Meet Dorothy Draper

As my first "Friday Feature", I thought who more appropriate to showcase than the woman who began it all?

Dorothy Draper was born to an extremely wealthy family in 1889 and was the first to “professionalize” the interior design industry. In 1923 she began the first ever interior design company in the United States, something that until then was unheard of, not to mention a woman going into business for herself.

She revolutionized the concept of “design” by breaking away from the historical “period room” styles that dominated the work of her predecessors. As an artist she was a modern, one of the first decorators of the breed, and a pioneer. She invented “Modern Baroque”, a style that had particular application to large public spaces and modern architecture. She used vibrant, “splashy” colors in never-before-seen combinations, such as aubergine and pink with a “splash” of chartreuse and a touch of turquoise blue, or, one of her favorite combinations - “dull” white and “shiny” black. Her signature “cabbage rose” chintz, paired with bold stripes; her elaborate and ornate plaster designs and moldings - over doors, on walls and ceilings; her black and white checkered floors (The Quitandinah Palace & Casino Resort, Petropolis, Brazil); her massive, paneled, lacquered doors (Arrowhead Springs Hotel, California), some framed with bolection (Hampshire House, New York) or with elaborate plaster or intricate mirror frames (Camellia House, Drake Hotel, Chicago) – all contributed to dramatic design often referred to as “the Draper touch”.

Her confidence, as much as her taste, gave her the ability to take control in all aspects of design – her slogan was “if it looks right, it is right”.

In her day, Dorothy was the prima donna of the decorating business – her name was synonymous with decorating. She gave decorating advice in her regular column for Good Housekeeping Magazine, designed fabric lines for Schumacher, furniture for Ficks Reed, Heritage and, other than her hotel and restaurant decors, she also designed theaters, department stores, commercial establishments, private corporate offices, the interiors of jet planes (Convair & TWA) , automobiles (she did a “line” for Packard and Chrysler in the 1950’s – including a pink polka dot truck!) – even packaging for the cosmetics firm of Dorothy Gray – on top of her residential designs for the houses and apartments of prominent and very wealthy society figures.

The year 2006 was a milestone in the American interior design industry - for it was in that year that the legendary Dorothy Draper, a doyenne of the interior design industry of the 20th Century, was honored in a retrospective exhibition of her work by the Museum of the City of New York – the first time that such an honor was given to an interior designer. It was enormously successful, and it is estimated that more than 300,000 people attended over a period of six months. The exhibit continued to the Woman’s Museum in Fair Park (Dallas, Texas) where again it spurred much interest. In February 2008 it will continue on to the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Florida – such is the interest of this phenomenal giant in the design industry.

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Now to the fun part, samples of her gorgeous and timeless work!

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What's your favorite Dorothy Draper project?


~Laura