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Decorating, then and now // Edith Wharton's classic guide gets update for '90s lifestyles

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From: Chicago Sun-Times
Date: 19971104
Author:JURA KONCIUS

On the 100th anniversary of Edith Wharton's first book, The Decoration of Houses, her strict and proper classical rules for decorating still are putting a few tassels in a twist.

Penned before she became a celebrated American novelist, Wharton's book, written with Ogden Codman Jr., riveted upper-crust tastemakers of the era who were tired of fussy, rigidly held Victorian decorating practices. Pulling back the draperies and letting in the light, it helped change society's thinking about how a room should be put together.

It remains must reading today, even if some of the refined edicts ...

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