Object Lessons: The Sheila Maid Clothes Airer - Remodelista

Object Lessons: The Sheila Maid Clothes Airer - Remodelista

Think of Great Britain and the first thing that comes to mind after Downton Abbey is rain.

During the post-war regeneration, the clothes airer became a symbol of Victorian drudgery, the very antithesis of the modern housewife’s gleaming electronic appliances, and was cast out along with chafing dishes and coal fires.

Thanks to Sheila, the pleasure of hanging and hoisting an entire load of laundry has been rediscovered by a new generation who are neither servants nor housewives.

An extra-wide clothes airer in designer Ben Pentreath‘s Dorset kitchen, hoisted, as is traditional, above the range, where the air is warmest.

The Sheila Maid is produced in a variety of sizes and colors and is available via Williams Sonoma.

The practical nautical cleat adds to the pleasure of hoisting the rope, sailor style.

Clothes airers are also as popular in sunny climates: Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen installed a Sheila Maid in their Los Angeles laundry room.

Object Lessons columnist Megan Wilson is the owner of Ancient Industries and curator of the Remodelista 100, a collection of essential everyday objects presented in the Remodelista book.

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