Decorating Ideas from Colonial Williamsburg: 1962 Inspirations

The August 1962 Family Circle magazine offered 18th c. decor to inspire 20th c. homes.

Restored homes in Colonial Williamsburg showcased Revolutionary era decorating.

"The interiors of the four houses are shown here for the first time in a national publication."

The first house photographed was not open to the public but was rented privately and furnished with antiques and reproductions.

Scenic wallpaper like in the room above was very popular in mid-century homes. In the back of the magazine is an ad for Oriental themed wallpaper scenes.

An embroidered linen bed hanging appears in the bedroom of the Brush-Everard House.

Above is a child's room. The jigsaw puzzle is from about 1787. It turns out that Venetian blinds were popular in Colonial times!  I am sure they were made of wood slats.

The Everard-Brush House parlor includes a desk and a teatime grouping. The "Tavern Green" wall paint was one of six Colonial Williamsburg colors. The color on my computer is not very close to the photograph in the magazine. The color is much deeper and greener.

The following two rooms are from the George Wythe House. Note the fire screen with needlework panel. This parlor includes a desk, card table, piano, reading nook, and conversation groupings.

 

This bedroom has interior shutters and a canopy bed. A crewelwork chair has a detachable candle arm.

The following photograph is the dining room from the Coke-Garrett House West. 

The dining room in the Carter-Saunders House includes an Oriental runner and replica wallpaper. Don't you love the turquoise painted corner hutch?

The drawing room of Dr. David Y. Paschall, president of the College of William and Mary, features an imposing 1780s Chippendale style bookcase.

We have inherited a few Colonial inspired pieces. A Windsor chair. A secretary. A pie-crust table. We have a winged arm chair similar to the yellow one pictured above. The homes in my family were not as high traditional as the ones in this article, but they were ALL Colonial reproductions or Colonial inspired. Magazine articles like this must have informed their choices.

Mom and Dad had a huge bronze eagle.  Sadly, Mom did not notice she had positioned me right under it when she took this photo! I had a great deal of fun showing it to the kids at school!

The eagle is still in the family.

Guide to Traditional Decorating, 1962 style

The March 1962 Family Circle magazine offered ideas for decorating in the 'traditional' style that the women in my family favored. I think that the cover of this magazine influenced Mom's decoration of the dining room of the house we moved into in 1963.

Mom chose a blue and white wall paper with a repeated eagle motif  and outfitted the hutch with blue flow plates from her great-grandparents. She had Dad install a chair rail and painted the wall beneath it blue. Mom had a braided rug too, just like in this picture.

 I loved that room.

Mom's hutch with the blue flow in my home.

Another dining room idea offered in the article was more elegant and traditional and less colonial.

 Living room ideas included this wild gingham check motif! Love those toile' fabrics.

The couch and chair and even the tables look similar to what I grew up with. We even had a white painted fireplace for a while.

This more elegant room has drapes similar to ones Mom had in the later 60s, a Jacobean influence. I always loved the camel back rolled arms sofas and owned one for many years.

 We have had wing chairs for many years. Again red and blue but with a deeper red, paler blue and creamy beige.

Bedroom ideas in red, white and blue

My mom bought Family Circle and Women's Day at the grocery store, and would get me a Golden Book. She once said that had she had her health and worked she thought she would like to have been an interior decorator.