Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-20
SHORT TALKS ON
HOUSEFURNISHlNG
BY KATE GREENLEAF LOCKE

A young couple. having fed to the far
west because nothing but the breath of
one of our great deserts would heal the
| mans lungs, wrote and besought me to
help them (by advice as to the furnish
ing of their little desert shack to make
life endurable in the wids Of Arizona.
Both were possessed of refined tastes and
could do things with their hands, while
he was full of the enthusiasm for living
| which is SO often an accompaniment of
this dread disease.
The fortunate outcome Of their temp o.
rary residence among the giant cacti
| and deadly choya' leaves me at liberty
to record my part in 1t.
They wrote that their main room, which
was living room and dining room COM
| bined, was Is by 20 feet and was finished
as to walls and ceiling in pine. There
was brick chimney with open fireplace
and besides several good-sized windows
| the upper half Of one end of this room
| could be opened up to the outer air by
pushing it out, as it was on hinges and
! formed a wooden flap or awning toward
| the east.
1 advised them to fill in this opening
with sliding sasnes and ordinary panes
of glass so that in winter they would
obtain much additional light and a view
of the mountains which surrounded them.
Under the sashes they ran a shelf on
which were placed the ferns and other in
door plants, which gave them almost the
| only bit of green on which their eyes
| could rest. Their breakfast table beside
| these windows was most attractive.
Around the walls they ran plate shelf
| four feet from the floor, and above it
papered with cartridge paper In yellow
| tan; they then painted the pine walls.
| which were "tongued and groove" black
also the little shelf and a mOlding which
was fitted In the angle of the walls and
ceiling to hide the edge of the paper. The
| ceiling was left in the original color of
the pine wood. With this background of
tan and black the dull blue of denim and
| were most effective. The windows were
| hung with white cheesecloth, very soft
and thin, against the panes, the little
curtains being daintily hemstitched by
| hand. Over them fell others of figured
| crepe having white StorkS on blue
| fully with blue denim, and the box-pleated
| valance put on with brass lacks. The
| cushions were of the figured crepe. The
pine table painted black was covered,
| when not in use, with denim cover and
decorated with an embroidered liner
| dolly and a beautiful fern.
Black-painted bookshelves held their
/ store of treasures, and on top were
! placed photographs In silver frames in
terspersed with pottery jars and Indian
baskets. A fine Japanese mating covered
| the floor. and a large gray and black
Navajo blanket was used as rug in the
living" part of the room.
! AS the house was without shutters,
advised the hanging of fine split bamboo
curtains painted a delicate green at all
the windows in place Of the ordinary
! linen shades. These are arranged on
puileys and easily roll up and down. and
/ was told that as the early hot spring
advanced they are particularly appre-
ciated. The woman wrote me:
| 81 never went into the dark, unlovely
houses of the other people who, like our
selves, had been forced to live away from
| civilization without a feeling OF thank
fulness that we had been able to render
| our simple little home SO attractive.
think 1t has been q strong factor In my
husbands recovery"