VT 20.5.13

imagecourtesythenewyorktimes


There is one style that defines all that taste is really about to me.  It's not over-good, or over-bad, or dull, or elaborate.  It think of it as uncontrived taste, and it is exemplified in the room [pictured above] . . .  One senses that the decorator isn't trying too hard, that the room is simply right; it is not bland or unconsidered, indeed it is romantic and gutsy, as the furniture is huge and not what one would necessarily consider the right furniture for the room; it has warmth and coolness, light and strong shadows, scale and dignity and a dash of carefree color.  One gets an almost imperceptible air of impermanence, yet the scale of furnishings, their presence, anchors the room into our consciousness.


Nicky Haslam, The Matter of Taste
(T), The New York Times