South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-09-04
OLD-TIME AIR
IN MODERN HOMES
TOday'S Cottage May Be Fur
niShed in Mahogany and
Cherry at Small Cost

"Other days, other manners
that seem so typical of the people to
w ohmthey belong? The study of
personality in a home is always an
interesting one but nowhere do the
old homes have an air of having been
laid away for years among the spiced
rose leaves of old-fashion gardens as
they do in the extreme south and in
New England.
The spirit of change is rampant,
foolish serVile following of fashion,
and is to be found in all conditions,
so ii is especially marked when peo-
pie have the sanity TO see the beau
tiful in the well-made wonderfully
colored furniture that for generations
have been theirs, and TO have kept
il intact until now, so that IT has not
only the beauty that gladdens the
eyes but an added money value that
gladdens the heart. For in these
days the pendulum of taste has swung
again, and those who sold their
birth-right of old mahogany for a
mess of oak pottage. find it a case of
change in haste, and repent in leis-
ure.
The whole atmosphere Of these
homes is restful and dignified and no
matter what impatient mood is
DTOuBnl into one OF these quaint ola
rooms, a little while only is neces-
sary to smooth out all the perplexed
wrinkles. for the finger OF stiffness
and patience former generations
which still inhabit these rooms is
soon laid upon you, and the nervous
haste Of today soon slips away.
Search for Old Pieces.
This charm is so keenly felt by
many people that an attempt is often
made to reproduce into the modern
home something of this old-time at
mosphere, and in order to do this the
highways and byways are searched
for old pieces whose former owners
have by either necessity or lack Of
appreciation, let pass into alien
hands.
Unlike most furniture, it fits into
any home with an adaptability all its
own, and If the new owners really
love ii, it gives forth in return for
this affection all its old-time charm.
Take today's cottage. with its rather
large living room, dining room and
three bedrooms. 1t can by judicious
| buying, be furnished with old mahog
and cherry at much less cost than
| if modern furniture is used. If pos
sible, have the woodwork white. also
! the mantel and instead of thing, use
the plain red brick. set in white NOR
tar. The floors should be waxed with
a dull finish. For rugs, use the old
| time woven rag rugs in their quaint
| round and oval shapes.
Use Net Curtains.
For curtains. simple nets, with
outer ones of glazed English chintz
| done in some small design of dull
| blues and mulberry letting mulberry
| predominant in living room and the
| dull blues in the dining room.
| For the furniture, an old hundred
! leg table. a lOwboy for a desk. some
chairs. and if you are indeed fortu-
nate. banjo clock, an old brass fire
set, prism lamp, and you have the
start we'll started. The dining room
may have to come to reproductions
| for chairs, for these seem very diff
cult of attainment and high in price,
but there are still to be found the
rush bottomed. painted ones. done in
flowers and fruit which are much TO
| be desired. Serving and dining tables
may be hopefully looked for. Bed
rooms are comparatively simple. for
| old chests. mirrors with mahogany
! frames, beds and odd chairs are
| easily found But even with these,
you can have only the semblance, un-
| less there is love enough to breathe
| into them some of their former life.
! and only a woman who loves her
home, and all that that means can
4 do II