The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1883-05-10
W0MANS WORK,
Aunt Helen's Home Talks---The Table.
Our Letter Box.

aspects of drawing-room furnishing:
"In the selection of paints for drawing
ROOM much discretion is needed blue and pink,
| especially, are colors which should be charity
! used, and then only when combined with
purity and delicacy. Yellows with white are
admirable, but reds and browns are colors which
are unsuited to drawing-room. The vara-
tons of tint between greenish- yellows, yellow
green's blue-greens, and gray greens are in
Vulnerable, and almost any color would be IN
harmony with their quiet and tender tones.
The color OF the wall decorations should always
be selected with a view to the pictures and or
naments. The wall-tints must be softer and
lower than the color of the ornaments; other
WISE the beauty of the latter will be impaired.
The shape and size of the room should enter
| into consideration. If the room is too low, the
treatment OF the walls should be perpendicular.
7Gs't-is too high, the line of surbase will sug-
&c. htsth, and lessen the appearance of height.
If rcOm be gloomy and sunless the wood
work may be creamy-white, HaUarRiShed, and if
the white of the ceiling be relieved by a creamy
tone, the walls papered in some tint of yellow,
the carpet amber-colored, or blue the somber
effect OF the room will be comparatively de-
stroyed A room into which the sun enters too
giaringIy III summer may be effectively treated
with dark, rich tones and sober tints. Hitherto,
popular favor has inclined toward the indis-
criminate use of light tints for drawing
rooms, and neither mistress nor decorator has
thought to ask what relation might be estab-
lished between the prospective decoration and
the various aspects of the room. Rich coors
do not necessarily mean brilliant colors, and
the latter are always TO be avoided, unless we
would willfully destroy the beauty OF pictures
and hangings. We might, with advantage,
take few lessons of Nature before furnishing
our homes There, we should find other col
ors-greens blues, yeliows, for instance-than
tho5e which NC find on our walls. There is
little doubt that ceilings are better undecora-
ted, but their biankness may be relieved by a
creamy or greenish tint, which gives a warmer
and pleasanter effect than unbroken whiteness
HAND-FAINTED CEILINGS.
But when the ceiling is uninterrupted, and
decoration be desired, hand painting with a
simple diaper pattern in very quiet colors,
yellow upon white, pale blue upon greenish-
white, according to the wall-tints, may be adj
Missile. 1t is always better to paint ceiling
than to paper it, because most papers assert
themselves and the virtue of a ceiling consists
of unobtrasiveness There is but one condition
under which il is desirable to be reminded of
| a ceiling, and that is when room is high out
of all proportion. Paint upon woodwork in
rooms should always be of pure and simple col
ors, fatted." "Graining to initiate different
Kinds OF WOOD, says q writer, T" is mere dis
stimulation, and unworthy one who would have
an honest home. No material should pretend
TO be other than 1t is and provided that form
and color be good, no honest material need be
ashamed of itself" Ofmantelpieces the same
writer says: Once attain freedom from the
traditions OF o lifetime, and surely the natural
result would be TO wonder why all freplaces
should be the same. Why should not two
E shelves be above, or even three or more, if
another idea appear convenient? Why should
mantelpieces always be of cold marble or stone,
which give but q chilly welcome to ones fin
gers, and a dangerously hard standing place
for gbfr No lruo fI,a ;aofs
were accustomed to dedicate their hearth
stones TO their gods and idols. 1t has
always seemed to us that in the home the fire.
place should be the central point of warmth,
beauty and brightness We have before US
pictures of few fireplaces so cosy and attrac-
; tive that we are wishing they might find their
way into every home. In the first picture a
/ heavy board projects about two inches beyond
the marble. The board is to be covered with
] velvet, cloth or serge, hanging down six or
. eight inches, thus giving color, warmth and
softness and enhancing the beauty of the orna-
ments. Instead OF the usual lofty mirror, three
separate glasses are set in frame made OF
some hard wood and painted black or ebonized.
THE FIREPLACE.
Above this there is a shelf with a rail to pro-
tect china plates or vases. The latter should
be Of bold pattern to be effective at this small
height. The frames ofmirrors may be made OF
American walnut, which has fine rich color
! OF its own and only requires rubbing with lin
seed oil. The hearth may be laid with tiny
red, brown or green Lambeth stone-ware tiles,
which reflect heat and do not break If old
/ china is not available to fill up the spaces in
D the shelves above the mantel, a rich color may
: be obtained by fitting pieces of old Venetian
G leather exactly into the spaces lacking these,
squares Of beveled looking glass or hand
/ painted tiles may be used with good effect. A
copper al-scuttle with its rudy glow. is al
fireplace but so desirable an object is not al
ways in the possession Of the householder, and
III It's stead we are apt TO find boxes or hods of
unsubstantial make and deliberately ornamented
with lanscapes and Haunting flowers in mother
: o'-pearl doing duty in the corner. And incon-
gruous enough they appear We wonder that
| good taste and good sense do not substitute for
J, these fanciful objects substantial and appro-
priately painted wooden boxes Tiles are now
| so inexpensive that they are within the reach
of all, and as they reflect heat, there is a two
fold reason for their use in the laying of hearths
, and IN the borders slanting sides of CRATES
and they add greatly to the beauty and home
likeness of fireplace. In the selecting OF
b carpets the thought should be not of any one
. tone or feature, but of the general effect. Will
ton and velvet pile are best in pale blues and
. low-toned yelloWs and ambers and are made
= with borders and rugs to match. The patent
= ADMINISTER carpet Is less expensive and has a
7 good and rich effect. The pattern should be
: simple, and in quiet restful hues. The custom
y OF laying the carpet in the middle of the room
is sensible and convenient 1t saves the un
n healthful accumulation OF dust as carpet in
;, this shape may frequently be shaken, and il
escapes the heavy furniture in the ROOM The
d Eastern carpets, which are often long and mar
Y row III shape, are usually complemented by
Il rugs. Chinese, japanese and Manila mattings
n are made OF convenient widths in various soft
d yellow, green, and dull red diaper patterns
&c and make good borderngs. 1t is we'll to selec
is n carpet with one universal cool color; such
70 carpet Will for a long time retain its freshness
&c and brightness. Carpets bristling with bril-
Liant and CANDY colors and grotesque limitations
L of flowers and animals are disappearing ani
o giving place to those of quieter tones and les
s pretentious and obtrusive ornamentation, ant
!: the result is restfulness to eye and spirit"
AIRS. Anterior proved her remembrance O
y one OF Aunt Hclen's suggestions in the preeed
ing talk, and she now displayed a pretty cur
r. tam OF serge, about e-half yard long, sepa
! rated IN the middle, and suspended by means
r. OF tiny brass rings upon a small brass pole
!. The curtain was to be hung from the librar,
! mantel, q small mirror was to be fastened Il
! the wall or fireplace in such wise that whel
! the curtain was parted the most charmin,
: glimpse OF color was reflected from object
= within range of the mirror. Then came Tab
- bies paper, with Its reminders of more materia
relations:
= OUR TABLE.