The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-19
Practical Figures That
Will Be Of Use to
Practical People

II - ana is an important teatur
of the house of which it is ;
part. The house was built under tht
personal supervision of the owner.
man of artistic ideas and much prac
teal knowledge.
By carefully looking up prices anc
places for purchasing lumber. stool
door, windows, glazing, hardware
and fixtures he saved several hundred
dollars on the cost of the house, anC
added to the completed whole the
value of several thousand dollars ir
beauty and good arrangement The
house is so unusual, so artistic anC
wlthal so convenient and practica,
for the uses of his family, that it is
the admiration of all who see it.
The room shown is of good dimen-
sions, being I4x24 feet The ceiling
is low, but the height of the windows
gives both the appearance and the
reality of airiness. The ceiled walls
and ceiling and the pleasing detail OF
the screened stairway are all simple
and dignihed.
The wood employed is hard pine,
and the beautiful silvery sheen it
shows over the rich, warm, yellow
tone is secured by using light brown
wood tint. This stain is followed by
coat of dead-lac varnish The name
OF the stain seems in this case a mis-
nOmer, as the coloring is rather sill
yer gray than brown. The owner of
the mouse applied the, stain himself
IN this room, and so saved the price
of labor. 1t took the greater part of
five days to finish the walls, ceiling
and floor,
For the floor, which is of Georgia
comb-grained pine, he used English
oak wood tint, and two coats of SUI
premis floor finish was then applied
to give the dark, rich color AS ex-
pert labor varies in cost from So. 80
to $3.50 day, and from three to four
days must have been allowed for the
completion of this job, the saving was
quite worth while. Four gallons of
stain were required for ceiling, side
walls and floor. The price of this stain
is $3.50 a gallon. Two and a half
gallons of dead-lac varnish at $3.50 a
gallon and one and a half gallons of
supremis floor finish were needed for
the necessary two coats; the latter
cost $375, With floor, walls and
ceiling, as we'll as window seats and
benches. stained and finished, the
room had an almost completed air,
and the expenditure only amounted
to $22. so.
A beautiful piece of linen taffeta
was chosen for the decoration of this
room. The taffeta shows a design
of this year on pure white ground,
which is also a departure of this sea-
son. 1t is a family outlined irregu-
lar gray trellis with dropping sprays
and spiralS and exquisite lavender
and purple blossoms of the wistaria
vine. A frieze of this taffeta is set
in panels about the upper portion of
the walls, extending from the tops of
the high windows to the ceiling line.
The narrow holdings used match the
woodwork. Straight lengths of the
linen taffeta hang at ali windows,
while the glass curtains of sheer white
organdy are placed next. Twenty
two yards of the linen taffeta were re-
quired for the frieze, the curtains and
some cushion covers. The price of
the material is s. a yard, and it is so
inches wide.
Two hundred dollars was the limit
in money set aside for the decoration
and furnishing of the room. AS a
high standard of simplicity and beau
ty of line had been set for the furni-
ture, the search for it was strenuous.
1t had been determined in a family
couclave that no single piece of furni-
ture should be chosen which could
simply ''be made to do and must be
apologized for as incongruous.
For the rugs, plain dark green terry
had been decided upon, but two love-
ly mossy-green ones in Brussels car
peting, in what is known as "hit or
miss" pattern, were chanced upon
and purchased at a cost of SIS each.
They were 8xIo in size. This was
an extravaganza, but an unrepented
one, as the rugs were reversible and
in two tones, and would wear better
and show the dust less than those of
plain terry.
The side walls, ceilings, hangings
and floors had then been provided
for, and $o6.5o had been expended.
The hunt for the large, simple ia
bic which was desired was most dis
appointing. All those in the shops
which at all met the ideal cost from
$50 to SIS and were of course out oi
the question. 1t was discovered that
a draughtsman in the architects office
would make drawings to scale of a
table and charge only for his time
The carpenter who worked on the
house figured on it, but the cost
while much less than the prices asked
in the shops, was still more than could
be afforded.
A planning mill was the final solu
ton of the problem. From the work