Interior Design Books

I found this book great for stimulating the imagination. I just got into the dollhouse hobby, and I thought this book offered a lot of scope for the imagination...

This book is very descriptive and interesting guide to the greatest beauties of the Paphos area. It is an in-depth guied which gives the reader all the information he would like to know about anything to do with these archaelogical monuments.

Admittedly, the title is a bit strange. But the high price gives it away: this is a truly scholarly work. The publisher doubtless recognizes that the audience is very specialized. But readers from that special group of historians and other scholars of culture are likely to be knocked over as if by the powerful whiff of...well, something of fragrance so exotic you can't resist.

Who knew that camphor could become the focus of an entire book, replete with world history, maps, and references it would take a sabbatical year to check out in full? Previously, you might only have thought about camphor, if at all, in connection with a certain brand of lip chap and perhaps a chunk of whitish waxy substance in a museum cabinet. But Donkin doesn't just make this seemingly obscure substance the main character of a fascinating (his)tory. He writes a prolegomenon (fancy word for introduction) to humanity's fascination with aromatic substances of all kinds.

I discovered the book because I needed a research topic on plants in the Middle Ages. My work (I'm a professor of Humanities) is on a 14th century Alexander narrative. The year qualifies as Middle Ages, so where were the plants? Well, one short section had Alexander visiting "Indian" (really Sumatran) islands where camphor was grown. My best guess was that camphor came from a plant--could this be my topic?

A keyword search at the university library brought up Donkin's book. Bingo! I found out that not only does camphor come from a tree; it comes from three different types of tree, and several other non-woody plants as well. (Actually people just had different ideas about which plant's resin produced the substance to be called "camphor.") Moreover, I found out all about the Arab geographers my author, who was Turkish, would have read.

Would my research purposes have been satisfied by something less than Donkin's book? Yes. It is hard to imagine who would ever need this much information about camphor. But the book is about a lot more than that.

The epigraph indicates that the author worked on this book over the course of fifty years. The notes he compiled cover the history of the camphor trade in Europe, the Arab world, India, Southeast Asia, and China. They tell about physicians, alchemists, adventurers, storytellers, merchants, all in some way connected with camphor. There are fascinating maps and pictures, too. My favorite illustration is a stylized painting of a leopard prowling in front of camphor trees.

The fact that there isn't one single passage where Donkin sets out, "The uses of camphor are as follows....." makes the book all the more like a novel with intertwining strands. Unexpectedly, one comes across a reference, say, to use of camphor in beverages. How was it made into beverages? Who drank it? What did it taste like? No clues--on to the next topic. Organization within chapters is admittedly rather loose. I would have preferred summaries of all the botanical information, medical information, uses of camphor information, in one place. A few Arabic words were misspelled. The botanical information wasn't too clear, as though extracted from sources without much understanding. But those are minor criticisms. If I had compiled that much information--about anything--my organization would be loose, too.

Once my current quirky piece of research is done, I doubt that I'll have much practical use for information on camphor. Of course obscure information is to be treasured for its own sake. But what will stay with me will be the spell cast by the whole. Starting with one minor feature of the vast world of materials and humans, Donkin weaves a spell-binding web of cultural insight.

*Dragon's Brain Perfume* offers a lot to think about with regard to the tremendous effort humans go to, and the immense prices they pay, to get things that smell good, or at least interesting: spices, perfumes, incense, and, of course, taste sensations. (Recall how dull the palate is with a stuffy nose.) Coca Cola is aroma in a vehicle of sugar and water, with prickly bubbles to enhance sensation. Any sophisticated packaging is aroma. Soaps, candles, shampoos, cleaning products--all have to have fragrance, or be "New! Fragrance Free!" to be marketable.

Modern technology allows thousands of fragrances to be manufactured, but in earlier times, people had to get down to the grit and get plants. Donkin explains that the geographic range of aromatic plants is quite limited--I didn't know this. To be honest, I didn't buy the book. I got it from the library, with some trouble. If you're a member of that limited audience--a scholarly obsessive with an nose for the exotica of everyday life, it will be worth a lot of your trouble, or money, if you have it, to get a hold of this book.

"Dorothy Draper was outrageous, controversial, irreverent, and over the top interior decorator of her time.

The great-great granddaughter of Oliver Wolcott - whose signature is on the Declaration of Independence - Dorothy Draper was born in 1889 in the exclusive community of Tuxedo Park, New York. Brought up where beautiful surroundings were a birthright, she broke with tradition by turning her aesthetic sense into a profitable career.

And what a career. Dorothy Draper reinvented the profession of interior decorating. Rejecting the dowdy color schemes of the Edwardian era, she made brilliant colors, big floral patterns, and bold contrasts her trademark. At a time when creating a perfect period setting was a decorator's goal, she dismissed the use of antiques as an insecurity; ignoring historical accuracy, her advice was to "jumble periods cheerfully."

An iconoclast who thought nothing of telling clients to dye antique Persian rugs, Draper's interiors formed the backdrop to the elite of her day. When Dorothy Draper transformed three row houses on New York's Sutton Place, she changed the then shabby neighborhood into one of the most prestigious in Manhattan. The pinnacle of her career was perhaps the renovation of the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia, and its opening in 1948 was a great social event.

America's wealthiest families were there along with Vanderbilts, Astors, and Whitneys, the guests of honor were the duke and duchess of Windsor. Draper had designed everything from the servants' uniforms to the ballroom chandelier.

Though given to moments of frivolity, Dorothy Draper's patrician manner seemed grand and uncompromising, often alienating her staff as well as clients. Many of her professional colleagues were unimpressed: The architect Frank Lloyd Wright was so appalled by her taste that he publicly called her an "inferior desecrator." But whatever her detractors said, there were many for whom her word was the final one. Through her writing in Good Housekeeping and widespread imitation of her style, her influence spread far beyond her original base on New York's Upper East Side, until millions of Americans had in some way experienced the Draper touch."

This is a great book for the construction of draperies and other window coverings. It gives good information on measuring, figuring yardage, and how to construct many window treatments. A must for the beginner.

This book is the ideal popular introduction to one of the most remarkable design companies in existence. Its products are so unique and so daring that in the future, I believe, they will coveted as those of Art Nouveau or the Viennese craft and Mission movements. Unlike the earlier "Design Factory" book, which is very difficult to get through, this book is a delight to read and a visual feast for the eyes. THe reader gets to know not only the great designers who dreamed up the many pioneering products of Alessi, but the methods and thoughts of its current design guru, Alberto Alessi, and his methods. Above all, his considerable charm comes through the writing, which is clear, very personal, and of great interest.

Make no mistake about it: this company is important because of its uncompromising vision, its unorthodox marketing methods, and its consistent commercial success. It deserves study by those interested in management as well as design. This company is peerless, as much a culture or mindset as a commercial operation.

Warmly recommended as a true gem.

I live a short distance from many of the homes that are profiled in this book and hope to use some of what I saw in my dream home. Very professional and glossy images (about 5 per home). The book appears to be a portfolio for the builders that are profiled within and that is not necessarily a bad thing. The only thing that is missing from this great book are the floor plans to these magnificent homes. This did not take away from the rating, because these homes are totally customized to their owners and do not have the cookie cutter look that many mansions in Central Florida have. The builders that are profiled state often how they like the challenge of designing a home that the owner will enjoy for a lifetime.

Dream Homes Southwest is a wonderful publication. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves the look of homes in the Desert Southwest. Your eyes will have a feast and it is truly full of ideas.
Isis Primus
Scottsdale, AZ

Though the book is heavy and generally intended for people already interested in the field anything by Dr. F-D is worth reading. She is an awesome professor. I highly recommend learning more about her.

The book is much more than the title suggests. It is a very valuable entry point for the whole Drosophilidae family (not only for the flies of Fennoscandia and Denmark). I am interested in non-Drosophila Drosophilids, and I found specially useful the comments about the habitats, food preferences etc of the diverse genera and individual species. The brief descriptions of the other genera are also very valuable. I hope the authors continue the work, and cover the Drosophilidae of other regions.