St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-24
Some Decorative ..Don,ts.n

Don't forget this elementary prlnclple,
that room must not consist of unrelated
eolors and objects, but possess harmoni-
Gus unity in its plan of furnishing and
decoration.
Don't put high colOrs on your walls or
IN your carpets or tapestry, and very little
of it anywhere else. Wall paper must be
quiet in tone if you desire to produce a
pleasant effect. Pictures cannot look well
if hung against loud patterns or positive
colors; your bric-a-brac is sure to be lnef-
fective and taStelesS; its designs are con-
fused with the designs and colors against
which it is placed.
Don't freSco walls or ceiling, Fresco
painting is very well for large halls or grand
saloons, but the effect is not good for do
nestle rooms. Color on the walls in this
way is sure to be in conflict with whatever
color may be brought in, whether in pic
lures, furniture, hangings, OF decorative OBJ
jects.
Don't select carpets with gay tints orpro-
nOunced designs. 1t is impossible for
furniture to appear to good advantage set
upon forid patterns, clamoring, so to speak,
to be seen. Carpets and wall colors should
be as fOils for color and ornament, rather
than color and ornament in themselves 1t
unless this principle is kept in mind.
Don't have white handicapped tables or
marble mantles in your rooms, for objects
of this kind are enough to chill the heart of
bronze statue. White walls in room are
equally chilling. 1t is impossible to do
anything with them. Cold and unrelenting
surfaces they will remain, plan as onemay
A touch of gray or brown in the tint is
great help, but white is absolutely fatal to
decorative effect.
Don't be persuaded into vanished floors
and rugs instead of carpets. Floors treated
in this manner are a serious nuisance.
Every football mars them, and it costs more
to keep them in good order than to pay for
carpets at the outset. If, however. these
are repeatedly oiled and vanished, and
ceaseless pains taken to keep them in good
condition, the effect is very pleasing. Az
ticleS of furniture stand out against the
dark varnish in rich and artistic con-
traSt.
Don't be induced to lay upon your floors
Turkish or Partisan rugs. The figures and
colOrS of these rugs are considered very ar
tiStic, but the fact is, they usurp the atten-
ton altogether too much, and it is difficult
to get them in harmony with walls or fur
niture. A rug made from well-Selected
Brussels carpet is much more satisfactory.
4 rug of this kind with queer center
piece and a broad border, in which little
color is introduced, and made so as to leaye
about two feet of stained floor space around
it. gives much of the effect of rug furnish
ing. without the annoyance that pertain to
floors with large spaces uncovered.
Don't put elaborate brass CRATES in your
rooms unless you intend to use them. A
snowy brass crate, unStained by smoke or
ashes, suggests in all its glittering newness
showroom and not home. A fireplace
not consecrated to fire, that has neither
warmth nor suggestion of warmth, is dread
full sham. 1t is not artistic; it is not deco
rative; it kills rather than gives pleasure,
Don't hang upon your walls huge black
engravings set in vast spaces of white
margin. Pictures of this sort are very de-
pressing Instead of white margins SUBJ
stitute gray paper, and if you must have
black prints select those that have good
deal of gray in them-pictures with tone
and mellow effects. Etchings commonly
have more softness and artistic effect than
engravings. Don't hang chromos on your
walls, or colOred prints: don't display long
lines of family photographs; don't hang
MOSES, or colored leaves, OF dried grass
about.
Don't have fancy devices for picture
frames, Picture-frames should be of gilt
or oak or walnut, never of velvet, never of
ornamental leather-work, never Of shells OF
burrs, or anything fantastic. Whatever
the material, let ornament be sparingly
used. Picture frames should set off the
picture and not set off themselves.
Don't crowd your room with too many
objects. 1t is not good taste to transfer a
museum or bric-a-brac dealers collection to
your apartments. A few articles selected
with Judgment, and with their relation to
the color scheme of the room in view. give
a sense of beauty and repose such as we
should seek to obtain in our homes. ~
Don't on, the other hand, let your
rooms be too bald and empty. Portieres
and window hangings do much toward re-
lieving baroness. Some bric-a-brac is very
desirable, and few pictures are important.
The art is to have ones room filled, but not
packed.
Don't paint pictures or ornamental de-
signs on your door-panels. Unless door
panels treated in this way are kept very
quiet the effect is loud and disturbing.
Don't select high colors for your furni-
ture covering Blue or pink satin may do
for lady's bOudoir where the whole scheme
of treatment is light and delicate, but in a
drawing-room for general use it is out of
place.
The Summer Fashions.
Lawns and piques, and dainty dresses of
l.