Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-12-02
BEAUTIFYING TIE HOUSE.
THg SERVICE ABLE, ECONOMICAL AND
ORNAMENTAL.
Practical and .anciful Ideas for
Young neutrality-suspicious.
Of Taste-Decoratious,

y u
few years, all telling show to make home
beautiful" And still it is not certain that
the young wife has an easier time in ar.
ranging her house than her mother and
grandmother had before her, who were
without any such assistance. The poor
girl finds that in the multitude of counsel
ora there lie confusion. The only things on
which they agree are usually those which
she cannot like, and she ends either by
making herself thoroughly uncomfortable
or else by going her own way-with very
extraordinary results
The trouble with most OF the writers
about furnishing is that they make mys-
terry of what should be simple, and elevate
INTO lofty principles of ''art" what really
are but matters of convenience and com.
fort. Convenience and comfort are the
first things to be considered in your house.
and If you secure them you can get beauty,
too; but you will never get beauty at the
sacrifice of convenience. There are some
things which do require the exercise of a
specially educated taste, as, for example.
the selection OF the paper for the walls and
ceiling. In modern houses the papering
has usually been done before the tenant
comes IL, and he can only make the best of
1T. It is
EASY TO GET GOOD PAPERS
Now, but many landlords get bad ones,
They should net be too da. 4. They should
not have too pronounced a pattern. The
best papers for small room are those
which give quiet effect of color and in
which the figure does not obtrude itself
A good paper goes long way toward fur.
nlshing a room, but if it is really good
you can go on with your furnishing with.
out regard to it.
This is a main truth to be borne in mind,
that II your paper, your curtains. your
carpet, your furniture be of good color and
deslgn-that is, appropriate to their pur-
poses and surroundings, unobtrusive and
containing no false notes or discords of
their own-the question of harmony will
give You no trouble at all. Don't bother
yourself about matching" You don't
want things to match. That makes monot.
ony, not harmony. OF course you will
buy each thing with some thought Of what
10 to be near 1t, and may even try the
effect before buying il you cannot trust
your own perceptions; but if you expect to
get any pleasure out of furnishing Your
house buy every thing for its own sake, be-
cause 1t is good in itself and you Ike it.
and not because it will make up set.
Nobody ever took any rational interest in
y set.
THE FLOOR.
The art-in- the household writers will
tell you that 1t is a crime to have your car.
pet fitted over the whole floor that you
should leave bare space all around the
wall, and have your carpet made like
rug. In general this is good advice as to
no "a
door depends on what the floor is like. II
it Is new and smooth. made of marrow
boards fitted close together, with no
cracks through which the wind can come
up through the cellar, it is useless to
spend money to cover it, running a costly
carpet border in and out along the outline
OF the room. Have the floor oiled or
stained and polished, and have your car
pet made up in rug form. This is at once
economical, convenient and agreeable to
the eye, and enables you to keep your car.
pet clean. Bat very few floors in rented
houses answers these conditions, and the
cold and dust and other accompaniment
OF bare floors outweigh all that fashion can
urge In their favor.
a verTn good thing to do with a floor
under these circumstances is to cover it all
over with India matting-one with a
small stitch OF a neutral greenish- gray and
white, such as caE be bought at very
moderate cost, and if well chosen will wear
indefinitely. Now you have a floor that
excludes the cold and dust, and on which
you can walk without noise, and on this
you can lay
As MANY RUGS AS YOU CAN BUY,
There is great pleasure to be had in
buying rugs at auction-if you know any.
thing about buying rugs. If you don't 1t
is costly sport. Twenty years ago you
could hardly go wrong, but now the de-
mand IS such that fine rugs bring fancy
prices, and lots of poor things are manu-.
featured for the American market that are
not worth buying Antique rugs are bet
ter than new ones, not because they are
old, but because they were made before the
Eastern weavers had subordinated art to
trade. The colors in the old rugs are al.
ways good. They may be dingy or they
may be brilliant but they are always har.
monious, and will not interfere with any
color you may put near them. Ii you have
no one upon whose judgment you can rely
to help you in buying rugs, let them alone,
and buy carpet that resembles an old rug
in its rich but unobtrusive colors and
small, conventional pattern. The advan-
tage of covering your floor with mating to
begin with is that you can buy just as
much or as little carpet as you can afford,
and OF any kind, velvet, Brussels or shawl
border, if you please, and make rugs for
yourself that will be better than the rub
bish that is often sold at auction.
CURTAINS.
II your windows have not inside shut.
tiers get plain gray shades warm grav,
not pearl color, and by no means white
or red, which are equally unsuitable Then
as to curtains. The modern inventions of
coarse muslin and cheap lace, recommend
ed by the '' art " writers. are abominable.
For the thin curtains of bedroom or the
parlor of small house there is nothing
now to be had as good as plain or dotted
muslin. Fine lace is only for fine houses,
and Nottingham only for steamboats, and
inns. For the heavy curtains you can
spend anything from s. to $40 or 500 a
window, but you are still to bear in mind
that the curtains must accord with the
character of your room, and whatever ma.
terial you select, get it good. The books
recommend homemade curtains of canton
flannel, with stripes of plush, but the
trouble with canton flannel is that it has
to be lined, and, then, both the stuff and
the lining fade. The dull. colored stripes
Of coarse raw silk, the same on both sides,
are the best curtain material to be had for
a moderate cost. The raw silks that are
made for furniture covering are seldom fit
Tor curtains. Some of the so-called lutte
velours, common in the shops this season,
are very splendid, but they are better
suited for hanging against wall in a large
apartment. Printed stuffs are always DIS.
appointing when you see the wrong side.
Whatever curtains you have hang them
from poles so that they will move freely. A
curtain is to exclude the light and air. and
therefore it should be SO hung that it can
either be drawn close when wanted, OF
drawn altogether back, clear of the win.
dows, when not in use. The loops and fes.