The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-14
THE ART or DECORATING 4 HOME.
An Rxaup,s or Success at srasii Cost-Mru.
Landou's 1deas.


Aa Erar-p,s or success at Snail Cost-Mrs.
Landeu's 1aeas.
ELI Perkins at home 10 Mr.. Melville u. Lam
don. He IL also the husband OF q charming wife,
the father Of . charming daughter. ana tho &C.
cupant Of a charming apartment. To Mrs. ELI
belongs tho credit of the apartment. 1t is her
taste which has ruled in the decoration. As an
example OF great results from q comparatively
small expenditure Mrs. Landon's apartment has
few rivals.
II hate TO have you see tho place now" sho
snil, the other day. ave arc scarcely settled
yet. The portibres and curtains nre not up yet.
Everything is very simple, anyway"
THAT is the reason II is worth q description"
II suppose So" obviously. YES, ANYBODY
with a great deal Of money can turn a place
over to q furnisher and decorator, but It is a
different thing to furnish q homo yourself. The
difficulty with this apartment Is that l have had
to put into 1t tho things I brought from our old
home. ! should have done better II / could have
begun at the beginning and furnished it out
right. Any one ought to be able TO furnish a
small apartment tastefully in that way and
without n great expenditure OF money, either.
Limit yourself to a certain amount for each
room, and do not go ahead In o haphazard way,
buying individual things which hit your fancy. |
Most Of the money, of course. must be put
into the dining room and the parlor. Each
room should be planned definitely in advance.
Its general character and its scheme Of coloring
should be decided upon before anything Is
bought, and this plan must be adhered to. You
will have to pass over a good many tempting
thinRs which would be all right in some other
house perhaps. but would spoil your scheme"
Mrs. Landon's apartment consists Of a hall.
parlor, dining room, library, three bedrooms.
and tho kitchen and servants rooms. The hall
has somo heavy old brasses, a carved s%ettcc.
and some Japanese and French tapestries. This
, does not sound like an inexpensive apartment,
to be sure. But the things were picked up in
the course OF travel, and were probably not any
moro expensive than some Of the bad modern
furniture which Is showed into 30 many dim
halls, with the plea that it won't be c%onspicu-
GUS there. The floor. which is Of polished hard
wood, has q few rugs. or course, the
! rug hend will turn up his or her nose
again at the idea OF associating rugs
and economy. but any one who is not a fiend
con buy excellent rugs in very good colors at a
moderate price. especially when they are de-
signed to be put into a hall. The dining room.
which may DO entered from the hall. is a large,
light room. one OF that large family known az
"blue and white dining rooms"
"Thc room already had the blue and white
paper when we came" said Mrs. Landon.
otherwise I should have chosen something
else. The paper is charming in itself, and. at
first thought. seems to fit the scheme Of color.
But. you see. 1t Is impossible to harmonize all
these blues Of the china and the hangings with
tho paper. 1t would DO much better II the walls
were a buff. or q dull rose color. The buff would
ugree with the yellow in the colored delft and
would be a better background for these blues"
The room was full OF blue. Tho furniture was
Of heavy oak; the chairs, which were square
and I;rh 1vora pnholetprad No m fhe seaf and
back with tapestry Of a dull blue ground color.
On the sideboard were great tall Delft jars. and
high UP on the walls were big Delft plates. some
simply in the blue and white. others having the
added yellow and red-brown which character.
ICES some of the waro. These plates are all old
pieces brought from Europe. The room con.
tanned also old Canton pieces. This is perfectly
legitimate. because the colorings harmonic ex.
cellently and the HISTORICAL associations of old
This Interviewing OF color and country ed.
mitted also some beautiful pieces Of japanese
10 the famous work OF old Belgium and Holland.
Of oP tho Sn room an& was the presence Of coiored glass
and china in two corner Supboards. But this
gestion of color, which formed an agreeable foil
to the prevailing blue and white.
hall. and opened by wide doors into the
dining room, was French in coloring and design,
Uaf Erst tone p.Af T Rso polished oHsi si'i door WEI" w"s i haf PIN IN
color. AS was everything in the room. Over the
entrance to the dining room was a row OF fHience
feet came not from the individual worth of the
gether and made a harmonious whole.
"A great many people Of moderate means
lor Tor drawing room, II you wish to give SC
modest an apartment 90 big a namel must BE-
coat an aDDreclRbl0 lum OF money. 1t dOesnI
I make any difference to them that these object:
f hssu 3RSG N thu 4ocm nn IS t destr sl dn By 9,smioay them "nr
ion IN the pariorl The could have NOT on,y
moro beautiful parlor. but a. more beautiful
, things, putting into each room the objects
"6f course the frst objection viii be that the,
haven't enough things 81 to make m iS. a showing &c 81, 1
!, in the frst place. a slender showing is bette
than a bad one. In the second place. 1t is a mat
: sSE pfsns'l{ Of 3 f fsM soo asT th dSI!sr IN n tES %Sy { q
vases, jars. plates. and so on. with otner piece
s quits as good in color and an FORM 1in. n an man,
t You hear people complain. oh. 1t isn't any us
As a general thing, they are perfectly justlne.
s so sShnnss.t to Induce d. eAf the o" landlord rII 70 r repapo1
9 but they have varying success: If the landlor'
{ wry faces at the walls and put up With their us
illness. Now. it is a very trlhing matter !
paper q room. Extremely artistic paper can b
l. bought for fifteen cents a roll. Yet most peopl
I will spend the necessary amount In some trar
silent pleasure. but will live for months, or pc
9 haps years. in the midst Of ugliness which the
Q could easily have remedied..
leading the way into a tiny library. 1T Is II
cent paper, but is charming in design and colol
the sunshine and is badly lighted anyway. J
will be lighter when i get lace curtains at tn
.s window. That is one thing which many peopl
d do not believe. MY husband. / know. WI nc
10 the West and finds lace curtains at this window
But contend that q thin, white curtain make
here that yellow shade will go up and stay up.
Here 10 another way in which am utiliEin
1t some. of my old things" said Mrs. Landol
X pointing TO two tall lamps on the table; Tho
were originally brass lamps. but the brass ha
N corroded and worn off In places. ] am paintin
them now, pink and white. They viii be o.
r. amelled and. with pretty globe shades. VIII !
10 wits to'work, one can make use Of a great mar
m seem to he over. In furnishing an apartment