History in the making

Stephen Taylor. Photo / Supplied

Looking back at interior design helps inform today's choices, says visiting lecturer Stephen Taylor.

I am sitting in Cavit & Co.'s Parnell showroom, surrounded by elegant furnishings, looking at a new chair.

Visiting British interior design historian Stephen Taylor is looking at the chair too.

But he sees sabre legs from the classical tradition of the 1800s and renaissance-inspired upholstery that features a woman who is holding a lyre and wearing what he concludes is "indeterminate historical garb".

Taylor bursts into self-mocking laughter at the impromptu example he's come up with to make his point - that having an understanding of interior design history makes you a better designer.

"Understanding the different historical elements that are built into something gives you different references to choose from when you are deciding how to use it - whether it is a piece of furniture, a textile or whatever," says Taylor.

"Knowing the historical 'family' that a piece of furniture or architecture belongs to gives you more choices and more confidence to make good choices."

Those choices are important, he says, because like it or not, interior design affects how we live.

"Good interior design can enhance our lives as well of our sense of what is possible."

Taylor - a senior lecturer at London's renowned Inchbald School of Design - is in New Zealand to present two one-day workshops on interior design history being run by Cavit & Co.

The first highly successful one was held in Arrowtown last week and Cavit & Co is running the second, for interior designers and anyone wanting to learn more about interior design, in Parnell on Monday September 13.

In his "Interior Design from Greece Through the Ages" workshop, Taylor gives three illustrated, connected talks on Classical Interior Design and Western Architecture, The French Empire to the Vienna Secession and Modernism in the Home.

With his formidable academic pedigree and finely-tuned aesthetic sensibilities, he is well qualified for the job.

As well as studying philosophy, theology and art history at university, Taylor did a degree in observational painting, did doctoral research on 19th century painter John Constable and is an accomplished painter himself.

His landscapes grace the walls of beautiful private homes around the world.

Best-selling author-philosopher Alain de Botton has said of his work: "Stephen Taylor has been teaching us how to look. He has admirably achieved that most ancient art of the painter - to re-enchant the world."

Learning to look carefully is also key to being a good interior designer, says Taylor.

"Good interior designers look at every area of a house and find out how people live so they can help you organise your environment in a way that is beautiful and helpful.

"Whether people live in a shanty town or a palace, they do things to their environments to make their lives run more smoothly - like making sure the bedroom is quiet or separating the kitchen from the living space in some way.

"If you have a tiny bit of extra resource - it might be time, not necessarily money - you can do small things to enhance your living. For example, extending a kitchen bench so you can lay out and see food after it has been prepared will make some cooks happier ... it might even produce better food.

"If the shower is crammed next to the bath which is crammed next to the wash basin which is crammed next to the towel rail - when you take a shower you are going to feel less relaxed because those things will intrude."

Good interior design also attends to quite small things, like how big the gap between the sofa and the picture above it should be and Taylor jokes that he has an entire lecture devoted to how pictures should be hung.

The art works that people own are often associated with family or friends, he says.

"They may not be very good, but they can still work as long as they are presented in the right way. But it's no good having a third rate painting over the sofa with a spotlight on it just because it was done by Uncle Fred."

Similarly, good works of art should not be killed by what is next to them.

"You wouldn't listen to a string quartet next to a railway line. So you want to give an elaborate, reflective piece some space so you can appreciate its subtleties without having a noisy piece next to it."

Displaying books properly in a house is also important.

"It's no good having a few feeble shelves with a few selected titles.

"You shouldn't be using your books as a stage prop, because if you have anybody round who reads books - you'll be found out. You want to integrate books into your life but you don't want to wave them in front of people."

It's no surprise that how colour is used is important to Taylor. But he says designers need to be alert to the personal associations people have with different colours as well as the psychological effect they are known to have on us.

"For instance, I have red and white roses in my front garden. That means York and Lancaster to me, but it won't mean that to someone who has no links with that part of English history."

One of the biggest challenges people face today is deciding what to choose from the vast range of furniture and furnishing styles available.

"The modern predicament of the designer has become deciding 'what to buy'. Being able to think about interiors in relation to historical tradition is an excellent way to help you make the right decisions."

* For information about Stephen Taylor's one-day workshop at Cavit & Co in Auckland, ph (09) 358 3771 or email lynne@cavitco.com