Reclaiming decoration (Shame, masculinity and interior design)

Reclaiming decoration examines the figure of the ‘gay decorator’ as a persistent cultural trope and repositions sexuality, shame and interior decoration at the centre of modern design history. Challenging the marginalisation of decoration within accounts of modernism, the book argues that professionalisation in interior decoration was inseparable from contested ideas of gender and sexuality. Focusing primarily on an American context, and situating it within wider British and European influences, the study traces the emergence of interior decoration as a profession from the late nineteenth century. Through close analysis of discourse, representation and practice, it reveals how decoration became a site of gendered struggle and cultural anxiety. By reclaiming decoration as both a legitimate professional practice and a queer position, the book offers a critical intervention into the history of interiors, design and masculinity.