Who was the most influential residential architect of the 20th Century that you never heard of? Royal Barry Wills. Who was the most influential residential interior designer of the 20th Century that you never heard of? Hazel Dell Brown. I wonder if they ever met each other. If I had a dinner party time machine, these two would be At The Top of My List! Above: Let’s discuss Anatomy of a Kitchen Design — Hazel Dell Brown for Armstrong Linoleum, Kitchen Design 1941.
Mrs. Dell Brown was an Indiana home ec teacher hired in the 1920s by Armstrong to create aspirational rooms for their advertising. To understate it: She knew how to pull together a room.
In this little piece of 1941 taffy delight, she shows us how to judiciously combine colors with a bit of eye-popping pattern — polka dots done positive and negative in two colorways, oh my! — to create a happy, airy kitchen.
Hey, there’s even room for the Mrs. of the house to write a novel in between her time spent cooking and sewing up some more … ruffled upholstery.
Dell Brown also gives us an alternate color pattern that includes a ceiling “painted delphinium blue”. I have just decided: Somewhere in my house, I need a ceiling painted delphinium blue. Note: The mood board above illustrates how ya build a room’s color/design palette: START WITH YOUR PATTERN. In this case, it’s the plaid on the curtain. Ya pull all the colors for your room from that first piece. Ta da. Thank you, Mrs. DB!
- Do you remember the story I did about the drawings of Louisa Kostich Cowan, the protege of Hazel Dell Brown?
The post Hazel Dell Brown kitchen design for Armstrong Flooring, 1941 appeared first on Retro Renovation.
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