The Bedroom: A Social History of Intimacy and Sleep

The Bedroom takes as its premise the conceptualization of a specific space, the bedroom, within the home. It offers new perspectives, exploring the social function of the bedroom through its material culture, namely site-specific material items such as the bed, dressing table or vanity, and wardrobe or closet.

The text chronicles changing perceptions and uses of the bedroom space and the objects within it up to the present day. It tackles social history through the interpretation of material culture and the relationship between humans, the spaces they create, and the things they buy, use, and live with. While other volumes treat the bedroom within a history of the home, this text provides an in-depth analysis of the one room.

The Bedroom is an apt and accessible resource for undergraduate and graduate students, architects and interior designers, design historians, social historians, museum curators, and lay readers interested in the history of the home and the objects within it.