The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-07-10
ARTISTIC FURNISHING.

l The Secret of Success Is Simple, but Difficult to Put Into Practice.
 I'm sure I don't know why people | should say I have good taste, said the
 owner of a hospitable suburban home
 that had long been a mecca for those of city and country alike who were so fortunate as to enjoy its privilege. I've
 never bothered my head about it.
 Things just seem to settle down into
 the rooms along with the family and their wants and wishes. It looks just like any simple, plain homely old place to me-" In this remark the autheor of the tastefulness in question uncon- sciously touched it's secret. She was a
 woman of refinement, and red and yell
 low chintzes, wax flowers and crocheted
 tidies naturally did not come within her
 horizon. Also, she did not bother her head about what they" were using now or what they said was artistic" or
 ''the thing" It did not occur to her to
 purchase a Russian sled, Bengal tiger skin and Tuscan urn as adjustments
 of an artificial "cosey corner" All the corners in her many roomed home seemed cosey because they had been let alone, and pictures had gathered and grouped themselves together as comfort dictated. The eternal fitness of things" is much better guide to house furnishing than the special department in the last fashion magazine. One of the crying abuses of modern houses is the use of so-called ornaments. A pleasant cottage in Brittany possesses more real beauty and exhibits more true taste than many mansion of the wealthy. Few of the poor have the courage of their poverty, but must per- force overcrowd mantel and shell and stand with flimsy knickknacks of no earthly use, and which even the most perverted taste canot pronounce beauti- ful. The supreme test of the perfection of room is: Is 1t comfortable. home- like, liyable? No bric-a-brae shop can be that. Even an ignorant and tasteless nature feels that subtle influence of harmonizing colers and really beautiful and simple and accessories. There is no more potent leaven than a truly homelike home, where all things inani- mate and however small, express the personality of the gentle presnding genius, |s. -...s4.t
 Lighting with candles is most difficult in summer whens the breezes, make flames flicker and wax drip, but there are ways of overcoming this difficulty. For a straight glass or silver candle stick there can be had a. tall narrow glass shade perhaps. eight inches high and spreading a little toward the top. This really improves the appearance of the eandlestick and so thoroughly pros tects the flame that candle light may be used with comfort on the lawn or piazza on summer evenings.
 Gray is more or less neglected color in house furnishing, but Is really most satisfactory tone for a light draw ing room or large sleeping room. A papering of broad stripes of two shades of gray, or narrower stripes of gray and white, crossed, perhaps, by deli- cate green vine, makes a good wall covering. Ash wood furniture painted soft French gray in dull or mat finish is not expensive and can be had in artistic shapes. The cane seats should be white. as also the lines and carvings, but all in the dull finish. The woodwork os the room should be white and the window hangings of some soft, gray, shimmering material. A touch or two of yellow and green in curtain lin- ings and cushions gives a piquant finish to an apartment that is sure to seem cool in summer as well as cosey in winter. Gray and white paints do not cost any more than yellow and red. and in the rightly lighted room are good to live 1Nith -Nnu Ynrlr Trihrnn