New-York tribune., 1914-11-12
@WOMANS VARIED INTERESTS@

Of room, and they must give charac-
ter to surroundings where definite
character Is needed. A library or a
living room arranged in the mission"
/ style would be weakened rather than
/ benefited By the use of airy and deli
cate draperies OF fine lace and rufFed
4 muslin, such an interior requires the
use Of materials which are somewhat
heavier, bold and striking, but these
/ draperies, on the other hand, would
/ be wholly out of place in a reception
room arranged in the style of Louis
| XVI, where the more delicate draperies
would be more correct. But so great
is the variety Of curtain fabrics that
/ there exists n material suitable for
every conceivable use.
Windows are now universally fitted
with rolling shades, even where inside
blinds or shutters" are also used, and
many housekeepers use sash curtains
Of muslin, net or scrim at all the win
COWS. Inner draperies may therefore
be selected without considering sole
ly their qualities for shutting out the
light and for screening the rooms from
outside view.
A principle followed by many deco
rators Is to use curtains Of plain fab
rics at the windows of rooms where
the walls are hung with paper having
a pattern and TO confne the use of fig
ured fabrics to windows OF rooms hung
with plain paper. There are cases, TO
be sure, where this rule may be trans
gressed with impunity, but such in
stances are not numerous, and the use
OF curtain materials which precisely
match in color and pattern the paper
used upon the walls must be done very
cautiously and hardly without the adj
vice Of a competent and well trainea
decorator.
For the Most Important Room.
For drawing room or any of the
more important rooms of a house one
may use appropriately curtains of lace
Of various kinds which are woven in
pairs, and which appear in very grace
| ful and beautiful patterns. Curtains Of
| Brussels lace are usually the most de-
/ sirable, and if carefully dry cleaned
not laundered they become
soiled, they will last for many years.
Very nearly as desirable and durable,
while being less expensive, are the lace
| curtains known by other names where
the decoration is created by applique
upon a body of net, and for many uses
! the curtains or heavy scrim with in
/ sertion and edging Of Cluny or of an
tique lace are the most appropriate.
Every season brings forth an as
sortment Of novelties in the way Of
/ curtain NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. forms Of
printing in color upon lace. linens or
cotton, or new designs in the ever pop
! ular fabric known as madras For
/ inexpensive curtains the most useful
/ are those made up of materials which
may be purchased by the yard and
either finished with hens or edged
with ruflles or with lace of some kind.
Curtains Of any of these varieties are
much more apt to be hung straight, so
that they hang in folds just clearing
the floor, than made somewhat longer
and draped or looped back at the sides.
This latter method, where it still pre-
walls, is considered most suitable for
use in bedrooms.
The use of what are known as over
hangings or oyer-draperies is now al
most universal Their helpfulness in
decoration is great, for they assist
wonderfully in framing in a window,
and tend also to reduce the contrast
which is often somewhat violent be-
tween the dark paper or fabric some
times used upon the walls and the
white draperles at the windows, made
even more emphatic by the light which
pours in through the winoows them
selves. The choice Of over-draperies
affords opportunity for the exercise Of
much taste, for even the most beauti-
ful fabrics appear to be even more
beautiful where skifully used.
Oyerhangings, like the thinner cur
tains beneath, are usually hung in
long, straight folds which come al
most to the hoor, the heavier curtains
being so hung by rings upon a metal
pole that they may be drawn by cords
across the windows when II is desired
to shut out the light or the drafts Of
winter. Often deep valance across
the top of a window may be used with
excellent results. particularly where
the window is tall and narrow and
when it is desired to reduce its appar-
cnt height