# The New American Home Will Be Simpler to Live In by Mary and Russel Wright > “We believe the new American home will be a much simpler one to live in. Its size and its furnishings will be determined by the family’s needs, not by the arbitrary dictates of fashion. Living in it will be based on an informal and improvised design, rather than on a formal, traditional pattern. Its etiquette will derive from modern democratic ideals.” > **— Mary and Russel Wright**, *Guide to Easier Living, 1950* ## Sources and Context - **Primary text:** [Mary and Russel Wright’s Guide to Easier Living (1950) — Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/mary-and-russel-wrights-guide-to-easier-living) — the opening chapter, “Be It Ever So Humble,” argues that the American home still imitated the formal English manor house and proposes a new pattern for an industrial democracy. The four sentences are contiguous, running across pages 6–7. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/American|American Collection]] - **American route:** [[american/American Aesthetic - Interior Design and Space Composition|Interior Design and Space Composition]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Mid-Century Modernism|Mid-Century Modernism]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We believe the new American home will be a much simpler one to live in. Its size and its furnishings will be determined by the family’s needs, not by the arbitrary dictates of fashion. Living in it will be based on an informal and improvised design, rather than on a formal, traditional pattern. Its etiquette will derive from modern democratic ideals.” — Mary and Russel Wright, Guide to Easier Living, 1950 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-russel-wright-new-american-home-simpler ```