Morning journal and courier., 1884-03-05
prodtfytngthe Proportions of

Modifying the Proportions of a Rosm. [A.F.oakle7,in Harper's Magazine for Marchl In most rooms as we find them, some treat nent is necessary to modify defect in pro- oortion because even where the question has oeen wall considered in the building. the floor ioists must be set on one lsvel, and this is de-
 ernined by the most important rooms on each floor leaving the other rooms in foulty
 proportion of length and wealth to height. The most universally reconizsd rule for de- ! termining the heig ght of & room is the sum of half the width and the square root of the length. The adoption of this rule results in bringing the angle formed by the ceiling and sall just within the angle of vision of per >on stapding in the centre of the room with out raising the eyes; but of course the rule can only be strictly observed in one room on each floor, unless a double tier of joists iH met above the smaller rooms or unless it is poss- >ible to have the floors of rooms in the same tory on different levels either course invol Ving difficulty and expense. There is no de- 'ect in proportion that can not be modfed in more than ono way; that is to say, to assert hat 8 room is to high is equivalent to saying that it is either not wide enough or not long though, or both; SO that in treating 8 room
 Eith view to modifying it's apparent pro-
 portion, the treatment that is mo4t conven
 ent may be mads to answer tue purpose in almost any instancs;to apparently shorten a room being the same as to apparently in crease it's width and height, to apparently
 .idsn it being the same decreasing the length aud height and so on. Thus six rem
 dies at hand, ono or two of which will suffice under any circumstances, to make room appear higher, lower, narrower, longer, or shorter.
 To make 8 room appear higher, the plane surfacs of the csiling should be decreased by the mou!dings of the cornics, by panels, or in the absence of these, by bands of color per forming the same office. A verticle system of line should be adopted in mural deeora- tion, and the mantel should be lower.
 To make room appear lover, exactly the opposite treatment should be adopted;that is, to increase the plane ceiling adopt a horizon tals5 stem of mural dec orstions, with a dado and high mantel.
 To make a room adpear wider is accom- plished to a certain extent by making it ap- pear lower; but where this is undesirable, or where it is insufGcisnt, the effect be reached by adopting a mural decoration on B graduated scale of form, decreasing upward, that two or more patterns at the top sim liar to those at the foot are found to occupy the same space as one at the foot, and this effect can be much increased by a gradation of color upward from dark to light. l
 To make room appear narrower Is accom- plish to certain extent by making it appear higher; but where this is undesirable or in sufficient the effect can be obtained by adop ting strongly drawn, large pattern in stroug color for mural decoration.
 To make a room appear longer is to an ex- tent accomplished by making it appear lower and narrower; but where these are undesirable or insufficient, the effect may be obtained by
 increasing the scale and strength of color of the mural decoration adopted at the end.
 To make 8 room appear shorter is accom- plished to an extent by making it appear wider and higher; but the effect can be acheived by increasing the strength of colo of the murel decoration adopted at the ends
 Any of these effects can bs modified or in creased by the treatment of the floor surface, whether by carpet, rugs, painted boards, or by parquet flooring, lines running across room, or rugs laid down at intervals having the effect of shortening, and conse quently to extent of heightening and widening, room. Lines running in the length increase this di- mansions, and to an extent reduce the height and width
 polished floor increases the apparent height of an apartment by refeeting all yer tical lines and prolonging them.
 These are the main devices for modifying proportion without actual alterrtion, and the extent to which any should be used must de- pend upon the degree of the defect. In many instances serious defects may be cured by little judicious carpentry, snch as increasing or decreasing the height or width of doors or windows Where the windows are too high, or where it is desirable to continue an onbroken horizontal line, transom bar may be introduced in the window frame, affordipg an opportunity for stained-g glass lights above, and the usual sashes casem&pts below 7 The panelling of doors may be also made to assist any scheme. long unbroken panels having the effect of increasing the height of fhe door and numbsr of horizontal panels having the opposite effect