The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-05

The problem of how to furnish an
ordinary room in manner at once
attractive and homelilxe upon what can
be eked out of an income of SIS or $50
a week is one which confronts many
a woman in this broad land where
women have the task and the pleasure
of home-making and house-furnishing
When the necessary living expenses
are deducted from SIS a week there
is little left with which to furnish
sitting room, which, in these days of
restricted space, must turn bed-cham-
Der at times. Since the furniture and
wall coverings can not be changed
with the seasons, both must be Sc
lected with view to durability and
artistic appearance.
Although not the newest, green is
stir one of the best and most often
used colors in interior decorations and
one likely to harmonic we'll with win
try surroundings and to produce a
cool and pleasing effect in days of
midsummer heat. Therefore, green is
a good color to choose for a wall COW
ering and for the background upon
which to group, what Mrs. Darlington
has been pleased to term "brickbats
and articles of virtue"
A good healthy way in which to
color the walls is to have them cool,
forest green from the floor up to the
mouldings from which pictures are to
hang. Above the moulding the color
should rapidly shade into the palest
tint in the ceiling. This, in its turn,
should be almost white towards the
center. A skillful painter can grade
these shades of color imperceptibly.
Assuming that the room is to have an
air of individuality, and since it is a
den, library, sitting room and parlor
combined, the woman who decorates
and furnishes it is free to carry out
her own ideas in the way of original
ity. Smooth scantlings, or lathes, the
length and breadth of the room and
three inches in. width, with a well
planed surface, can be very cheaply
obtained from some builder or small
lumber mill or furniture factory. The
wood may be cheap and need only be
smooth. These should be tackled across
the ceiling. Four or five will prove
ample for a good sized room. The
crosswise pieces must be sawed-any
little hand saw will do-to fit exactly
between the other strips, forming
square panels upon the ceiling. The
strips should first be stained mahog-
any color and then touched with stain
over any scratches caused by lacking
them into place. This paneled ceiling
will cost some time, but very little out
lay in money.
tack a width of burlap, of the finer
grain, to match the wall covering. 1t
will have g distinct effect of it's own.
Border this with mahogany stained
scantling. Effective colored prints and
good photographs or etchings may be
arranged upon the bur1ap. 1t will cost
from eighteen to forty cents a yard
and fifteen or twenty yards should be
sufficient for the purpose. If the goods
run from forty-two to fifty inches in
width it may be cut in half and half
the quantity will do. While fine burlap
has a pretty and artistic surface some
may prefer a covering known as En-
glish taffetas-which is not silk-or
even damask. These cost about the
same as burlap, except the better class
of damask, and are over forty inches
in width. The wall above the cloth
dado requires only an occasional pic
ture. Good etchings are at all times to
be preferred to paintings that are not
of real excellence, and cheap colored
prints in fancy and elaborate frames
are to be avoided like the measles.
They will proclaim that the woman
who exhibits them has neither taste
nor discrimination in art, and this idea
will spread only too rapidly among her
acquaintance.
Next the floor must be treated. If it
is of hardwood, polished, let it alone
if not, the border may be stained and
a good rug, about eight by ten feet in
size, and costing from eight dollars to
twenty-four, according to the bargain
secured, should cover the center. 1t is
more elegant to scatter small rugs over
a highly polished floor but elegance
has, sometimes, to give way to econ
omy and plenty of fashionable people
prefer big, square rug in their sitting
rooms. The present style is to have
dark effects in floor coverings and to
shade up to light ceiling. The dark
floor covering also sets off the polished
of gilded beauty of English or French
furniture. The English variety is al
ways in good taste and style and it is
cheaper to buy set than to get single
pieces, unless the purchaser has unlim-
tied time and patience and can hunt