Dimensions
208 x 255 x 16mm
Aimed at the contemporary home furnisher, 'The Art Of Keeping House' is a well-researched, lavishly illustrated guide to furnishing, presenting, cleaning and general house-keeping issues. The book draws on the Historic Houses Trust's expertise and properties, a factor that distinguishes the book from other house and lifestyle books on the market. All major authors are experts in their field, being either Trust curators or reputable architect advisers.
The first part of the book is a quick historical survey of the features of particular periods, and provides a brief history of Australian interiors and furnishings in the context of how they may be adapted for use today. It is pitched at anyone who may have bought a period house, and wants to retain and make the most of the period features, or has an eclectic collection of objects, furniture and heirloom pieces, and needs information on how to present and care for them.
Covering house interiors from the nineteenth century to the 1950s, the book is arranged along the components of interior living spaces: walls and ceilings; floors; lighting; door and window furniture; upholstery; dining; beds; tables; flowers and so on. The book also references key twentieth-century designers such as Marion Hall Best, Florence Broadhurst and Paul Kafka.
The second part of the book is an A to Z guide on cleaning household objects and materials, based on an in-house manual used by Trust curatorial staff, but expanded and adapted to be comprehensive and accessible to a general readership. With instructions on how to polish pewter, wash ceramic, clean linoleum, remove stains from textiles, clean leather, store and clean books, photographs and furniture and so on, this section will tell you how to handle the items, what you need and help you to create the right environment for your precious items.
