After the First World War, Interior Design emerged in Britain as a distinctive profession, one that used fresh eyes and imagination to transform edifices old and new into environments that satisfied aesthetic appetites and enhanced the experiences of those who used them. This is the first critical account of the history of Interior Design in Britain, one that is distinct from that of Architecture, and which gives the profession a sense of its own identity. Set within the social, cultural, economic and political contexts which exercised and shaped creative imaginations across the 20th century, the book examines both interior design (principally commercial projects) and interior decoration (principally domestic projects).

In contrast to 20th-century architecture, which often imposed its philosophy onto its clients, interior design and decoration were more responsive to the nuances and rapid changes of popular taste. Interiors therefore moved at a much faster pace, from the elegant Art Deco of the Savoy and Claridge's hotels, to the modernist interiors of the 1950s such as the Royal Festival Hall, to retail work in the 1980s for the likes of Joseph and Next, to clubs and restaurants in the 1990s such as the Atlantic Bar and Grill, and concluding with 21st-century offices and domestic interiors.

'This makes it a useful reference book for those working in retail, hospitality and office design, and its emphasis on commercial projects offers architects valuable insight into the kinds of spaces where collaboration with interior designers is most critical.' – Leo Wood, Building Design Online

Bruce Peter is the Professor of Design History in the Glasgow School of Art’s School of Design. He has researched and published extensively on modern architecture and design for transport, pleasure and hospitality. Drew Plunkett, a former academic and occasional practitioner, has been an observer and chronicler of the emergence of a distinctly British approach to interior design and of the national and international phenomena that have shaped it.