New-York tribune., 1921-11-20
BY Fl. H. Hobart
OF Curtis Companles. Inc.


In previous article in this series
something was said about good taste
and economy in hon1es, considering the
matter from the standpoint Of the ex-
terror Of the house. The same thought
forces itself upon US sometimes when
we view the interiors OF average Amer
lean homes. Is it impossible to buy. at
price within the means of these aver
age homebuiiders, those things which
are necessary to give a quiet, har-
monious interior in our houses
A million dollar campaign is Just
now being arranged for by the home
furnishing industries, with the idea of
educating peoples tastes to better fur
nishings For their homes This is a
| splendid idea, and will doubtless do
much good in improving tastes in in
terror decoration. Yet several interior
decorators and students of furniture
have made this objection, which seems
ITO be we'll founded: Why educate the
peoples tastes to better furnishings
which they cannot obtain at a price
within their means? The reduction in
cost will undoubtedly come with in
creased demand, for it is a manufac-
turing axiom that the greater the guam
tIty produced the less the cost per
item. And, of course. quantity produc-
ton would not be practicable without
large demand. So there is much TO be
hoped for in the way of obtaining fur
nlshlngs Of good taste at moderate
cost,
A good interior, however, goes even
further back than that. To come ex-
tent, the interior of home is deter
mined before a single piece of furniture
or curtains, rugs or pictures are moved
IN. You have been in houses-perha ps
houses that were just ompleted-which
no amount Of furniture could ever make
! cezy. Or livable or beautiful or in good
taste. An interior can be IN good taste
only when it fills every real need of the
particular room in which it is, in a
simple, common sense way, and pro-
duces general impress sion of harmoni-
Gus restfulness. How, then. can we pro-
duce an interior of good taste in d
room whose very background intro
dtces things which do not meet funda-
mentals! =!
Making Of Dream House
1t is said that business records indi-
cate that it takes three years for q
dream-home to crystalize into a real
home. During that three years the in
terror development should be given
equal consideration with the exterior
and the floor plan. All three are abso-
lutely essential if the result is to meas
ure up to the possibilities that word
home" implies.
Not all of US can afford to employ an
interior decorator. But that is no ex-
cuse for not having the interior of
our homes tastefully furnished. 1t does
require study, no doubt. But who is
not willing to do that? Some of the
very best studying that you can do is
from the advertising literature of vari-
Gus manufacturers, which some people
discard as just advertising, but which
more often than not represents deeper
knowledge of the subject, and espe-
cially of the practical side of it, than
other literature written by those not
engaged in the actual production of
the goods they are discussing.
Do not fail to study the various
phases of your interior before the
house is built, for then you can do
much to produce really satisfactory re-
suits. There are the walls and cell
ngs to think of and the floors. and.
most important of all, the woodwork.
In this important item, fortunately. the
manufacturers have recently risen to
the great opportunity which was open
to thenl-the opportunity to work out