I make a study of the furniture in the homes portrayed in movies — especially during Oscar season. The Academy Awards ceremony is coming up March 4. It’s fascinating to think about how set designers use the tools of their trade to say so much about a character, a place, a period in time — just through the choices made in furnishing the homes seen on the screen.
Compare the modest home of the down-on-their-luck Hardings in “I, Tonya” for which Margot Robbie and Allison Janney have been nominated for best actress and supporting actress respectively–with the home of Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman, best actor nominee) in the “Darkest Hour” (best picture nominee). Compare the well-appointed Georgetown home of Katherine Graham (Meryl Streep, best actress nominee) in “The Post” (best picture nominee) with the self-proclaimed wrong side of the tracks home of “Lady Bird,” (best picture nominee; Saoirse Ronan, best actress nominee) and the nearby upscale home she pretends is her residence.
Today, great style and beautiful living spaces are not just the domain of the affluent. Do you have a favorite Hollywood movie home? Diane Keaton’s beach house in “As Good as it Gets” and the wonderful house in the Steve Martin and Diane Keaton (again!) re-make of “Father of the Bride” are two of my personal favorites. Does furniture play a starring role in your home?
