The Country Look Scores Big in Nostalgia Wave

America’s love affair with country decorating derives from nostalgia for the good old days that were warm, cozy and safe.

That’s how psychologist Arlene Kagle, in the current issue of House Beautiful, explains the current craze for farmhouse quilts and rockers, painted cupboards and pretty chintzes.

In the last decade or so, country decorating has spawned a dozen new magazines, changed the character of the home furnishings industry, led to countless new businesses making and selling reproduction country-style ironware, wicker, textiles, brasses and ceramics.

A major influence on the rediscovery of country was decorator Mrs. Henry Parish II, known by her childhood nickname of Sister Parish.

She recalled her favorite childhood rooms when decorating her Maine farmhouse and brought in rag rugs, afghans, quilts, dog paintings, painted wood furniture, chintzes, wicker and fat comfortable sofas.

When pictures of her house were published, people began to imitate the homey, easy look--both decorators and do-it-yourselfers.

Country got another big impetus when the 1976 bicentennial approached and museums showed American folk art. Folk art began appearing not only in country rooms but in spare modern spaces, sometimes with modern furniture.

Kagle, a psychologist who is so attuned to the effect of decorating on people that she sometimes makes house calls to view the scene of the conflict, explained the appeal of country, saying:

“A lot of people obviously feel a farmhouse is warm and cozy and morally good. We think of a farmhouse as full of good smells. Even if a couple are both working 18 hours a day on Wall Street, they want an old-fashioned looking house or apartment where they would bake cookies if they had the time.

“I think of today’s big Victorian trend as part of country, and that is very appealing now because we see that long period as a time of order. It reminds us of families being together, and we think about when it was safe for kids to get on their bicycles and ride down the street without an armed escort.”

Americans have only a vague idea of periods, which allows them a great deal of freedom when dealing with old pieces.

“We love the idea, ‘It’s from the past,’ though we don’t understand exactly what the past was,” Kagle said. “So because we are free from that, we get to pick and choose. We get to put the pine hutch with the Queen Anne chairs.”

People need time and space alone, and time and space together, and Victorian houses offer both, Kagle said, adding:

“Wraparound porches, for instance, allow you to be outdoors and indoors simultaneously, and you can be off in a corner and yet feel a part of the family.

“The sense of family is something a lot of people are moving toward--wanting both the time spent with husbands and children and other relatives, and also wanting a sense of the community, the larger family. It’s part of the appeal of country.”