The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-03-26
House Decoration.


view III ouii.
What is your advice to the average
housekeeper who Graves artistic surround
ings and has little money to spend?' a sue
cessful house decorator was asked.
Il would say buy fewer and better things.
and think more of the art displayed i'm their
construction than i'm the material employed.
Furniture made out of good ash. birch,
wildwood. spruce, strongly and servicea-
bly, put together. is more to the purpose
than that of cheaply made mahogany,
much ornamented with headings and
holdings. Chintz is more desirable than
stringy cotton-backed plush, and If one
cannot afford curtains and draperies of ex-
pensive lace she may evolve charming eff
fects i'm muslin or even cheesecloth. Painted
wood is easier managed in regard To deco
rative effect than wood finished in natural
tones. that is, where expense is to be con-
sidered. In the matter of ornament a single
plaster cast. if ii be really artistic. is bet
ter than a piece OF marble statuary poorly
executed. and then a person OF taste can
SO completely reyolutionize a house by
using the right colors in the right place.
| don't believe that people dream of half
the possibilities to be got out Of judicious
use of colors. There are colors that are re-
freshing and broadening, others that alb
sorb light and give a boXed-up appearance
to a room. others that make a room with a
bleak northern exposure or with no eX-
lOOSuI6 a L III dpDtdI VI lSh dtiN tlltt1l IL.
some that make "A room appear warm,
some that make it cold.
THE thermometer seems to fall six de-
grees when you walk into a blue room.
Yellow Is an advancing color, therefore, a
room fitted up in yellow will appear smaller
than il is. On the other hand. blue of a
certain shade introduced generously into "A
room will give an idea of space. Red makes
no difference in regard TO size. Green
makes very little. If a bright. sunny room
gets its light from a space obtruded upon
by russet-colored or yellow-painted houses.
or else looks out upon "A stretch of green
grass. il should be decorated in a color very
different from the shade chosen If the light
comes from only an unbroken eXpanse of
sky. Red brings out in a room whatever
hint of green turks in the composition of
the other colOrS employed. Green needs
sunlight to develop the yellow in ii and
make 1t seem cheerful. If olive or red
brown be used in conjunction with ma
hogany furniture the effect is very differ
ent from what IL would be If blue was used.
Blue would develop the tawny orange Turk
ing in the mahogany. If a ceiling is TO be
made higher, leave il light that il NAV
appear to recede. Deepening the color used
on the ceiling would make il lower. an eff
feet desirable if the room is small and the
ceiling very high. Various tones of yellow
are substitutes for sunlight
House decorating has come to have a diff
ferent meaning from its Interpretation a
few years ago. Formerly il referred rather
to the suoerfiuitieS than the essentials OF
existence; now the decorator, besides con-
sidering effects in an aesthetic sense, is
conquering real matter-of-fact. everyday
problems. \ certain young enthusiast in
the profession says she lies awake at night
devising original ways to make beauty and
utility join hands, and yet not make too
much OF a demand on her patrons purse.
Il like TO tackle difficulties she says. Il
Ike TO get hold of a tunnel-shaDed room
and make II look square and shapely. /