Dorothy Draper continues to inspire--PS the Dwell Draper Rug is back!

Do you remember the Dwell Draper Rug (named after Dorothy Draper) I was crushing on back here and here that immediately sold out? Well I just got word from Dwell that it is back in stock!

$200 for a 5x8 Dwell rug...can't beat that.

If I wasn't saving up for a new basement floor, this love would be under my dining room table before Ryan could say "Heather please stop buying things online...we don't need another rug."

Check out Dwell's persimmon/cream rug in action here:

 

Just who is Dorothy Draper you ask?

(According to DorothyDraper.com) Born to a wealthy and privileged family in 1889, Dorothy Draper was the first to “professionalize” the interior design industry by establishing, in 1923, the first interior design company in the United States, something that until then was unheard of, and also at a time when it was considered daring for a woman to go into business for herself.

In her day, her name was synonymous with decorating. She gave decorating advice in her regular column for Good Housekeeping Magazine, designed fabric lines for Schumacher, furniture for Ficks Reed, Heritage and, other than her hotel and restaurant decors, she also designed theaters, department stores, commercial establishments, private corporate offices, the interiors of jet planes, and automobiles – on top of her residential designs for the houses and apartments of prominent and very wealthy society figures.

She used vibrant, “splashy” colors in never-before-seen combinations, such as aubergine and pink with a “splash” of chartreuse and a touch of turquoise blue, or, one of her favorite combinations - “dull” white and “shiny” black.

Much of her work survives to this day, in the lobbies of apartment buildings, hotels (The Carlyle in New York and Hampshire House until recently) and of course, the legendary Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, specifically in The Victorian Writing Room – once called the most photographed room in the United States).

The Greenbrier Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

Here is one of Dorothy Draper's designs from the 1940's from 1stDibs:

And as I was researching Dorothy Draper, I came across this magnificent DIY project where Nancy from Marcus design took this plain jane Ikea Rast dresser from drab to fab, in true Dorothy Draper form!

Before:

After:

 

Genius! This might be one of the most amazing transformations I've ever seen! This dresser was $39.99 from Ikea!!! Read how Nancy created this Dorothy Draper-inspired DIY project here.