The Washington times., 1905-12-13
HOWE, ITS PROBLEMS 1AND INTERESTS
THE HONE
Careful Arrangement of the Furniture
in a Room Counts for Much.

One Of the pe-pleXing questions of
house-furnishing is the arrangement of
| the furniture; how to place the various
pieces in order to obtain the best results.
If the room under consideration Is
the library, where shall the bookcases
stand? where place the reading table?
how locate the chairs? IF the room is
the dining room, how arrange sideboard
| and serving table and other pieces so
that comfort for the family and con-
venience for the servants are obtained?
If the room is a sleeping apartment,
how dispose the furniture so that light.
air and privacy are secured?
Oftentimes when the library, living
room and dining room are faultless, the
/ bedrooms Of the house are lacking in
any plan or forethought in the arrange
ment of the furniture. The bed faces
| a window. making sleep impossible af-
ter sunrise. or the dressing table is
! in dark corner where little light is
obtained Guest rooms are usually the
greatest offenders against comfort for
they are seldom occupied by the MEM
bers of the family and thus their var
ious shortcomings are unnotfced DO
lite guest does not care to draw atten-
ton TO the negligence of his hostess or
the oversight Of the architect. The lat
Ter is. of course not responsible for the
locatlon of the furniture unless he has
provided insufficient wall space, which
Is an occasional architectural sin Where
/ room Is so cut up by doors and win
dows that the only available spaee for
the bed is opposite a window. the ar
chitect is largely TO blame. If the ex-
posure be an eastern one the ANNOYANCE
Is deepseated. Heavy shades are seldom
sufficient TO shut out the early morning
sun Again, in shutting OUT the sun the
direct means OF air may be cut off also
Another fault, common to many bed
rooms, lies in the senseless placing of
1he hXtures- Possibly the room is light
ed by a small chandelier with four
burners. In addition, there are doubt
less side lights It is in the placing of
the latter that comfort is disregarr3ed
Two lights are the common approprta
ton, and these usually decorate tbe
slue wall, which is least broken bv
,U,PS5iuhgs> The sole purpose of these
IiSnts Is presumably. to give illumIna-
tlon for comfortable Dressing. The
dressing table is placed so as to get the
pest light by day. The fixtures are as
Tar as possible from this point. A HttIe
!!orethought might have located the two
Another serious fault in bedrooms is
the lack of privacy In the placing OF
me FURNITURE. The open door reveals
ne whole arrangement. The bed and
the dressing table. If possible. should
from the hall
IN the other rooms of the house
good taste and common sense go hand
~ IN hand: IL Is less easy to go astray IN
the dlnlng room, for pieces are often
Dunt IN or, lacking this scheme. plain
spaces are left for sideboard and serv-
ing table
In the living room. book and MAGAZINE
/ tables should be placed SO as 70 re-
ceiVe light chairs for reading should
De near at hand. and bookcases. NOT
100 hlgh for easy access, should line
| the walls O
! comfort and convenience are the
hand-maidens of a welI-furnished house
Doth OF far greater Importance than
expense and luxury.