, 1884-01-22
WOMAN AND HOME.
Hints Mental and Physical for Women
and Girls.
Lewis F. Day In English Magazins.l

LAu"H - Nhg III AabkAAHh lAhEa<AAg+
1t is impossible to arrange pictures OF all
shapes and sizes on a wall with complete sat
isfaction. The mounts, by the way, may be
Of wainscot or tinted cardboard, or of COM
mon brown paper-of whatever they may be
the tone should harmonic with the photog-
raphy. TIL thing to be most certainly
avoided is a white mount Unless the walls
themselves are uncomfortably light, the
white mounts of pictures catch your eye
directly you enter a room; in other words
they murder repose. Now, as the pictures
are TO be hung because the owner has pleasure
in them, let them hang where they can be
seen-on the eye line. in fact. They may, IL
there are enough OF thom worthy of the posi-
ton, form a compact band all round the
room, interrupted only by the doors, windows
and taller furniture.
A further precaution against monotony
may be taken by allowing here and there one
OF the most important frames to rise above
the upper line of the picture band. The
lower line will be horizontal, and will CORE
spond, in fact, with the rail OF the dado,
which. for reasons partly Of use and partly
Of effect, we will keep considerably darker
than the walls above. The darker color will
wear better land this Is the portion Of the
walls that suffer most from wear, and 1t will
help TO connect the furniture and make the
place compact and snug. Economy being an
object, we will use paper for this dado,
choosing a pattern somewhat severe and stiff
in style, partly because It seems fit that the
base OF the wall should be rigid, and partly
in order that we may with propriety break
out into freer and more flowing forms In the
wall above. II we bagin at the bottom with
flowers and scrolls. what should we arrive al
by the time we reached the ceilingi
The wall above the pictures Is the place fos
freer ornament, and here again we may AZ
well adopt paper as the simplest, cheapest,
and most effective means OF giving interest to
a wall space. This may be finished off imme-
diately below the wall cornice by u frieze,
deeper or shallower according to the height
of the room, very similar in tone and, per
haps, In character tool to the wall paper. 1t
Is commonly believed that such a frieze low
ers the room in appearance II 1t do so 1t is
the fault Of the contrast In color or of the
strength of the pattern A frieze fifty chosen
only serves to prevent the lines of the wall
paper from seeming 70 run behind the cor
nice, draw the eye up to the ceiling, and so
give the appearance Of greater height to a
room
On the cornice we Will waste no labor in
picking out" all that Is wanted In a few
shades of intermediate color to connect the
wall with the ceiling. II the mouldings are
In themselves bald and uninteresting, some
stenciled pattern work may be necessary in
order to make up for the shortcomings of the
plastered work The ceiling Is most easily
d~istempered or papered, the echo of one or
two of the colors prevailing on the walls.
Crude white is in favor with housewives for
ceilings-"it Is 50 clean" That Is Just its
fault 1t looks so clean, even when it is not,
that it makes all else look dirty, even though
1t may be clean. To paint the fiat ceiling of
a moderate sized room by hand is waste of
labor. 1t Is only at great personal incon-
venience that one can look long at It, while,
as a matter of fact, no one cares to do so.
You see 1t occasionally, by accident, and for
Il moment, and that that casual glimpse
should not be a shock to the oye, 1t Is well to
tint It In accordance with the room, or even
cover 1t with a simple diapered paper, which
will, to some extent, withdraw the attention
from the cracks that frequently disfigure ths
ceilings of modern houses.
What hend-painting we can afford may
best be reserved for tho panels of doors, win
dow shutters, and the like, where IL can be
seen-these doors and other woodwork being
painted in two or three shades of color, fiat
or vanished according az we prefer ~softness
of tone or durability of surface. Perhaps it
will be best in this instance that the wood
work should fall in with the tone of the dado;
but this is not a point on which any rule can
be laid down The decoration OF the panels
should be in keeping with the wall paper pat
terns. 1t may be much more pronounced
than they, but still 1t must not assert itself.
One great point of consideration in the deco
ration of n room is the relations OF the various
patterns one to another. 1t may often be
well to sacrifice an otherwise admirable de-
sign simply because you can find nothing else
TO do with It. A single pattern, once chosen,
will often control the whole scheme OF deco,
ration.