This series contains correspondence, publicity materials, inventories, memoranda and other materials documenting William Pahlmann's role with the American Institute of Decorators (AID) and its successors, the American Institute of Interior Designers, and the American Society of Interior Designers. Pahlmann served on the National Board of Governors and chaired the Resource Council for several years.

The first subseries relates primarily to national and regional meetings of the AID and its successors and contains correspondence, conference programs, meeting minutes, press releases and news bulletins. Among items of note are correspondence and an admittance pass from Pahlmann's tour of the White House in February 1963.

The AID organizes The Resources Council in 1959 to serve as a liaison between the AID and the manufacturers and suppliers of materials used by decorators. Pahlmann was one of the organizers and chair for many years. The files focus on his work to coordinate home furnishings shows around the country.

The Miniatures exhbits subseries relates to a traveling exhibition of miniature model rooms, "Elegance to Scale," coordinated by Pahlmann through the AID. The records describe the logistics of organizing the exhibit and traveling it to various musuems around the U.S. A few of the surviving room models are in the artifact portion of the Pahlmann collection. This series also contains some materials relating to the exhibition of a six-room American ranch house designed by George Nelson & Company at the famous American National Exhbition in Moscow in 1959.

The final subseries deals with the annual National Decoration & Design trade shows organized by the New York Chapter of the AID with the proceeds benefitting the New York Herald Tribune's Fresh Air Fund, which sent needy urban children to summer camps. The first such show was held in October 1960. Pahlmann was often in charge of designing the booths and coordinating press coverage of the shows.