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The development of the domestic interior is a history of consumption and taste. In this book, for the first time, this story is set against the cultural and industrial changes taking place in the western world since the seventeenth century. Unlike almost all previous histories this book does not deal exclusively with the grand houses of the aristocracy: Steven Parissien's masterly text concentrates rather on the homes of the merchants and middle classes who have been the first to take advantage of new technologies to furnish and decorate their homes. Fully illustrated with contemporary plates from catalogs and books as well as paintings and photography, this beautiful book traces a constantly absorbing and often surprising story as it took place all over Western Europe and North America. Ideal for all students of and enthusiasts for the domestic interior and period settings. Steven Parissien's strongly narrative text explains not simply what happened but why.