Last fall I had the pleasure of visiting the Ruthmere House in Elkhart, IN. I couldn’t get past the gorgeous ceiling in the foyer. I snapped the photo you see with my cell phone, but in person the ceiling is absolutely stunning. The colors and design are historically accurate to 1910.

Detail of a painted ceiling design. The colors are gorgeous!

I would love to paint something like this on our dining room ceiling.

Detail of the ceiling stencil.

The Ruthmere website has an online reproduction of the 1910 Souvenir Booklet featuring photos of the house when first opened to the public upon completion. It is fascinating to see how the home was furnished.

See photos of stained glass windows, wall murals, floor tile and more.

Update
If you enjoy touring homes, Copshaholm is located in near-by South Bend, IN. Have lunch or dinner at Tippecanoe Place. There are also two Frank Lloyd Wright homes in South Bend, although I don’t think they are open to the public. Both South Bend and Elkhart have many older, beautiful homes.

We were recently at a restaurant and I fell in love with this wall! I love the color, texture and large faded text.

The vintage industrial lights are perfect with the wall.

I can’t quite see this look in my bungalow…but the wall color and industrial lights are amazing.

Sherwin Williams paint and design services advertisement from around 1910

The above Sherwin Williams advertisement was accompanied by the following text:

“This dining-room illustration demonstrates that very dignified and attractive effects can be obtained without over-decoration. Even with its attractive wall effects, beamed ceiling and fine furniture, the general effect is simple.”

Decorative schemes for a dining room or den.

Wallpapered dining room. The adjoining room is also wallpapered.

Wallpapered living room.

Dining room stencil ideas.

Children’s play room. Oversized wallpaper panels are repeated for great effect.

Art Nouveau wallpaper patterns. Aren’t these great?

Ever wonder how to clean your walls?

Maid vacuuming the walls of an upper class home, early 1900s.