"Interior Decorating" has a pretty "un-manly" connotation, but IMO, Jim Becker's thread on the "mantle capper project" shows how furniture and finish-carpentry designs can depend a great deal on preferences in interior decoration.
A couple of months ago, I set out to read all I could on designing furniture, and in the process, it occurred to me that in order to design furniture that would look good in my home, I'd have to understand whatever principles govern home decorating. So I went to three local libraries, browsed all the interior decorating books, borrowed the best ones and read them cover-to-cover. I have to admit, I don't think I learned much, and unfortunately, I have no books to recommend. In all seriousness, the best one of the lot was "Interior Decorating for Dummies."
I'd like to hear others' opinions on this topic--how important is interior decoration to furniture design? Do you have a good book to recommend on the subject of interior decoration?