Arts & Crafts / BungalowInteriors
Inside the Bungalow
The
typical bungalow interior, at least as it was presented in the house
books of the period, is easy to recognize. Basically, the Bungalow
interior was a Craftsman interior.
In a complete departure from
Victorian interior decoration, bungalow writers frowned on the display
of wealth and costly collectibles. Rather than buying objects of
obvious or ascribed value, the homeowner was told to look for
simplicity and craftsmanship: “A luxury of taste substituting for a
luxury of cost.”
Keep in mind that both Greene and Greene’s
Gamble House in Pasadena and a three-room vacation shack without
plumbing were called bungalows. And they both affected what the typical
year-round bungalow would look like. The finest examples of Arts and
Crafts handiwork found a place in the bungalow, as did rustic furniture.
Walls were often wood-paneled to chair-rail or plate-rail height.
Burlap in soft earth tones was suggested for the wall area above, or
used in wood-battened panels where paneling was absent. Landscape
friezes and abstract stenciling above a plate rail were often pictured.
Dulled, greyed shades and earth tones, even pastels, were preferred to
strong colors. Plaster with sand in the finish coast was suggested.
Woodwork could be golden oak or oak brown-stained to simulate old
English woodwork, or stained dull black or bronze green. Painted
softwood was also becoming popular, especially for bedroom, with white
enamel common before 1910 and stronger color gaining popularity during
the Twenties.
It became almost an obsession with bungalow
builders to see how many amenities could be crammed into the least
amount of space. By 1920, the bungalow had more space-saving built-ins
than a yacht: Murphy wall beds, ironing boards in cupboards, built-in
mailboxes, telephone nooks.
Writers advocated the “harmonious
use” of furnishings small and few. Oak woodwork demanded oak furniture,
supplemented with reed, rattan, wicker, or willow in natural, grey, or
pastels. Mahogany pieces were thought best against a backdrop of
woodwork painted white. (Bright white was used most often for bathroom
trim; “white” could also signify cream, yellow, ivory, or pale grey.) A
large table with a reading lamp was the centerpiece of the living room
in these days before TV.
Restraint was the universal cry of
good taste. Clutter was out—“clutter” being a relative term. Pottery,
Indian baskets, Chinese and Japanese wares, vases, and Arts and Crafts
hangings were suggested to satisfy the collector instinct. More
affluent households might display Rookwood pottery, small Tiffany
pieces, hammered copper bowls, and decorative items from Liberty and
Co. A watercolor landscape or two, executed by the amateur painter of
the family, was the ultimate Arts and Crafts expression for the home.
