Syie Maugham, was a leading british decorator of the 1920’s and 30’s, know for designing the first all white room (which is more disco era than it’s date of 1932). She established her own interior decorating business, Syrie LTD., at 85 Baker Street, London in 1922. Born during the Victorian era, know for it dark claustrophobic interiors, Syrie rejected this style for a lighter aesthetic. This included light filled rooms, white furnishing and upholstery and mirrored screens to bring in even more light. She achieved her white interiors with the use of rich materials and textures including shell, fur, white leather and suede, satin, velvet and plaster. She would strip and re-paint precious antiques to match her palette. By 1934 the all white room had gone out of fashion to be revamped in the 1970’s.
Above: The all white Room (1932); photo for Vogue magazine shot in Syrie’s white room; Mirrored breakfront, by Syrie Maugham; All white bedroom, with signature fabric; Syrie lamp with mirrored hexagon base (1935).
Syrie Maugham
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I'm crazy about this lucite bamboo ballroom chair. The transparency makes it a great addition to a small space or just think how great it would look against a wall of bamboo wallpaper! See November Inspiration Board for more about the history of bamboo used in interiors.
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Trent Farmer of NYC won this pretty plate in our FALL GIVEAWAY sponsored by CSN Stores. The design was created by Finnish illustrator Klaus Haapaniemi. The white owl in the snowy mythical forest is just one of his modern folkloric creations for iitala. It is available at 
Ariane Interiors 
When fellow interior designer “Sister Parrish” was asked why she didn’t do white rooms…..she replied “No, White was always Syrie’s”.
Syrie Maugham was not the only legendary designer who was unscrupulous in painting priceless antiques to conform to her color palettes; Elsie de Wolfe was notorious for “surprising clients” painting their priceless Chippendale chairs to match her decor. And Rose Cumming loathed “brown”/ mahogany/rosewood furniture of any kind. Rose also would specify candles for an important room as she claimed she “did not understand electricity”.