Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-08
ODD FURNITURE PIECES
WARM WEATHER COTTAGES
SHOW QUEER THINGS.
Making Over an Old Bureau With a
Triple Mir
Tor.

Written for The Evening Star.
The guiding principle in furnishing all
country houses seems to be the search for
something novel,, even grotesque In design.
AS a consequence, no two country homes
are fitted out alike and the woman of small
income well as Miladi of millions hunts
with eagerness for odd pieces of furniture.
Among the unique bed room furnishings
unearthed by dealer in antiques is a
square fire-screen in a narrow mahogany
frame. Stretched between the woodwork is
a square of dust-colored scrim over cam
brio of the same color. The scrim Is en-
broidered like an oid-fashioned sampler to
show patient Griselda in quaint red dress
sitting beside a spinning wheel. This could
be reproduced by any nimbie-hngered
woman.
A bureau with a large triple glass is the
offering of a modern designer. The wood
work is of oak matched in diamond shape
and the wide mirror, instead of extending
quite across the. back of the dressing case,
has two wings on. each end which can be
turned at rectangles to the middle glass to
give the same three-sided view which a
small triple mirror gives.
A simple but convenient novelty for bed
room furnishings is a basket-shaped camp
stool for holding a large mending bag. The
bag is fastened with ribbons to each side
of the stool and when the mending in fin
ished the bag can be closed up fatty inside
the stool and put away in closet. This is
most handy when a woman wishes to pick
up her sewing quickly and carry it to an
other room.
For a stand to be placed at the side of a
bed cupboard of weathered oak built on
perfectly square lines has a miniature of
gilt numbers and pendulum attached on one
side. Just in front of the clock is screwed
tiny electric bulb which is lighted by
button on the opposite side. A small bat
q sp1ln ar6 or Ct9 Iioa
the electricity and can be renewed at very
little cost.
For country homes not equipped with
electricity or gas lamps are set in square
poX-Hke vases which match the woodwork.
They give the eject of big mushrooms with
their loaded glass globes springing from
different pieces of furniture, and they elimi-
nate the DANGER of accidentally tipping the
lamp over. a1CandleStickS of crockery in
olive green Standing two feet from the floor
are fad ofsthe woman who lives where
mosquitoes are thick. Tallow candles three
feet long ana two%inches in diameter are
held by theses column-like candlesticks
A unique screen for hiding an open fire
place has the wea thered oak surface paint
ed to show gan old-fashioned hearth with
quaint andirons in one corner, while queer
little girl With snllfnberless flame colored
braids standing out all over her head, sits
in the other corner beside a weird dog Be-
fore the hearth crouches a big black cat
and at the top of the screen in script is
painted Little Polly Flinders sat among
the cinders, warming her pretty little toes"
Halls in country house require as much
furnishing as a single room, and because of
their spaciousness lend themselves especial
ly well to grotesque decoration Remarka-
Bile porcelain cats and dogs with impossibly
shaped bodies and Alice in Wonderland
faces are used to relieve the corners of one
winding hail. An unusual combination of
clock and hat rack looks like an old sign
board on cross roads The rough hewn
board is fastened diagonally to the coat
tree and has the brass numbers of a clock
face on one end. The other half of the
board holds a hammer, above which is the
Inscription in red letters eff you must
knock use a hammer" Old-fashioned mir
rors In oblong gilt frames with hand-pafnt-
ed landscapes in the upper portion are be-
ing revived for hall use