St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-06-10
Difference Between Home and
a Place Where One
Merely Exists.
What an Easy Matter It May
Become to Beautify
Every Home.
A Few Practical Hints on
Some Of the Little Things
in That Line.

Home, What host of tender memo
ries that simple word calls to mind. No
matter where man may be, the thought
of home-be it the home of his boyhood
or the home of his own family-wili I'M
consciously make him quiet and
thoughtful and oft times sad. What
man cannot stop in the midst of his
daily toll and look back upon the place
where he was born and spent the hap
piest hours of his life? In his minds
eve he can see his mother, his father,
and his sisters and brothers, gathered
around the open fireplace in the even
ing, discussing the events of the day
and singing simple, home songs. He
can see his gray-haired father and his
kind-faced mother standing near the
door talking over some improvement
that will make the house more cOmforta-
BILE, and the picture of his sisters and
brothers engaged in making an Orna-
mental mantel or q rustic chair comes
rushing before him. The picture is a
pleasant one to look back upon, and a
man is made better by such thoughts.
Filled with these thoughts man goes
home in the evening, and he at once
begins to think how he can make his
own home look prettier and more COM
Portable. He is not a mOneyed man, in
this particular case, but is clerk on
COMPARATIVELY SMALL SALARY
and lives in rented house, and he be-
gins to think that it will not pay to fix
up a house he does not know how long he
will live in. This is the question, eX-
actly-hoW can he make comfortable
and pretty these strange dwellings,
houses built on purpose to rent, and
which, oh, how many of US are COM
PEELED to live in because we do not pos
sesS the means to build one of our own.
What | have to say relates mainly to
rented houses, the homes of the middle
classes, but is quite applicable to any
residence | am sometimes filled with
regret when | look upon some houses,
which appear to have been built with
out any hope or idea of beauty, and
perhaps without any thought on the part
of the owners or occupants that they
would derive pleasure from the cooks of
an ordinary dwelling house. These
houses seem more like barracks, mere
places to stay. sleep and eat, leaving
pleasure to be sought elsewhere. 1t is
much too often the case that our houses
fail to become a part OF our lives. Home
decoration must assume a new shape,
when we consider our requirements, II
we would build, plant and rear for a
future. The thing to do is to think and
act in accordance with our best I'M
pulses. seeking that which raises us
above ourselves, always reaching higher
and enrolling our own lives and those
of others around us.
That's all right" says someone, but
where shall we begin?'
THE SURROUNDINGS.
Why. first of all, look at the surround
ings of your house. Then look at the
house itself and see if it is a place of
beauty OF a crib set in beautiful place.
This will show you. where to begin. If
the house is common and plain, assume
that its surroundings are fine and so to
work to fix it up accordingly. Don't be
afraid of spending a few dollars or nag
glng at the landlord unless he consents
to eXpend little. you promising to do
your share in another direction. Then
we must begin on the surroundings. If
possible, we must produce a green
oasis of flower beds on our premises.
Don't overcrowd the place as though
florist had dumped his wagon
on the plat and was waiting chance
TO haul the pile away, but Sc
lect, assert and set out beautifully. with
care and neatneSS. Avoid great masses
and seek enough variety to entice a long
look from the passer-by. Don't neglect
ll1C DdCh y dlu. ulIlU vi NllllGWdSH Tile
fences, lay out walks, make a grass plot
for the children to roll on and for clothes
to bleach on, with line of cheap flow
erS set along the fences as borders for
the walks. Make all parts clean, neat,
tasty, and you will find that home dec
Grafton has begun in earnest. AS for
the interior of the house not much need
be said. There are no set rules. Every
thing depends upon circumstances, en-
Yironments, room, architecture, means
Hints are enough. and
THE WORK OUTSIDE
has doubtless whetted the appetite. He
who begins with grass plats, flower
beds, and painted or whitewashed
fences will not be satisfied with a cheer
less interior. The women folks will
here join hands and do three-fourths of
the work. Make study of your home
and of its capabilities for adornment
Feel your way cautiously and avoid
gairishneSs and OVERRIDING. Don't be
satisfied with your home so long as it is
merely clean. Cleanliness first, then
fer together. Art, like charity, should
begin at home. Don't despise the sug-
gestions of the children, and remem-
Der that pretty decorations are
out of place in house with
out conveniences or without suffi-
Gent light and ventilation. Home
decoration includes all parts of the
house, outside and inside, and every
thing in the house. 1t means that at
Effectiveness which makes it the bright
est, dearest spot Oh earth. Home dec
Orations need not be confined to the
houses of the well-to-do, nor to homes of
pretension. Often the humblest homes
admit of the greatest improvement by
simple and inexpensive treatment. Ar
chitecture is not everything. Some of
our modern ideas of home decoration
find fruit in piles of WORKOUT rugs, de-
cayed furniture, copper tea-kettles, fry
ing pans and skillets decked with gaudy
ribbons and put up as cheats, showing
how little some people can be satisfied
with, and not lnfrequently causing
others to laugh in their sleeves.
HOME DECORATION
in these days is largely craze-a craze
for crazy quilts, crazy baskets, crazy
furniture and cracked ware. l always
thought women were foolish for want
ing closets all over the house, but now
It seems that the closets have their use
fitness as receptacles for the accumu-
latlng debris Of home decoration. But
the men are just as bad in their way.
For instance, man determines to at
tract custom to his store or saloon. He
tells his carpenter to put in home decor
ationS, and to never mind the cost, pro-
viding the result be attractiVeness.
Home decOrationsi These words,
used in this connection, do not mean