Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-08-03
HONE TOPICS.


wood color or in greens or reds suitable
to the other colorings Of the room. Cork
carpet, as it is called, also makes very
good bordering for bedroom.
Curtains should be either of washa-
PIE chlntz for summer Use, or in n woven
fabric of grass green or brick red. Pea
COCK blue is more suited to drawing
room. Muslin curtains in the summer.
and indeed ut all times, may be used, but
in dining-room they are hardly in keep
ing. Roller blinds, if of simple pattern
ed stuff, are by no means so obectiona-
BILE MS some people think, .and for utility
they are not surpassed. The rods, either
Tor long or short curtains, should be hon
estly shown, and all valances or shaped
cornlces i'll gilt composition carefully
avoided stout brass rod, with a plain
ball or terminal at either end to stop the
rings from coming off, is all that is neces-
sary. Ihe table-covers in n room are OF
some Importance, and you cannot do bet
ter than obtain quiet green baize, and
edge 1t either with plain binding to match
or with bobbin fringe. The panels of the
doors may be filled with leather paper, if
the doors are commonplace and mean in
style, or conventional foliage may be stem
cllled on the panels in darker tone of
the same color as the door. In this latter
case the assistance of an artist, if you are
not one, will be desirable.
The best parlor or drawing room should
be bright and airy, as it is associated with
our lighter occupations MS well as the
amusement of ourselves and friends. The
walls OF the drawing-room necessarily
will be papered, but this is no hardship,
for variety of charming designs are at
once at hsnd. Beyond the proportions
and purposes of room, other considere-
tons, before determining its key of deco
rations, will have to be made in respect to
its aspect. For general purposes, how
ever, good grass greens and peacock blues
and ochre yellows, with a liberal use of
creamy white, will best be determined
upon. On the walls are specimens Of some
cretonnes and chlntzes, which when lined
with plain backings, are very effective for
curtains and for covering easy-chairs and
couches. In the end, if these things will
stand cleaning once or twice, think such
material is to be preferred to more heavy
and costly fabrics. Plush and velvets
soon soil, and are even more liable to fade
than n fast-colored chintz. Short cur
tains in cream-colored figured muslin or
lace give draped effect to bay and other
windows in the drawing-room but
should your room chance to be large and
lofty in its proportions, larger curtains,
the whole height of the windows will be
better
The chairs, if not old ones, or of spe-
ciNlly gooddesign, will, probably, be very
shocking i'll taste and worse in coustruc-
ton. 4 very good makeshift for the
drawing is obtained by using round
bottomed, rush-seated, black, cheap chairs,
which are to be transformed by the addi-
ton OF frilled hanging some four inches
deep, suspended from the cushion or squab
of the chair When this is done, the Ia
dies aversion to rush seated chairs in n
drawing-room is at once modified, if not
entirely overcome. Chiutz will answer
every purpose, and should agree with the
coverings of the couch and easy chairs
These latter may be had or a well made
rattan chair, partly draped, does very well,
and unquestionably is most comfortable
The more simple and quiet the lines are
i'll the general outline of all furniture the
better, and rounded or curved forms are
preferable to squares and angles, while
honesty of construction is of the first i'm
portance. These rules are worth nnm-
ing while arranging for the drawing room,
because the side cabinets and what-nots
generally sold for use are the cmbodi-
ment of frittered twiddlings and theatre
cal display.
For the mantel-piece in the drawing
room an old eighteenth century looking
glass, divided ont in its length into bays,
and surmounted by an enriched cornice,
may be placed over the mantel-shelf, and
two or three mirrors about the room. if
judiciously arranged, either tilted or level
with the eye, will add very considerably
to the decorative effect. Cheap convex
mirrors, in neat black frames, can be
easily bought. aud thus every one can
use them without much expense. Be-
Sides one or two neat little Collect tables,
either old ones or eighteenth-century date,
in hard dark mahogany, or new ones of
, similar character i'll design, seem to be
rs good us anything obtainable
One or two fire screens add to the fur
nishing of the drawing-room ; and i'll re-
; spect to the fender some very artistic
, brass ones, curved or plain and simple III
detail, can be obtained readily. A fold
;. ing screen is useful in the drawing room,
but avoid badly y-made, cheap Japanese
screens such as are now sold they are
tawdry and not worth having. A far bet
,, ter plan is to obtain light frame of hon
est construction, and cover the upper
! portion, say, with needlework, and the
lower half with well set out wood or
clear glass panel, or the whole screen may
, be covered with Japanese leather paper.
. With regard to the bedrooms the first
'. observation to be made is that they should
: be healthy, light, and airy and undoubt-
: edly more attention should be devoted to
their furnishing than has hitherto distin-
, guished the modern bedroom. l see no
Ira WI, l,a otr Of for Il
, only by the use of a valance and curtains
:, over the head of the bed should not be
; retained, provided IN artistic method be
taken to suspend and firmly secure them.
:, Certainly the bed itself should be indie
=, pendent of the framework for the hang
> ings, so that it may be drawn out from
the wall. The framework for the hang
= ings may be fixed against the wall, and
e thus firm support is obtained for the
a bracket bearing the overhanging baldac-
chino or tester, which should be near the
ceiling, and of such material as may be
Nj. frequently washed and easily refxed. Do
= not provide anything which simply re-
y solves itself into collector of dust, and
=, for this same reason wide iiat-topped fur
niture in bedroom should not be used.
lie Cupboards and hanging-presses should
A. run up to the ceiling, and i'll these days,
when ladies' wardrobes are more numer-
'e GUS than ever, plenty of space of this
,r character is great desideratum. The
, wash-stand, dressing-table, and chairs
e must be simple and strong, with good
lie brush space under them, SO that the ilool
,s may be frequently cleansed and busted,
and the wardrobe itself should for the
I'd same purpose stand upon short legs. Fol
the hangings of bedroom and cover
lets of the bed, most Indies will agree
ne that good washing material should bt
ie used, aud now that SO many fast-coloret
chiutzeG and cretonnes are to be had OF
:" suitable colorings and design, there is NJ
as reason why cold and cheerless dimit,
/ l.knull nynrln siin oily he nnrnntnntnl IIs,