Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-13
BEAUTY IN THE HOME.
Notable Advance in the Art of Adorn-
ing Ones Abode.

From the New York News.
There has been notable advance In the
demand for more beautiful surroundings in
the home within the last decade-a demand
that has brought into existence a new occu-
patton for women of refinement and esthetic
taste.
Up to 1890 home decorations were sup
piled direct by the dealers or makers Now
there are in the field in this city a score Of
ladies who assist clients in the work of
selecting furniture. objects dart, paintings,
rugs, wall paper, portieres and curtains.
1t certainly stands to reason that wo-
man who has devoted years of study to
home furnishing or home decoration knows
more about the subject than most other
people. She is in position to assist those
who need her services in the work Of as
sembling in a room or house those articles
that will best contribute to the service or
the pleasure of the owner.
The presence of a love for the beautiful
in the human breast indicates that this
taste should be cultivated and gratified; and
1t IS one of the hopeful signs of the times
that as we grow in knowledge and in
wealth there is developed in a greater
desire for the esthetic. This love of the
beautiful Is not confined to any one class
of people, for 1t is found among the very
poor as well as among the very rich.
While art in any form and in any place
has its mission to perform, yet Its greatest
service is rendered IN the nome. Costly
furniture and statuary museums and beau
tful parks appeal to US when we visit
them, but their influence is as nothing COM
pared with the surroundings of our every
Gay life. The identifying of the home is
therefore, a necessity; it Is more, it is
duty. No longer we content with plain
walls, bare floors and ugly furniture We
demand that our places of abode shall not
only be comfortable in their appointing nts,
bat that they shall be attractive in all that
the term implies.
Taste is Unborn in some people and Is
acquired by others. Some never possess it.
You cannot expect to find an inartstic per-
son living in an artistic home, or vice versa,
for ones home should, and usually does,
reflect the tastes of it's owner.
The presence of pictures, of artistic but
not necessarily expensive furniture, Of
tasteful decorations on the walls, of flowers
on the mantel or table, in the living rooms
of the house, have a cheering effect upon
the tired eye and the tired brain. The
dearest place earth should be the home,
therefore anything that enhances it's beauty
and thus adds to its attractiveness should
be secured
When the man of the house returns home
at night, be he banker or artisan, he ought
to feel as he closes the street door behind
him that he is shutting out the vexations,
the trials and the worries Of the day, and is
entering a haven of peace and quiet and
beauty.
Beautiful things, such as Gobelin tapes
tries rare rugs, statuary and paintings
from the hand of a master, bronZes from
French studios, carpets from the most
artistic looms may not be within the
means of all who would have them, had
they the wealth with which to buy them,
but in these days when our youths are
taught art from the cradle up, and when
machinery and mechanical devices are
made to supplement hand labor in the pro-
duction of artistic things for the home, it
is possible for all who so choose to make
the home beautiful at moderate cost and
it is their duty to themselves and to their
families to do so.