The book Bloomsbury Rooms on my library shelf has often inspired my interiors. It’s a large book that delves deeply into the lives of Virginia Woolf and her sister, the artist Vanessa Bell.
Virginia Woolf, an English novelist and critic
Vanessa Bell, Virginia’s artist sister
These sisters and their influence on the 20th century are huge subjects — ones I’m not equipped to go in depth on, but subjects that have probably inspired more artists, writers, and designers than you can imagine.
The story unfolds that in 1929, Dorothy Todd, the editor of English Vogue, collaborated on a book called The New Interior Decoration, which put forth the very edgy idea of two home design approaches capturing Europe: “One praises the high-tech look of International Style design…led by Le Corbusier. The other hails domestic design as a refuge from mass-production and standardization, promoting the home as the ‘last refuge’ of “that individuality which modern conditions are suppressing in our public life.”
La Villa Savoye, Poissy, France by Corbusier
The library, Charleston Farmhouse
Here’s where Vanessa and Virginia come in.
