture of awe, envy, and eagerness to obey."

Interestingly, the English country house that so inspired Buatta working for Keith Irvine and then John Fowler in the UK, when done well always look a bit shabby and down at the heel.

Waste makers is right!! First they persuaded us that we needed all this stuff, and now they need to persuade all the youngsters that they DON'T need it, otherwise they might not buy all new stuff.

Mtn, thank you for the Atlantic piece- so much to think about.

The view from SV is similar to what you describe. Many people from the same East Coast BS and elite universities. Most people's parents were professionals at least, though not Social Register types. There are outliers, of course.

NB By professionals, I mean doctor/lawyer/engineer/high level business/banking exec.

Thank heavens I never HAD to have my husband's boss for dinner to help his career. (And my husband never HAD to entertain my boss either.)

LOL, Maddie, I thought the same thing.

Becky, that is so interesting. It was exactly the kind of dynamics I wondered about.

Pink, good point. Always keep 'em wanting something else. I know it but cannot resist it anyway!

Another good article, with a different POV, about class differences. Some very interesting points. https://nypost.com/2017/07/29/americans-dont-need-elite-tastes-to-join-the-upper-class/

great thread

fascinating atricle..still reading..

Ran across this article on Buatta from the New York Social Diary on IG. Off to read the two links within it.

Lots to talk about here. First of all, those people who thought it was important to have Lenox china, sterling flatware and Fostoria crystal didn't BUY these things; they received them as wedding gifts. They were not really "luxury items" in those days.

Second, credit was something only the wealthy had. If one earned a reasonable middle-class income, one might have a department store credit card; the balance had to be paid off, in full, monthly. Personal debt due to living beyond ones means, really didn't take of until MasterCard and Visa appeared, to some degree in the late 60's, but not really prevalent until the 1970's. In order to buy a house, one had to have a 20% down payment, so few people were "house-poor". Sure, there was AmEx and Diner's Club but I didn't know anyone who had such cards - they were for high level businessmen (expense accounts) or the truly wealthy. The rest of us lived within our means, or else ruined our credit rating for years to come with an unpaid dept store credit card debt.

MasterCard and Visa changed everything! I remember in one week, getting 2-3 new cards in the mail - just sign the back and start using it! People started racking up debt that had not been seen since the Roaring 20's, but then it was already fairly wealthy people buy stocks on margin accounts, not middle/lower middle class income people.

The social aspirations described by Vance Packard tended to be achieved by being a clever little housewife who knew how to whip up curtains out of sheets, and make things look far better than they actually were. Vance Packard and his wife, Virginia, were two of my in-law's closet friends on the Vineyard. Virginia (Mrs Packard to me!), was a gifted portrait artist and I treasure the portrait she painted of my now late husband when he was in his early 20's. I see it every single day when I turn on some lamps on a drop-front desk and turn them off again at night - it hangs over that. I met the Packard's many times and Vance was a very interesting man.

I still see a difference between "social" class and "economic" class. The Atlantic article is correct - many at the upper ends of the "economic class" try to distance themselves from those in the "social" class (Social Register types, as one poster called them). They are the very people who have killed gracious living as they have rejected every single social nicety there ever was. Instead, they glory that their wealth allows them to dress like slobs (DD says she will never forget a guest at the W Hotel in Seattle that she helped open, walking into the dining room at dinner time, wearing a T-shirt, boxer shorts and flip flops and asking for a milk shake). He made it quite clear he could afford to BUY that hotel and could dress as he pleased. Sorry - I call that boorish behavior with ZERO class, regardless of his economic class.

I take exception to a statement in the Atlantic article that the very wealthy are all slender and healthy and have good eating habits. Actually, the really, really wealthy who are also "old money", are often quite overweight - some actually obese - and their dietary habits are simply a more expensive version of that of the lower classes who are obese.

I have disliked those 9.9%rs of the Atlantic article for years. Their destain for the long established mores of "polite society" due to their inability to realize that they now ARE "the man" and have great privilege, has caused a creeping vulgarity.

BTW, one need not pay $11,000 for a college advisor - not even $3000 (the going rate in my town). One need not spend a fortune on SAT prep courses. And yes, college admissions offices see straight through those "enrichment" summer trips or the "Lady Bountiful" ones with their youth group to Central America. If one has a bright, highly motivated child (and those are the ONLY children deserving of an elite education - it will otherwise be wasted on ones whose parents tutored them into such a school), one can make very good use of ones public high school (yes, PUBLIC high school!) guidance counselor (they know who the academic stars are in their school), online SAT programs which are FREE, and asking teachers for help if a subject is not understood in lieu of hiring an expensive tutor. Of my daughter's friends, not ONE who did the gang-ho affluent parent thing, got their child into an elite school. Not ONE! They all told DD that she was severely hampering my grandson's chances. Guess which child got into an Ivy? Guess which one has already drawn the attention of a professor who is offering him research opportunities? Who is killing it academically at mid-term? Yes, my very own DGS. The cream does still rise to the top with no need for a push from anyone.

And BTW, he wants my best china and flatware. I swoon!

Walking into the dining room at dinner time, wearing a T-shirt, boxer shorts and flip flops and asking for a milk shake). He made it quite clear he could afford to BUY that hotel and could dress as he pleased.

Gross. Even without the first sentence, the second sentence is the real class delimiter, I agree!

Congrats to your DGS!

I also agree there are quite a few very fine public school systems. But who goes to them? People who can afford the houses in that district, and the very hefty (now only partially deductible) tax bill they entail. Don't get me started on the inequities of public education next!

And now, as a sort of palate cleanser, let me offer up a lovely Buatta room. Love his use of topiary, the touches of chinoiserie, the symmetry and repetition, and the femininity. Brava.

DGS’s high school is a high school made up of 5 separate magnet schools; one is a STEM program, one liberal arts, one graphic arts, one performing arts and one is journalism. No, NOT in an expensive, high tax suburban school district - part of our county’s public school system. One must apply to get in - test scores, grades, teacher recommendations, activities, essay - pretty much like a college application. Two percent of students must be from families with low educations and low economic level. Twenty percent of students qualify for free lunch. This fall, there were 33 National Merit SemiFinalists. The cut-off scores have gotten very high - in the past there might have been 40. In the Class of 2018, there were 149 Valedictorians - must have a weighted GPA of 4.0 all 4 years. DGS was one - ended up with 27 credit hours from AP’s at his Ivy, 8 in the School of Engineering.

Just like NYC’s elite public schools, all it takes is a high concentration of very bright, highly motivated students with parents who value education. We’re very lucky to have this high school - it’s students do far better than the local private and parochial schools, who typically get 1-5 National Merit SemiFinalists each.

if a class has 149 Valedictorians (I thought only one person can be called a Valedictorian, but I stil "swimming" in all these terms..I didn't even know what "corsage" meant, until few years ago..in Russian it had a different meaning))-how many people allover are in that class?

local pivate school might have 50 students in their graduating class:)

I mean to say-percentage is different:)

not that it's very important,in the context of the discussion

I think DGS’s class had about 475 students. In the past, and still at some schools, the Valedictorian was the student with the highest GPA. At this school, such would end up being like swimming in the Olympics where there might be 1/1000 of a second between a Gold or Silver medal. That becomes ridiculous so they just have the 4.0 GPA for all 4 years. Needless to say, they don’t make speeches! They do recognize them in the program and when they call their name, and they get a nice certificate. Just a lot of very high achievers. DGS’s mother (DD) went to a local private school - 41 in her graduating class, 9 of whom were National Merit SemiFinalists. It was the strongest class they ever had - still haven’t had one comparable. One of those SemiFinalist’s son was in same class with DGS!

Once can have good taste and get very nice things for little money if one is a savvy shopper. I grew up middle class, but both my working class grandparents had a small set of "nice things" that they displayed in their homes and used. One does not have to go to the extremes of Buatta to create personality and warmth in a home. But he sure is a bold inspiration!! American furniture and housewares factories used to churn out a whole lot of second and third tier knockoffs of high end pieces, i.e. machine carvings instead of hand, etc. Finding those in antique stores now their quality rivals that of most anything really, really nice you could buy now. In fact, the styles of today are almost devoid of any hint of craftsmanship, which is an amazing way to squeeze value out of cheaply made things. All that stuff comes out of China now, and is mostly paticleboard, soft wood, plastic and other iterations of junk. The last "nice" (middle class) furniture store just closed in my hometown, it had become a wasteland anyway.

American furniture and housewares factories used to churn out a whole lot of second and third tier knockoffs of high end pieces, i.e. machine carvings instead of hand, etc. Finding those in antique stores now their quality rivals that of most anything really, really nice you could buy now.

There were a lot of first-tier reproductions too (Henkel Harris, Kittinger, Kindel), much of which is part of the "brown stuff" furniture -- including actual antiques -- that are no longer in vogue, and still being sold by places like Stenella. There's also a lot of Henry Link furniture available too, and you can buy the vintage pieces as is or refinished; there's some very nice stuff out there for good prices.

Interestingly, Buatta got his start as an apprentice/salesman in the department store B. Altman's decorating department; Altman's used to have a fabulous collection of furniture, including HH, Kittinger, and Kindel.

Another thing that has radically changed over the years is the very concept of shopping. In one of the pieces about Buatta, Allison's link to the NYSocial Diary, I think, there is mention of a room taking years to finish, waiting for just the right items to appear.

Now I see countless posts here with people saying they need something for a certain corner or surface of their house and they set out to find something that suits their parameters. So many of the nicer things in my house have been bought serendipitously. I could not have created a request for them because I didn't know they existed. They just appeared while I was browsing in a store, either at home or away.

Shopping is a dirty word. Everyone has better things to do with their time than look around in stores and accumulating stuff.

Now I see countless posts here with people saying they need something for a certain corner or surface of their house and they set out to find something that suits their parameters.

And usually at TJ Maxx or HomeGoods/HomeSense. Because they need it asap for cheap and it's the right size or color.

Rita, is this the quote you meant?

NYSD: I know you don’t like surprises but are you sometimes surprised by the unplanned elements that emerge as you put a room together?

MB: I like to decorate, or think I do, the way an artist paints a canvas—you do a little bit at a time, which can drive a client crazy. I’ve driven a few people to the Payne Whitney clinic … but a lot of decorators do a plan and say, “This is what your room is going to look like.” Well, God forbid. It looks great in the picture but then you see it in person, and this thing is too small and this thing is too big. You have to play with it. A house comes together over a lifetime.

I thought these were some good quotes in the NYSD interview:

NYSD: So what do you think of the look where everything is white, there are no bookshelves, very few personal possessions around and so on?

MB: I hate it. People don’t want to look as if they live in their own houses. If you look at some of the magazines and catalogs today, it’s just styling, it’s not decorating.

NYSD: What would you say is the distinction between styling and decorating?

MB: [Styling means] they just put something down for the camera.

The quotes perfectly explains my philosophy of interior design. When I hear people say they are getting "all new furniture", I cringe. Good gawd, it's taken me a lifetime to accumulate the things I have now and love!

Rita, I totally agree. One does not shop for a particular thing most of the time (okay, one needs a dining room table!), but I always find that if I see something I fall in love with, when I get it home, I discover there is room for it and it works. A house where everything is all bought at once, looks "styled", just as Mario said. A successful house is a lifetime endeavor. My late husband used to sometime say, "So, when are we going to be THROUGH?", and I'd dismay him by saying, "NEVER" - a house is always a work in progress or it is a lifeless as a room in a museum.

Becky, pink mountain and Rita, I wish you both lived near me. We could have a lot of fun out "junking", as I call it - ie, looking for that buried treasure/diamond in the rough. Some of my favorite things are not "fine" but are treasures I've found at the flea market or in a ratty old antique store.

Ah, Mario, how I miss you already!

Becky, the thing about a house coming together over a lifetime presupposes, to an extent, that your house, your tastes, and your needs don't change (and that you have things that last). My first home was a very proper brick Georgian colonial, and a lot of what worked there was off in my current country home. Not to mention simple things like what fits where and different types of rooms from one place to another, etc.

just put something down for the camera.

OMG, I fear that now describes people's meals, vacations, outfits, and everyday life as well!

Pink,

the styles of today are almost devoid of any hint of craftsmanship

Interesting point. The minimalist and utilitarian movements are almost anti-craftsman, it belatedly occurs to me.

Anglo, That's great, and another example that motivated bright people tend to do well regardless of the paradigm. I am not sure it has much to do with my prior point, which was that public education has its bright spots but for the vast, vast majority, it once again correlates to income and that equality of education is elusive as long as it is so closely linked to property taxes, a de facto tuition expense.

April, what does "corsage" "mean" in Russian? Curious!

Back to Buatta. This image below came up under a search for Buatta, but I doubt the cover is his room. It seems he wrote the forward. Though I do see a number of Buatta rooms where the artwork nearly covers the walls to the ceiling; was that his innovation? I will never forget, as a teen, seeing that at the restaurant of our local Macy's. Nearly every inch of the (forest green) wall was covered with gil-edged bird prints. Made an impression. I always wanted to copy it and did so to some extent with my map pages in Maine (hung not quite perfectly and requiring incessant adjustments, alas).

Becky, the thing about a house coming together over a lifetime presupposes, to an extent, that your house, your tastes, and your needs don't change (and that you have things that last).

mtnrd, I have been horribly consistent with my tastes since high school lol. My apartments/houses and needs have changed, but not my tastes. I've gone for a version of traditional/English country through a rented room in a DC rowhouse, DC efficiency apartment, NYC rental apartment, NYC co-op apartment, western Canadian bungalow on a farm, and now new two-story house on the farm. I still have most of the furniture I started with and have been adding to -- a mix of vintage (several from DC's Eastern Market weekend flea market in the mid-eighties), a few antiques (from ABC Carpet & Home in the early 90s), and then over the years, before and after they died, things from my parents (mostly furniture and rugs).

Part of it for me is a frugal nature and the other is not having much choice in the rural west, though my husband and I did stumble across a lovely antique store in Edmonton shortly before it closed its doors forevers (sheesh). Plus I like what I've collected over the years, and especially how it looks in the new house. Our furnishings definitely helped drive the design of this house.

Becky, pink mountain and Rita, I wish you both lived near me. We could have a lot of fun out "junking", as I call it - ie, looking for that buried treasure/diamond in the rough. Some of my favorite things are not "fine" but are treasures I've found at the flea market or in a ratty old antique store.

That would be fun, wouldn't it, Anglo?!

mtnrd, in Russian "corsage" means "bodice"..))

so I was very confused that they were, apparenly, sold separately..and that guys would buy them for their dates, for proms and such..))

(I don't see how shopping is a dirty word here, frankly...to me, people here SHOP. A LOT.

not an innocent lamb myself-after all, "I never had a bicycle" lol-I just do it very differently. more or less the posts above describe how I do it)

I wish you all lived near me

I did some decorating when I was young and transient and living in rented housing. During that time, my parameters were to have a flexible color scheme that could work from place to place, and also light furniture, and a lot of modular stuff that could be configured many ways. D2, Pier 1 and Ikea were my "go to" shops. Then, when I bought my first real home/house I got seriously into "decorating" and joined this forum. For me, the main goal of "decorating" was similar to what Buatta is talking about, to make my home feel comfortable for myself and my guests. I wasn't going for a certain "look" so much as the artful arrangement of the things that would add comfort to my home, plus things I liked by way of art and housewares. Gradually, due to needing a more ordered environment, I got rid of most of my "decorative items" that weren't both beautiful and functional, but I did have a large glass enclosed cabinet where I put all of them that I wanted to keep. My walls though, got pretty full up with art, and still are. And then the book thing . . . I go through regularly and cull, but I still have a LOT. So that sort of dictated that I would go with a "curated" or I guess some call it "English country" look. Now I have more "stuff" but only because it reminds me of times in my life and experiences, so I like having some of it around. I always decorated like that, just now I have lived and experienced more, so "curating" it becomes more of a chore.

I got a few books on how to decorate, but not how to achieve a pre-set aesthetic, more like: how to mix patterns, how to hang photos, how to arrange furniture, how to please the eye, how to create a color scheme, etc. Learning those principles were far more useful than reams of pretty pictures of rooms that were vastly different from my own home. I learned how to take inspiration from a photo and translate the basic elements into my own, from a few shows that were on HGTV at the time, where they showed a photo of a high end designer room and then illustrated how you could create a similar look for much less. Something akin to "Design on a Dime" but not quite. And also, Lauri Ward's "Use What You Have" decorating book helped me a lot.

I'm sure young folks nowdays can find stuff like this online. There are still a lot of great ideas floating around out there. The general dis-interest in creating a "home" or "nest" may just be within my family. My husband's son showed no interest in home making and family traditions until he married a woman who did, and she's in the process of re-doing the family homestead, it's nice to see.

One big issue now is where to shop. The furniture stores are mostly full of poorly made stuff, and antiques are even hard to find since there are so few anymore near where I live who are interested in buying them. I wish I had time to go to auctions and garage sales and specialty shops, and peruse Craigslist and go on hunts, but I just don't. I am in a downsizing mode now anyway.

beckysharp, actually the concept was discussed in another place, I can't remember where. The author said Buatta was known for accumulating a lot of things and always keeping an eye out for pieces that would suit particular rooms he had worked on over the years.

Anglo, I think it would be great fun if we could all get together, do some shopping and then sit down for a nice long chat over some tea and coffee.

WRT having a consistent style, part of me thinks labeling is a problem in and of itself. I doubt my grandmother or great-grandmother gave a second thought to what their decorating style was. They knew what they liked and what the style of the various pieces of furniture they cared for were, but would one of them have labeled their interiors English Country or heaven forfend transitional or worse farmhouse, never.

My great-grandmother commissioned an Art Deco style house in the early 1920s. She had a Morris chair in it somewhere, I know from family lore that she would sit at that chair and listen to opera on the wireless, my grandfather would sit there and read Jules Verne to the children after Sunday luncheon. I have no doubt the Morris Chair lived a very chic and sophisticated life in the Art Deco envelope. Imagine starting a thread here about an arts and crafts chair in a deco house. Never, perish the thought, we would be told. Yet it can be done and with élan no less.

There was a thread long ago, one of chijim's picture pieces, that featured the interior of some Italian photographer's house. I could not tell you what style the house was. Anglo said it best, it just worked. There was no discernible formula, though, just the accumulation of furnishings and objects put together in a pleasing way.

My taste evolved as my pocket book grew a bit fatter, but I've always pretty much liked a gracious, pretty house that is comfortable and welcoming. We never bought or rented anyplace without first making sure we could use the furniture we had. I didn't want to part with it, plus I could never have afforded to do so!

I could have written your last post, Anglo. We still have many of the pieces purchased over the years, some back to Year 1 for us (almost 37yrs ago). My father, and his father before him, had a furniture store. My grandfather had a furniture factory, but it burned to the ground when my parents were in HS. I "grew up" in the store(s) until almost 20yrs old, when it was discovered the last/largest store building could be rented easily, and the money could be made without ever leaving the house. We have been in the commercial real estate business since then, owning mostly shopping centers. DH and I have been doing this for three decades, and now we are slowly retiring. I've always found it ironic that we own shopping centers, but I do not like to shop (other than antiques/vintage items).

I have always decorated for me and our family, seeking that comforting feeling. I remember our next door neighbors coming over to see a recently finished second story addition, and the wife said how our "house felt like a home." She was sad that hers just felt like a house. I was born with whatever "it" is, but my sister was not. When we travel, I want to bring home even the smallest trinket to remind me daily of our travels. Small family trinkets mean the most to me, of course. I am The Keeper of family items, photographs and papers. One of my favorite things is a small note I framed, written by my paternal grandmother to my grandfather, saying how words could not express how much she loved him. Our youngest daughter called dibs.

Aw, Allison, that is the sweetest story about the framed note. I have a framed grocery list from my eldest son from before he could write, not nearly as heart-warming, but clearly some of us have similar impulses :-)

That is an all-too common story in CRE, Allison. We had a charming high end family grocery store that closed after 100+ years. The owners make just as much if not more as CVS' landlords now, alas. And with a lot less hassle! I understand it of course but it seems small retailers (well actually and large retailers!) can't make it anymore.

As a teen I loved Architectural Digest and I think that is why, for my first house, I wanted a house that was formal, and no expense spared. It was important to me to be "grown up". Once I was past the point of that being a question, I felt drawn to things that were a bit more quirky. Going forward, I think it would be fun to do a house in a modern style for a change. And if I were in SoCal, maybe Mediterranean. I find something to appreciate in a much wider range than I used to.

I know what you mean, Mtn. We have a land lease we will be keeping forever. We often joke it's like they are printing money in the back. Our last center is service oriented (dentist, eye doc, pharmacy, hair, nails, credit union, cleaners, crossfit, two restaurants... ). Not one retail space.

I have always been a magazine junkie. I wanted to cry with Southern Accents was discontinued. The first home I lived in was formal mixed with MCM. Next was an English Tudor (loved that house). Our homes, after marriage, have never felt formal to me, but have to others, with the current home being the most formal. A friend even asked me if it was too formal for me to live in (quite a change from the house in the woods/on acreage and a lake view), but even as she was asking the question, I thought "this house isn't formal." But it reality, it is. lol I imagine since I was raised in a nice, formal home, it just doesn't come off that way to me?

I got to help DD2 a little with her modern home, and I'm mixing modern with antiques in our home. I am not in a hurry, and will enjoy the process. As stated above, a house is never finished. Especially for those of us that enjoy decorating.

Speaking of magazine, House Beautiful had a shake up with Hearst fired the editorial staff, and people are not happy with the new design, focus and content on their IG account. Lots of ridiculous posts and click-bait. Someone started a rebellion with @theoldhousebeautiful.

The Old House BeautifulConcerned Citizen
Real features from the old, House Beautiful
By the People, For the People
Not all Heroes wear Capes‍♂️

#theoldhb #therebellion⭐️

DGS#2 works part-time at a small, locally owned hardware store. He’s 16 and can ride his bike to work - very convenient. It’s the kind of place where one can buy 2 screws instead of a package of 1000 and pray there are the two one needs somewhere. He is VERY loyal to the idea of patronizing local stores. If I buy something from a big box store, I hear about it from him. All the employees wear a green vests; he wears his proudly.

pink, reading your posts I was reminded about a quote by the late great French interior designer Andrée Putman, "Of course style and money have nothing to do with each other. Good design is pure and simple, and I am interested in that family of things that will never date."