Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1903-01-15
COLOR HARMoNIEs.
Proper Arrangement Of CoIors Has
Much to Do with the beauty
of the Home.

The greatest amount OF ugliness In
house furniture does not come from
penury, but from extravaganza. The
cottages of the poor are always AZ
tractive to the artist, because OF their
simplicity and lack of artificial pre-
tentious ornament, such as is SO often
seen in homes of people OF liberal
means, whose wealth is unaccompa-
MED with taste and refinement. IL
is in the last home and not in the
home of poverty that we find shams
of every kind. Even the color scheme
of the poor cottage is generally some
thing suggested by nature, and so
far as it is this and not vulgar
imitation of something quite beyond
the owners purse it is good. Even
the barbarian generally uses color
with wild abandon which is as nat
ural as it is effective, says the New
York Tribune.
The persons who achieve the great
est ugliness in color effect are those
who have some knowledge but very
little wisdom in such matters. Many
people are color blind, just as many
other people are tone deaf, but these
are the exceptions. The majority OF
individuals are not naturally color
blind, but acquire certain perverse
taste in color from desire to make
a pretentious show in their house and
dress.
Where we look upon color as some.
thing we love and enjoy as we do
the sunshine, we do not use it in this
pretentious way, but carefully and
guardedly. So long as we are honest
in our attempts to achieve the best
effects and no insincerity enters into
our motives we seldom make mis-
takes.
There are few rules that will help
us, but the correct use of color re-
quires thought and study. Rooms
intended for festive occasions should
be furnished in more delicate tones
of color than rooms for general use,
which should be furnished in sub
stantial colors of dark, durable tone.
Pale yellows are very much used in
parlors to-day, and they are colors
that do not fade easily and do not
become tiresome. A wallpaper in
tones of pale yellow and cream adds
to the apparent size of the room and
gives that breadth so desirable. A
white and blue Japanese rug in those
gray blue tones seen in Minton tiles
and Delft pottery is the best floor
covering for a simple parlor in faded
yellow. The yellow tones may be
quite pronounced in the stained glass
windows and the globes of the lamps.
There are certain rose pinks and
gray green and dull pomegranate
red which can be used in such a room
sparingly, but all add to The color
effect when properly blended,
In contrast to a delicate parlor OF
this kind, the dining-room opening
out of it may be papered in Delft
blue and white. The portieres over
the doors must be blue denim and
white, and the rug on the hardwood
floor dark crimson. Dainty dotted
white muslin curtains should be
placed at the windows. If the win
dows are mulioned and wide enough
for seat, cushion the seats with
blue denim, trimming them with
white and finishing them with a
valance. These window seats should
be arranged in every dining-room, be-
cause they are picturesque, comfort
able and do not take up space in the
center of the room. Use the old-fash-
ioned inexpensive gray blue denim
still sold to workmen for overalls, not
the new hard hued blue denim sold
at house decorating shops at an espe-
cially high price. All the materials
that go to make these two rooms
harmonious in color are inexpensive
and both rooms are repeatedly COM
Let the portieres between
the rooms be of Madagascar stuff
in dull blue, yellow, green and red.