Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown

Author:Helen Gurley Brown [Brown, Helen Gurley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4532-5584-1
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2012-08-19T16:00:00+00:00

General Rules

LEARNING

Creep up on decorating as you would any new skill. Remember how long it took to learn shorthand? Immerse yourself deeply in the world of cherry wood and Chippendale. Don’t be in a rush to buy anything.

Take basic courses in decorating in night school. You can learn textiles, woods, traffic patterns, scale of furniture, etc.

Borrow library books until you can tell Duncan Phyfe from Duncan Hines.

Make your second home in furniture stores, furniture departments, junkshops, secondhand stores, antique shops, and thrift shops of the Salvation Army, Junior League, etc. (These contain discards people have given to charity as a tax write-off rather than sell for a pittance. They are sometimes terrific.) Just look a lot and get the feel of furniture.

Attend decorator shows, home shows, auctions, and get the look and feel some more.

Visit museums containing rooms of period furniture. Talk to the curator or attendant on the floor. They are gold mines of information and often like to chat.

Get acquainted with the owners of antique and secondhand stores. Tell them you’re planning to furnish an apartment without much money but are determined to put beautiful things in it. You are just getting your bearings, and visiting their store is helpful and inspiring to you. Most antique dealers would have opened a liquor store if they wanted to make money. They deal in treasures for love and a modest livelihood. If you show genuine interest, they will probably become expansive and give you a valuable education. They can’t sell to you wholesale unless you have a decorator’s license, but a dealer who “adopts” you may eventually tell you his source of supply. And you can slither over there and buy for a pittance.

See the inside of as many beautiful homes and apartments as you can. Soak up décor like a sponge. If there’s a showplace you’re longing to see but don’t know the owner, try writing a charming note. Ask if you might drop by at an appointed hour for ten minutes. Say you are decorating an apartment and have in mind to see, first, as many beautiful and inspiriting houses as you can. Tell where you work and what you do, so nobody will think you’re coming over to case the place for a burglary. Write on office letterhead. Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope for reply or say you’ll telephone in a few days. Some wealthy homeowners will be flattered and like to show off a bit.

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