Turning Houses into Homes. A History of the Retailing and Consumption of Domestic Furnishings

Abstract

Clive Edwards. Ashgate, 2005. 304 pp., 20 b&w illus., hardback £52.50. ISBN 0–7546–0906–5. This book is a welcome addition to what might best be described as one of the sparser areas of the design historical patch: namely, the area of design retailing. Whilst aspects of dress history have made detailed contributions to our understanding of the ways that designed objects have made the often considerable leap from the realms of production to those of consumption, with only a few notable exceptions little account has been provided of the manner in which domestic objects have been acquired for consumption. This absence is no doubt a consequence of the historically ambiguous evaluation of both the domestic interior and the retailing institution. Coupled with the extraordinary facility by which both these cultural formations have evaded systematic analysis and documentation, it is perhaps not surprising that Turning Houses into Homes is the first broad survey that seeks to uncover the interdependent history of both.

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