Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-05-08
HOMKMAKERS COLUMN.


House Furnishing.
Frances NJ. Whitcomb, Assistant Professor Of
Home Economics.)
We often confuse the terms house
and home. The home means the family
life. The house Is the place where the
homemsker surrounds herself and her
family with artistic and harmonious fur
nishings, where she tries to create the
real home atmosphere and help develop
oil members of the family.
The home should stand for rest, com.
fort, peace, health, and inspiration. Bas-
ed on these principles, 1t will be simple
In its furnishings and its style of living.
By simplicity we mean nothing unneces-
ssry, everything for purpose.
Each room and each article Of furnish
ing that goes into that room should
serve definite purpose. The hall Is
primarily q passageway. We should
treat 1t accordingly with such furnish
iugs a. are suitable and necessary. The
living room is for the family life. It 10
the most important room In the average
American home. The atmosphere
should be one of rest, cheer, companion
ship, comfort and enjoyment.
The dining room exists to eat In, and
to eat In peace. Anything not contribute
ing to this idea is out of place and un-
necessary. The table with It's, furnish
ings Ia the center OF interest, other
things to be subordinate to 1t. The
kitchen 10 the work room. We want
cleanliness and convenience emphasized
here. The pantry with its shelves is
convenience for the kitchen. II requires
the same treatment. The bedrooms
stand for rest and quiet. All furnishings
should strengthen that purpose. The
bathroom speaks for itself. 1t is one of
the most useful rooms in the house and
can be made very attractive. The fur.
meetings. should be simple, convenient,
clean, and not easily spotted by water.
What factors in rooms make for homi.
nessP Light, ventilation, sanitation,
convenience, lines, and colors. These are
expressed by the walls and floors as
backgrounds, the windows and doors for
light and ventilation, the furniture and
rugs for comfort, pictures and other
decorative features to add to the attract
iveness and liveableness Of the rooms.
To produce livesbleness and rest we
must give some thought to the lines and
colors of the furnishings. A piece of
furniture may be good in itself, but II
placed in opposition to other lines of the
room 1t will be out of harmony. A
cushion may have beautiful color but
II placed with other colors not suited to
1t, the result will be inharmopious.
A room is made of straight lines, hori.
zontal and vertical. In furnishing 1t,
we should conform to these lines. Lines
that oppose are not restful. We should
never place rugs diagoually on the floor
or pieces of furniture across the corners
of room. Pictures should hang fiat on
the wall. The screw eyes for the wire
should be near the top of the frame. Two
wires, one from each screw eye to the
moulding should support the picture.
Draperies for the window should follow
the straight lines of the window and
should hang from the inside of the cas-.
ing. They are for the purpose OF screen
ing from the public view, not for deco
rative purpose.
In general, vertical lines give height
and decrease width; horizontal lines de-
crease height and increase width. In
the selection of wall paper these are i'm
portant considerations. A low room
needs vertical lines, to increase the ap'
parent height. A very high room does
not need the long lines but should have
horizontal lines introduced by border
or moulding 10 inches to IL inches below
the angle of the wall and ceiling.
Colors produce different effects. Ger
koin onoa rod uallnU nranna an6
brown are the warm colors. They pro.
duce CHEEKY, honey feeling. For this
reason they are we'll suited for rooms
with northern exposure. Green, blue,
violet and gray are the cool colors. They
give a cool, restful feeling to room
with q southern exposure.
Light colors create feeling OF size,
therefore are good for small rooms. Red
produces an irritating, uurestful feeling.
1t makes room appear smaller. We
should use 1t only in small amounts.
If rightly used, 1t adds warmth and
cheer.
Large designs OF colors that are con-
trasts to the background appear to stand
away from the wall and are disquieting.
Small designs and plain paper give size
to room. The plain paper Is the best
background for pictures.
We should select colors In rugs care
fully. The floor Is background, the
rugs should carry out this idea. The
design should be inoonspicuous, prefer.
ably small, the colors dark and subdued.
A good rule to follow 10 the "grada-
ton of color" In room, the floor the
darkest tone, the walls next, and the
ceiling the lightest. We should furnish
each room not as unit, complete in It.
self, but In it's relation to the other
rooms of the house.