Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1878-07-24
Eeme Decoration.
JENNIE JOY.

humble fortune who has home to
beautify; yet how few there are who
know how to make the most of what
they really do possess. To be able at
all times to put the best side out; 10
utilize the odds and ends; to make the
rag-bag, waste-paper basket, wood
yard, field, and forest yield their treas.
ures for the decoration Of home, re-
quires tact, which unhappily, but few
possess. 1t is an art, in fact, which to
acquire. richly repays hours Of careful
study.
Capital can purchase luxuries, but a
thorough knowledge Of the harmony Of
form, proportion and color, is requisite
to render even these luxuries pleasing
to the eye. A few dollars in the hands
of the poor man can buy the long.
covste parlor carpet, but unless he has
acquired the art Of discrimination, the
hard earned parlor carpet may, after
all, prove but an eye-sore TO the buyer,
from its lack of harmony with the other
appointments of the home: and, instead
ofalmost furnishing a room ofitself, as
many well chosen carpet has done, it
will, by Its incengruity Of tint, figure OF
texture, present the disagreeable ap-
pearance of a gayly colored patch OF a
faded, thread-bare garment. 1t Is not
always the fault Of the laborer and his
patient, toiling wife, that their cottage
walls are bare, or, what to a finely
cultivated taste is far more painful to the
eye, covered with coarse, cheap chromos:
or that the contents of the rag-bag,
representing in the rough, abundant
material for many a charming chair
tidy, lambrequin warmly tinted rug or
door-mat, are weighed out to the oblig.
ing one-horse country peddler IN Tex.
shange for a tin dipper, OF glass milk
cup, forsooth, which is to be welded to
the white-ware sugar bowl: or that the
accumulation of the waste-paper basket
shares like fate, at sacrifice Of many
choice gems Of literature, pure pearls Of
bought and lovely 6your of art, which,
carefully culled from the rublsh and
neatly arranged in book, would be the
source Of untold delights, and con-
tribute towards cultiyating a taste for
the beautiful.
Their eyes are dazzled by the magni-
fcence of their wealthy neighbours
gaudy trappings; and, unconscious of
the handsome adornments within easy
reach, they begin to rear for themselves
an airy castle in the clouds, dome over
dome, and to count the time when they,
too, shall be rich. Instead of enlarg-
ing, by the simple means always at
hand. taste for the loving harmony Of
all the notes Of beauty, they toll ON in
their plain, dull rooms, with nothing to
elevate thought or incite the play of
fancy, until taste is hopelessly peryer-
ted; and the poor laborer and his patient
work-weary wife, lose, beyond hope of
recovery, the capacity for the higher
delights Of the soul which were theirs
by divine right. A prominent feature
in the appointments of the home is
cheerfulness; and no room, however
tastefully and richly furnished can pre-
sent truly cheerful aspect, unless it is
well lighted. How strange, that light,
the symbol ofall good, without which
nothing could exist, should be so often
excluded from our dwellings! That the
glorious sunlight, giving strength and
beauty, brightness and bloom to our
garden.parterres; should be treated as
an enemy to the well-being of the
olive plants round our tables
Earth's dumb creatures realize per-
fectly, the sanative benefit to be derived
from the suns rays; hence we observe
the mastls, worn out in his masters
service slowly issuing from his dark
kennel, to stretch himself at full length
on the sunnlest piece ofturf within reach
10 bask in this elixir Of life.
But even the health-giYing sunlight
will tail 10 render our rooms cheerful If
it falls on leaden-lined walls, and dull,
somber-colored carpets and upholstery,
which reflect not back the golden
beams. Let the walls be embellished
with hangings of soft creamy tint; the
pictures upon them be suggestive Of
happy, active life; let the carpets glow
with warm, rich hues so softly and
artistically blended that no harsh lines
shall detract from the harmony Of the
whole place bronzes and other orna-
ments where they will be ready to fling
back with coquethsh art, the first ardent
glance Of the day god as ne ascerds
through the red gates Of morning
through parted window-draperics Of
lace or sheeny muslin, let the red waves
Of solar light roll IN upon us in floods;
that they may warm our rooms and the
hearts within them ; that home may be
the brightest, cheeriest spot in all the
wide, wide world.
Xenephon says, "A mans home and
flreside are the sweetest Of all human
possessions Possessing them in all
their beauty of perfect harmony, we are
richer than kings. Evelyn writes, "Tis
from the want of symmetry in our
buildings, decirum in our housas, that
the irregularity Of our humors and
affections may be shrewdly guessed
To correct this out-growth of a
struggling, deYiatiDg tendency Of the
affections, the only proper way is to
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