Enviable Interiors

When it comes to décor, I have to confess a certain affinity for clutter - I like tables laden under bibelots, walls chockablock with pictures, and bookshelves sagging under the weight of biographies, multi-volume novels, and cookbooks.

Therefore, I was thrilled today to read in the New York Times today (oh, yes, I keep up) of a new exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt of watercolors of nineteenth-century interiors. Based on the images provided, it does not disappoint.

I could, for example, live very happily in this Biedermeier study, from the 1830s. I find it amusing that the Times calls it "austere" and rather marvelous that Beidermeier can so closely approximate, in some ways, Moderne.


But the one that really caught my eye - and in which I could quite comfortably while away the years - is this, Queen Victoria's own little 1840s sitting room at Buckingham Palace - so cosy, so unpretentious, so intime:

Because of the bow window, one knows exactly where in Buck House it must be - looking out over the gardens, which only makes it that much more delightful. I think I shall spend this week turning out Mr. Muscato's and my little drawing room, to see what I can do to approximate this charming effect.

Which, given the size of our rented house ("villa" in these parts) and the parlous state of our (rented) furniture, may be a challenge.