Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-10-23

There is tide in the affairs of men which
taken at its food leads on to house-furnish-
ing. The recently married man who fur
nishes his apartments with els gradually
becomes tie victim of an insane desire to
dissipate bis sustenance on bull cabinets and
Sevres sconces; he fixes wild yet appealing
stare upon amaranthine furniture and Gobe-
lin tapestries, and then in the madness of his
desires he rushes of to q second-hand furni
ture man and purchases q Cimabue coal
scuttle or Giottesque soup-ladle. The only
hope the average man can entertain at the
present day for comfortable home il to 20
out into this cold. heartless and malarial
world and to invest stray $50, 600 on din
ing-room or 100000 on his wif.'s boudoir.
Such sums have been spent, will be spent.
and it is safe to add-will be wasted During
the past season greater amount of money
has been spent in the purchase of furniture
and all the innumerable varieties of decora.
tive art than ever before. The designs of
furniture for the coming season will in
great measure remain unchanged. Light
woods are coming into favor again. and in
stead of the angular Eastlake and Queen
Anne styles. the massive and elaborxtelv
carved renaissance has won the vantage
ground Of public esteem. Upholstery being
generally adopted through the household. and
the dark hangings, heavy holdings and light.
er furniture will make pleasant and verv
effective contrasts. The floors of the room
will retain the patchy fashion of waxed boards
and Eastern rugs. The mountings of the
walls will be brass, and the radiating plaster
"rOse" in the center of the ceiling which
forms a point of fascination and serves As a
cause for insanity will be hurled away into
oblivion. Chandeliers will be strictly ban
ished, and FURNISHED brass candelabra and
bronze sconces will shed and reflect the light.
In lieu of candelabra and sconces, gas fix.
lures of the severe style. which have been con-
fined hitherto strictly to church buildings,
will be used as side jets from the walls.
The dining room, that apartment from
which all that's pleasant in home lite radiates.
will be fitted in either ash, maple or mahog-
any. The hangings will be dark, and the
metal work of the room will be bronze. The
tables will be very massive. and carved in
the later renaissance style with birds, how-
ers and fruits. In some cases the top of the
table will represent some appropriate scene,
and at luncheon no cloth will be used. The
chairs will SAVIOR a little of the Eastlake
model, being large. square, upholstered in
stamped French morocco. and very heavy.
The decoration of their frames will match
the table and the buffet. The s;deboard will
be built considerably lower than formerly
The mirrors will be cut with bevelled edges,
and the upper portion of the sideboard will
present an imposing array of miniature cabi
nets and bric-a brac shelves. Very little
inlaid work is used in dining room furniture.
but where metal is employed it is either cut
brasswork (bas relief or bronze, chased in
terial for upholstery in dining rooms is ele-
plant skin. 1t is dressed in various colors
and presents a very smooth surface 1t is
usually embossed in medieval designs of
griffins and arabesques.
The parlOr. or, as is now known, the drawing
room. is the chief work of the house deco
ratOr. 1t has not always been so, for in the
time of the Grand Monarque the bOudoir
was the beautiful room, while the salon
simply glittered. The prevailing tone in the
drawing room decoration is a very rich one.
The ebonized furniture still retains q very
decided hold upon the house decorator. It
is upholstered in silk plush, both embossed
and plain, satin velours, and mohair plush
Raw silk is still used, but only for the less
expensive furniture. The most expensive,
and the wood with the richest coloring. is the
amaranth 1t is deep red color, and re-
sembles black walnut which has been soften
ed and mellowed by the breath Of centuries.
Bull cabinets are of course all the style. and
the graceful but frail escritoires of Louis
XVI, with panels after Vatican, are in
demand at fabulous prices. Ebony cabinets
with brass panels are very elegant. and the
mantel cabinets, or over-mantels. are used
as they were last year, to the absolute ex-
clusion of fiat mantel shelves. The manrel
pieces are heavily draped with plush or jute
velours. The window hangings are either
plush or satin vel0urs, costing from So to
$50 per yard The curtains are supported
BY brass rods, and hang in straight folds to
the floor. The upholstery in a drawing room
shows very little wood. The chairs and
lounges are covered completely with up
holstpry. and excepting in chairs of the
Turkish shape, which are tufted, the furniture
presents smooth and uniform surface. The
tables are either square or OctagOnal in shape,
with light legs as supports. The heavy and
almost immovabIe card-tables, that were so
much in vogue last year, have vanished.
Pedestals will be covered entirely with en-
bossed plush. A few ebonized ones are
used, but they have not received the sanction
of fashion. Light and fire screens have in
creased in impo,tanc and it is very rarely
now that one enters the drawing room or
library without noticing the exquisitely
carved, painted or embroidered fire screens.
They are perhaps the most genuinely charm
ing piece of furniture in 4 room, for their
Craze and convenience cannot be surpassed
by any other article of furniture the end of
which is simply to please the eye. Mirrors
are strictly tabooed in drawing rooms except
where they act as the background of a cabinet
or over mantel.
In the library there is little change. With
the low bookcases running about the room.
and the dark. quiet hangings, with the varied
bindings of the volumes which are precious,
not alone because of contents, but in memory
of some hand that may once have touched
their pages, there 10 no need Of alteration to
bring charm The library in winter lie a
collection of books within reach. great log
wood fire and solid furniture. Perhaps a
picture or two, or a classic divinity looking
down on the treasures of the past, might
complete the room, but library once ar
ranged must never be disturbed. The bed
room is furnished in ash, maple and mahoe-
any. Walnut is seldom used at present, and
il NAV eventually be made only into the less
.r ornaments Of a room. The bed and dress
;np.case are carved in the most elaborate
manner. tbs 10 these pieces OF furniture
that the renaissance style receives its highest
development The beds are built very low
and unusually broad, with high head pieces
and low foot. boards. The dressing cases are
made on the French model, which permits no