What Would Sister Do? A Traditionalist Icon Embraces the Future

Original article posted at Business of Home by Kaitlin Petersen.

It’s hard to think of a decorator more associated with “traditional” than Sister Parish, whose use of striped ticking, floral chintzes, whitewashed antiques and patchwork quilts is widely credited with launching American country style into the spotlight by the 1960s. Funny, then, that in recent conversations with Parish’s great-granddaughter Eliza Crater Harris, the topics were decidedly 21st century: Instagram Live, e-commerce, and even transparent pricing. Crater Harris was well aware of the potential irony. “It may not be expected of us to embrace contemporary design dialogues, but in fact Sister was someone who loved change,” she says. “We often ask ourselves, What would Sister do?”