Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1899-10-06
hEMlDEAS IN FURNITURE
Red the Great Color and la
cobean Models Used.
SPEOIALTIES II sIDEBoARDS.

A"ES-NoNeA 'hhifs For thc hccep-
tIou salon.
Red, running through the gamut of
its rich dyes. from morris scarlet 10
the deepest mulberry, is the favorite
cOlIr in house decoration this season.
The steadily increasing popularity of
mahogany in simple colonial forms has
brought this color into fashion. aud
after long dalliancc with French STYLES
and Il momentary fancy for delft blues,
lavish use of gliding and white paint,
the whole inclination of interior urna-
menlatiOn is toward the older, darker
and severer English modes. says the
New York sun. Nothing Is more fash
lonablc, for instance than library, Il
hall or even al entire first floor wholly
decorated and furnished after the best
Jacobcan models left in England, Ire
land and Scotland, and one of the
charms of IL King James room is that
1t can be done at as lavish or moderate
cost as you please, and it is like moth
lbS FNNlI bNLOlN III .AllltIlCul uOlltS.
In one New York house only recently
completed there is a small Jacobpan
library that would be a faultlcSs model
for any one desiring n similar room to
copy. The walls are hung in murrcv
ColOred leather, and the woodwork is
carved cedar The floor is stained
black, then waXed, highly polished. and
Oh ii are laid red rugs, All the furni-
ture and this motif in decoration come
from an ancient manor house on the
border between England and Scotland.
Carved fumed oak, SO called from be-
ing hlacked by age and the smoke
from slow peat fires, forms the presses
that hold the books and the wooden
portion Of the quaint. uncomfortable.
long legged, low backed conversation
chairs, the window stools and the set
tees. Murrey colOred leather upholstprs
these, and in corners against the walls
there are carved locked chests for
holding valued manuscripts and family
papers, and one long tapestry curtain
hangs at each deeply recessed window.
The effect Of the Jacobean room is.
In spite of its absence of mirrors, gilt
and loose bric-a-brac, wonderfully rich,
stately and cozy. and in those houses
where no such liberal expenditure
could be INDUCED the decorations have
pursued the King James style with
wonderful cheapneSS and success.
They copy the quaint furniture forms
in carved black American walnut or
use an oak to which art has given the
worn, duSky tone of great age. Bur
laps are laid on the walls and painted
murrey red, and walnut is used for
woodwork or door facings. etc, paint
ed black. Where in any room this ear
ly sixteenth century idea of decoration
Is followed the bric-s -brac is carefully
boarded up in open fronted cupboards
or shallow presses with half glass
doors and the very newest idea in din
ing rooms is Il great plate sidcboard.
When a dinner party is given now
adays, 1t is in order for the hostess to
put on view all her beautiful plate,
gold and silver, not so much for actual
table use us for display and the orna-
mcntation of her dining room. Now,
the ordinary long, low Georgian, or
colonial. sidcboard of mahogany is not
we'll suited for this, SO that some wo-
men who own splendid silver services
require special sideb0ards on which to
exhibit their glittering boards. For
this In llupl- t.,
cohcan plate boys, with shelves rising
nearly TO the ceiling are being cSpc-
cially built and so placed in handsome
dining rooms that the light from
many branched candelabrum can fall
effectively on tiers of silver. Other
plate boys are built Of any simple wood
and then entirely covered in ruby red
velvet
Sang de boeuf, or bulls blood red, Is
the approved tint in which the draw
Ing rooms are being done over, and
the decorators say that it Is the most
becoming background possible for wo-
men Of all colorings and especially
when in evening dress. 1t appears that
in drawing room decoration, as in the
feminine wardrobe, fabrics 20 In and
out of fashion about every five years,
and now, after the brocades and dam
asks of the French influence, velvet
has come to its own again. 1t is used
as wall hanging. for pOrtieres and
curtains, not drapcd, but hanging
straight, arras fashion. Modern silk
velvet is not approved. Venetian,
Utrecht and Flanders velvet are the
kinds employed for hangingS and up
hQlstcry, and just now, no matter if
your hall Is colonial, your library ia
cObcan and your dining room Of an
ether period. your drawing room must
not be III any particular cut and dried
fashion. One Of Its most important
features is It's chairs. that can be cho-
sen from every period in history If
you choose, provided they are all
graceful and ornamental
In the newly done over reception
salons there Is sure to be a carved
cedar gondola chair Inlad with very
pink pearl and bits of coral and soften.
cd in its curved seat by Il plump pill.
low covered with Venetian velvet and
having heavy gold taSsels at its four
corners. On either side the drawing
room fireplace are also inevitably Il
pair Of lofty backed court chairs. These
have Eilded frames perfectly straight;
solid wood backs. down the center OF
which strip Of red velvet is fastened:
velvet seats and are occupied usually
by the hostess and her most honorcd
feminine guest \ deep Dutch easy
chair is another one Of the newcomers
in tn" American drawing room.