Interior Decorating

What do we think about the interior decorating in the brownstone? I've always wondered about the red and yellow chairs--who chose them and why. --Also the yellow pajamas, which are Wolfe's exterior decoration at night and at breakfast-in-bed.

If it's anything like the A&E shows, I love it. Rich, warm, comfortable and relaxing. I think of the red chairs to be a lovely dark red leather, and the yellow to be that buttercream leather or fabric.

In a story sense, the use of vivid colors brings us into the rooms with the characters. They give us something for our visual sense to hang onto while reading.

As far as Wolfe in his yellow pajamas...that is an image I don't choose to focus on too closely. :) I like to think about what Archie is wearing. ;)

Mrs Lee said:"As far as Wolfe in his yellow pajamas...that is an image I don't choose to focus on too closely. :) I like to think about what Archie is wearing. ;)"

Yep, me too

I Like yellow pajamas .... but satin rather than silk. Wolfe has style: idiosyncratic perhaps, probably not fashionable, but style nevertheless. Archie just follows fashion.

On several occasions the books mention that yellow is Wolfe's favorite color, usually when talking about his clothes. There was also, I believe, a mention of a black silk comforter, and the sight of Wolfe in blindingly yellow pajamas and the black silk spread. He certainly did have style.

Mmm.... very dramatic. And individual.

What do you all think of the brown he often wore? Or the to-me confusion of colors? Much is appealing, and limited to a few colors per room, but there's a definite variety of pronounced colors.

Clothing and interior decorating are not, of course, the same, but they do reflect stylistic choices, demonstrate identity, and hit the eye in tandem.

This is before we even come to haberdashery - a subject for its own thread. - And one others, as perhaps ostrom, may find appealingly amusing?

As far as the colors mentioned in the home, I've always loved them, but then I abhor pastels. My own home is filled with vibrant deep colors, I am slowly painting rooms, now that I've gotten rid of the notion that "white makes the room look bigger".

Now, about Wolfe wearing brown. I think it would be great with his yellow shirts, but somehow, to me, unless a suit is a dark chocolate or slate brown, it looks casual, if not sloppy. Sorry, that's just me. However, I would have to see him in it to be sure. My husband had a dark brown suit that was divine, made me want to eat him up (sorry, can't be described otherwise), so it's possible to look sharp in brown, but so often, men don't.

Yes, exactly. But you're right that those shades of brown can be very nice, indeed. So I've never been quite sure about it. (In suits.)

The red chairs, the yellow chairs, and yellow throughout, the blue (I think) in the dining room, the green (?) in the front room, yellow and black in Wolfe's bedroom, while in most cases they sound warm and give a distinctive sense of place, only seem to me to work together well if the axis they turn on is the yellow. And/or wood in furniture and trimmings. Maybe it's silly to want them to feel compatible. If I were walking from one room to another, I'd enjoy the change. Memory of a house my grandparents once owned assures me of that.