The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-05-08
SCIENTIFIC HOUSE DECORATION.
A Young Woman Of Observation Speaks OF
Color Schemes For Rooms.

A Young Woman OF Observation SPEAKS OF
Color Schemes For Rooms.
II have been helping an old school
chumb to refurnish her house, said
young woman of observation, and
have learned more about color ef-
fects in one week than ever knew
before. You see, houses are not
painted or papered as they used to
be- on the old, simple plan OF that
will look well hore, and such pat
tern will be all right there, but ac-
cording to settled laws, canons and
rules. It's quite a scientific matter
now, 1 assure you.
"Yellows. for instance, are oil right
for a hall or vestibule, but they must
not be used in any room in which
ono rests or reads or works Why!
Because yellows do not absorb any
light, but are strong refectors, and
tho reflected rays of light are not
only trying to the eyes, but positive
" affect tho brain and the spirits,
creating distinct disturbance OF the
nervous centers. So the modern
scientific decorator, at any rate, tells
US, and we believe him.
"On the other hand, Bluffs and
creams are recommended for the
nursery and children's sleeping
rooms because Of their tonic quail
ties They ore better than White
which is apt to disturb the young op-
tic nerves by its brilliancy, and are
calculated to impart cheerful but
not too boisterous temperament as
we'll as a good complexion to the
youngsters.
"For the library or workroom
there is no color like coffee. Coffee,
in fact, is the most soothing thing
in the color world, it seems. It in
duccs a pleasant nirvana feeling,
such as nothing else does. 1t con-
duces to habits of speculative
thought. It produces philosophical
calm, and it is eminently successful
as a mild incentive to literary efforts.
Indeed there seems to be some deli
cate and abstruse connection be-
tween coffee as a beverage and coffee
as q color for domestic decoration. l
suggested something of this sort to
the handsome and interesting young
artist who was experimenting the
decoration, and he condescended to
agree with me.
IT have learned one really impor-
tant fact about colors, however. I
used to imagine that there was no
color so cool as white, but l have
been taught that, to tho contrary,
the coolest of all colors is red-not
the faring, g]aring red, but the dull
Pompeiian red and terra Gotta. These
arc cool because of their peculiarly
absorbent qualities. It is almost i'm
possible to light or warm them, and
l had today most convincing OBJ
iect lesson of this fact-that while
the cool white room of the Words
WORKMAN poem is all very nice to
read about, and does at first sight
impress one as being such, it does
, not begin to compare in GOODNESS
: with one in dull red. A visit to the
two rooms had just tho same cooling
effect on me that is produced by
. passing from sunshine into shadow.
Of course you know an speaking
, all the time of interior decoration,
3 although I am not sure whether
terra Gotta town would not be con.
siderably cooler than whitewashed
7 one.
, $50 you SEQ the old Pompeiians
= were right when they cooled off their
atria and patios by painting the town
! red. The only other color which ap.
: proaches Pompeiian red for cool
3 ness, so the elegant and artistic
young workman told me, is dark
0 green, but it has been found to have
0 so depressing a mental effect on most
people that it is very sparingly used
!. Then was told lots about mass eff
fects, distance shadows and length
= lines, and I don't know what else
but quite enough to convince me
that the decoration of our house in
, teriors is conducted upon plane sc
q lofty that it is impossible to say
whether it is all artistic science or c
scientific art. New York Sun.