The New York herald., 1920-01-18
SKETCHED By VERA
Ms GULLY At MARK
CROSS.
Miss Walsh Writes of the Small De
tails That Are Large in
Importance.
By DOROTHY ETHEL WALSH.

TT is the bright little touches in a
room that make it all glinty and sun
shiny looking. The small footstool
painted a laughing red, the blue bowl
that across the room charms you with its
clear. tranquil coloring (only to wink joy
ously at you when upon a closer view you
find some bright pansies painted on the
linsde). and the gold cushion that you fee
must have dropped right out Of the sun
these are the things that make a room
live and It is through them that one may
express ones individuality.
Often a housekeeper has the desire to
add these bright spots Of color to her
room. but she hesitates, fearful of trying
shades. And true it is that more or less
practised hand is needed when using bril-
liant colors. That Is the insiduous evil
Of drab color schemes. They are SO safe!
Every one feels capable Of handling them
and few years back they flooded the
country as do the seventeen year locusts.
One should not be afraid of color, but
many are. and for them i am giving the
following schemes in which the little
touches have saved the day, as it were
They have made the rooms they we're in
as an Irish friend of mine says, "stir your
heart" And if indeed some of these
schemes do not stir your heart. look
out. you're getting callous!
The artist has helped US with pictures
Of two of the schemes. In the larger
sketch you will see a room that was
turned from a drab. uninteresting one to
the most sunshiny affair imaginable It
was the living room in a small suburban
cottage, and the owner had curtained the
high windows in the front and the larger
windows on the side in tan pongee. The
walls were buff. There was a purple
davenport which gave color to the fire
side group. and a piano in another corner
held a bowl of bright tin flowers. Near
at hand Stood a lamp with a painted
shade. It was, however. the front wall
shown in the sketch which seemed to cry
out for color.
We drew one Of the blue and gold easy
chairs to the position It has in the pic
ture and then with small outlay the
following little touches were added. A
small nest Of tables were bought at
reasonable price. These came painted
soft green and each table boasted a clear
glass top. The next purchase was a series
of artificial flowers. Chenille they were
and the most delectable purple. Thes'
were decided upon as a means Of keeping
up the, owners spirits until the spring.
color again. But until that time these
artificial ones stand in silver vase and
seem to hold out the promise that although
the blizzards rage summer really VIII;
come again
Next we bought basketball II what
you will. a sewing basket. knitting holder
anything at ALL But the real reason we
bought ii was because II was made OF
wicker and had several bright felt flowers
fastened to the centre. The finishing
touch lay in the narrow green and narrow
rose bands which we sewed onto the
lower edge of each pongee curtain.
In the second sketch you will see a wee
tiny corner of dining room which needed
Frightening up in the most marked man
ner. The rest of the room was sunny
and the cool lavender hangings ana por-
there's we're fully in keeping with the
other decorations. But try as 1t would.
the sun could not penetrate to the corner
I speak of and as it was near the hall
doorway the lavender portieres seemed
to make II even darker than II was. We
hied us to the shop and bought bright
blue tea wagon. Then we selected an
orange tea set and 10 and behold when
we silhouetted the blue wagon against
the lavender portieres and placed the
orange tea set atop of 1t we didn't miss
the sun at all. The lady you see calmly
standing on the table is made of gray
wicker ali but her head, which, alas. Is
wooden, but as though to redeem the fact
IL is painted in the brightest colors mag
Unable. She. in official circles, is known
as n tea cosey.
When another room was completed 1t
was found that although the gray green
furniture and mulberry hangings made
charming scheme one side of the room
lacked the chance of repeating a soft rose
color that was found in a wooden chair
which stood near the hearth on the oppo-
site side of the room. A red glass cigarette
box and ash tray were found and when
placed on a green table proved to be just
the touch needed to complete the scheme.