It's All In Good Taste!

So i was talking to a friend the other day about a home we had been in. My friend said "this homeowner has such good taste and she was right. The home is lovely and welcoming. You felt comfortable in every room. The colors were rich but muted, the furniture of great quality but not pretentious and collections displayed in a way that showed off their importance without feeling like you were in a museum. Later that evening I was thinking about just what exactly is good taste? Some people have it in their homes and some people have good taste in clothes; always seem to have that perfect look no matter the occasion. It's one of those intangibles thats hard to define; that it factor, and very subjective. One of Webster's dictionary definitions is a sense of what is fitting, harmonious, or beautiful. So if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then we all have good taste, right?

Below is a taste of what some of the greats think in an article that appeared in House Beautiful magazine.

Design by Kelly Werstler

Benjamin Moore Paints

I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

I don't believe in the goodtaste/bad taste thing. It's like being in or out, and I think it's all stupid and snobby. I don't believe in taste-only in personal likes and dislikes...You should like what you like and the heck with anything else.

Betsey Johnson, Designer, 1973

Michele says "Amen sister!"

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) "Ah, good taste- what a dreadful thing."

Sometimes it's more important to be human than to have good taste.

Bertolt Brecht, Playwright (1898-1956)

Taste, I think, is a form of sensitivity. You can have an aptitude for it , like a potential for playing the piano, but you will never be a great pianist unless you do your finger excersizes.

Sir Humphrey Wakefield, President, Mallett & Son, 1973

The discovery of the good taste of bad taste can be very liberating.

Susan Sontag, "Notes on 'Camp'," Note 54, Against Interpretation (1966)

A little bad taste is like a nice dash of paprika. Dorothy Parker, wirter (1893-1967)

Nate Berkus, featured on Oprah

What is your taste?