ABSTRACT
The chapter argues that changing gender roles caused decorating to shift from the work of male architects to women decorating their own houses. Other factors included Victorian concepts of family, cheaper household goods, increasing consumerism due to the rise of industrial capitalism, as well as the growth of the middle and upper classes during the Gilded Age (1877–1890). The idea of “separate spheres,” with women at home and men in the public realm, meant that the increasingly complicated pursuit of home decoration fell on the “woman of the house.” Home design became considered part of a respectable woman’s responsibility as a home fashion consumer culture developed. The decoration of houses became increasingly associated with the perceived personality of the wife and mother and her immediate family and linked to her personal fashion and appearance. Victorian interior decorating was eclectic, involving many styles revived from historic eras, such as Gothic, Renaissance, and the Rococo era, leading to many decorating possibilities and choices.
