Point of Interest

Our passion is utilizing original restored Victorian paintings when designing that special room in your historic home.  We are pleased that interior design experts through time recognize the importance of having a key point of interest in a well-designed room, like a beautiful original 19th century painting.

In his 1923 booklet titled Better Homes – How to Furnish Them (sixth printing, third edition), Sterling B McDonald (Art Director, S. Karpen & Bros., Instructor of Interior Decoration, Art Institute of Chicago), states:

“Have you ever noticed a room that seemed to lack something to make it perfect?  The furniture is lovely, the color scheme is harmonious and restful, the arrangement is appealing, yet the room seems to lack definite character.

The professional decorator will tell you that it needs a “Point of Interest,” a focus for the eye, or a pivot on which the whole decorative scheme may develop.

Sometimes the “Point of Interest” is an after-development.  It may be worked out, after you have created your room and find it lacks that subtle something needed to lift it from the ordinary and the commonplace.”

In describing a small living room he designed, (please see below image) McDonald states: “This one with companionable inflections speaks of its coziness; its dignity, and its comfort.  Could an arrangement be any mor inviting?  Even the picture seems to be painted just for the place it occupies.”