The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-11-26
A MIKADO ROOM.
How to Decorate q Room that IL May Re-
semble that of the Mikado.

A MIKADO ROOM.
How to Decorate Room that it May Re.
sembIe that of the Mikado.
In an interview with Chicago Tri-
bu'1e reporter well-known decorative
artist says:
1.-The essential point in making your
Mikado room is to have it consistently
a la Japonesque. Chinese mating
can be bought at any carpet store at
prices ranging from Is to 25 cents a
yard, and for these figures it is remark
ably cheap. because it is clean and dur
able. 1t is not however, adapted to
rough wear, and is unsuitable for halls
and dining-rooms, especially public
ones. After the floor is provided for
by the old gold hue, which forms a
capital foil for the more blase and Wig
orous mural colors. the next thing is a
dado, which some people incorrectly
| pronounce 'dah-do.' The word is from
the Spanish. 1t means the limit for
fnger-reach. and is intended as guard
against the smearings offthe hands of
the little folks. Il would suggest that
the dadO be formed of japanese Grape
paper pictures, which cost about one
u.
are extremely bright and attractive,
burst through the clouds of q stormy
sky. Below the dado and reaching to
tho floor Japanese chintz, costing from
25 to so cents per yard of eighty inches
in width, will be found as cheap and
suitable as anything, and a hundred
times more durable than medium
priced wallpaper. Colors can be Sc
lected ad lib, and there is a great va
riety to choose from. The darker col
ors are, in my opinion, the best, be-
cause hand-prints or furniture marks
will not spoil dark-patterned chintz
The upper part OF the walls above the
dadO can either be left in its calcimin-
ed state or can be hung with chintz of
brighter colors. To those who leave
the walls bare above the dado would
recommend the use of tine .Kakemono,'
the artistic scrolls or banners so famil-
lar to the student of the Japonesque.
These range in price according to the
material of which they are made, paper
as strong as linen answering the pur-
pose as well as silk or satin. 1t must
be remembered, however. that the price
of the kakemono is largely dependent
An ordinary-sized room will take from
ten to fifteen of these scrolls, which
should not be of uniform size, because
irregularity is the basic idea of Japan
ese decoration in contradistinction to
uniformity, which is the Western idea.
The kakemono range in price from 10
gin, indeed, and between such limits
fiSfry he hot
Between the banners is the place for
fans, curio cabinets, etc. The fan is a
branch of Japanese art which requires
an article-nay, whole volume to
itself. All true Japanese fans are
beautiful art objects, more or less.
The price is not always an index of
their esthetic value. 1 have seen a
fye-cent fan which fills my humble
idea of artistic beauty to larger ex-
tent than one costing twenty times
as much. For wall decoration the fan
is Indispensable, and there is no limit
to the fanciful and beautiful specimens
which person of ordinary taste can
secure at a comparatively trihing ex-
pense. The merest amateur need not
be afraid of incongruousness- of color.
The more bizarre and startling the
to the real Japonesque, and solecism
of color cannot be feared, as the native
artists are distinctive thermometers of
tints."
AND NOW FOR THE FURNITURE.
''What about the furniture of our
Mikado roomf"
1.-The hanging cabinet is indispensa-
BILE. Lightly and gracefully construct
ed of split bamboo, neatly joined in
odd shapes, it is the most fitting recep-
tacle for small bronzes and clOisonne,
or if these are beyond the financial
reach of the amateur porcelain vases,
cups, tea-pots, ETC., ranging in price
from 10 cents to 81 apiece, will be
found equally attractive, and will cost
only only one-fiftieth of the value of
bronze curios. There should, to be
strictly correct, be as little furniture as
possible. Rattan chairs and settees
and black wood genuine or imitation)
tables in what is called the Eastlake
style, which, you know, is only an
adaptation of the Japanese decorative
art, and one or two neatly-covered
easy-chairs draped in Japanese chintz,
the style more or less covered with
gliding being most suitable, are all
that will be found desirable. The
chintz that 1 allude to here costs from
so to IS cents yard, and Is very hand
some, being also specially adapted for
the draping of pictures and studios
For the ceiling nothing answers so
well as the regular Japanese umbrella.
the size and quality of which can be
determined by the purse of the deco
rator, for they can be had from 25
cents up to 500 each. At the ends of
the ribs paper or silk lanterns of grace
full design can be hung. The paper
lantern costs from 10 cents upwards,
the silk article from 81 up. This will
complete the decoration of the ceiling,
and, indeed, the furnishing of the
room. A more or less strict following
of the general suggestions will make
an apartment as neat as it is attractive.
The beauty of it all is that it is inex-
pensive as compared with any other
style of decoration. While the well-to-
do mechanic can make house, or at
least one room, beautiful by a miui-
mum of outlay, the wealthy merchant
can furnish such a room at 100 times
the cost, and each will be in its own
style consistently and artistically at
tractive."
DO you think the Japanese craze
will IastP"
Il certainly think it will, because
the goods are easily replaced and in
expensive, and Japanese stores are ev-
erywhere on the increase.