Williamsburg: Decorating with Style

One of the delights of a visit to Colonial Williamsburg, the restored colonial capital of Virginia, is discovering the great treasury of design to be found in its historic buildings. Every room of every authentically appointed home, shop, and tavern offers inspiration for today's home decorators. Now a selection of these exciting interiors (many of them completely repainted and refurnished according to the latest archaeological information on colonial life), along with contemporary interpretations by best-selling decorating author Tricia Foley, is collected here in the first book devoted exclusively to Williamsburg design. To make the book useful for home decorators, design ideas are presented room by room: Living Rooms and Gathering Places; The Bedchamber; Dining Rooms, Kitchens, and Pantries; and Home and Garden. Interspersed with the rooms are sections highlighting details of particular importance for 18th- and 20th-century decorators alike: color, mantels, lighting, bed hangings, fabrics, window treatments, floorcloths, china, silver, settees, doors and shutters, staircases, fences and gates, and benches. Following each chapter are the "contemporary interpretations" by Tricia Foley--dozens of rooms decorated using the reproductions, fabrics, and accessories from the Colonial Williamsburg licensing program. Traditional decorating has never looked so fresh, so modern, so livable as it does in these pages. With more than 275 photographs by Jeff McNamara of Williamsburg's homes and gardens, an engaging text by Catherine Calvert comparing modern living with the past, and a resource guide that helps the reader locate the perfect reproductions, Williamsburg: Decorating with Style offers a look into the rich heritage of early American design, and confirms its enduring value for our own lifestyles. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation was established in the 1920s by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to preserve the plan and buildings of the colonial capital of Virginia and to promote understanding of American life in the 18th century.