Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-06-10

N
professional, more perfect.
Wherein lies the great charm of a
chaflng-dish supper? The chafing-dish
itself IS a shining centre. the spotless
cloth or polished table, the festive
clothes. not only of the guests, but
of the one cooking. Then the colors on
the table of food. dishes. decorations,
all instudied or instructive harmony.
In marked contrast how dismal is a
dingy kitchen, where, amidst smudgy,
greasy, badly-kept utensils, the brown
calicoed figure clumsily and without
interest cooks a meal. Which gives the
better appetite, which the greater
moral comfort?
The problem has been ~propounded Of
how to recall the atmosphere of we'll
being which existed in the kitchen of
the Golden time" What was the diff
ference between Their and now?
Then, of course, the kitchen was the
living room. So that wonderful atmos-
phere of hospitality, of activity, IF
ease, of contentment was ..;ade to exist
unconsciously. Now the kitchen is the
one place in the house that people can
not u away from fast enough. And
cooking, which should stand at the
very head Ct all the arts, is. often dele
gated to some ignorant, careless drudge
who has not a penny's worth of in
terest in h she is doing and whose
chief object seems to be to destroy
whatever of dainty and good and new
Is left to her care.
How shall we compromise and use
our modern improvements with the
good the old regime presented? Clean
ness and perfect order are so obviously
the first necessities that it seems al
most impudent to mention them. Be-
yond these vital points is h subtle
influence that pleasing color and dec
Grafton exert over the one who works
and the one who enters.
1t costs no more to put white or blue
or gray paint on the walls thai to
have drab or dingy brown. and a white
or blue enamel pot is easier to clean
than a black iron one or an old tin one.
Furthermore, the influence of the color
of walls, decorations, curtains, pots and
kettles, the costume of the worker, the
furnishings, all make for the general
atmosphere of well-being and good
health and cheer that was lost in the
lOoiiAe VI IN Oio iii hitSAtiA ~ . M
a matter of study and thought which
makes the difference, and we are try
ing to help people make the simplest
decorations harmonious and beautiful,
as well as the more elaborate schemes.
Then, curtains are generally neces-
sary in kitchens; so why not dainty
ones which cost no more than ugly
ones?
When you have pretty curtains hung
how very pleasant it would be to see
the color that is On them repeated here
and there about the walls. 1t is Sc
restful and inspiring when one il
washing dishes or stringing beans Of
what not, just to catch a glimpse of 6
bit of playful color as one glance'
away. The color can be applied to the
walls by painting or more deliberately
it can be made of mosaic in connection
with tiles; in either case 1t can be
washed and kept fresh n clean anc
new looking.
Again, in all furnishing and orn
mentation of a house it should no; be
the decorator whose characteristics arr
expressed, but rather should the dec
orator efface herself and make tn
house bespeak the householder. ever
as an artist paints a portrait true Il
the life OF the sitter. In these rooms
we have tried to carry out Mrs. Patti
sons ideas: First, in her own kitchen
the color reminds us of the conserva'
ton of steam and heat in the gray OF
the walls and the red of the decoration
The figures turning the spit recall tC
us the inconvenience of the old-timl
methods, while the reality of the equip
ment throughout the makes US
glad of modern devices and their sim
plicity.
In the laundry there re expressed by
the blue color and the white, the re
juvenation and purity and freshness o.
things made clean. The model kitchen
is the color of the great central powell
of heat, the sun, while the little lanre
border speaks of the esteem in which
the simple household labor should bt
held. The dining-room gives the senti
ment of achievement in the ripeneC
fruit and grain of its color.
These are the literary inspirations Of
the thought, obtained in theoretic har
monies of color The laundry and vel
low kitchen are of the one-mode color
schemes. One color used in one o.
more shades with the neutral white
The dining-room is done in a compli-
mentary scheme, a tone of n~eutralizet
yellow orange with the decoration il
blue violet, while in the gray kitchen
there is the use of intense color. rec
on a background of neutral gray will
the two other n%eutrals, black ant
white. these being in reality the ele
rnents which compose the gray.
All the curtains are washable anC
ONE are also sun-proof. SO that w
have combined the literary with tn
decorative; that is, expression in form
and color, in a practical manner, ant
in so doing we have all cooperated il
the great hope of restoring the utilit!
portion of the house to its proper
sphere of first Importance, to create al
atmosphere Of helpful health n well
being. which must permeate the entirt
house.
NnW ANN THEN