The Washington herald., 1922-05-21

ne nail lar loO OlNCh -
receive its share of attention when
schemes of house furnishing are
planned or put into execution. If
the available sum for furnishing
the house is limited, as such sums
have an uncomfortable habit OF be-
ing, nearly all of It Is apt to be
spent on the appointment of the
various rooms which offer inviting
possibilities or make insistent de-
mands, while only an inadequate
pittance is left to take care Of the
hall. Nothing gives a worse i'm
preston of Inconsistency and slip
shod methods, on the part of the
occupants than a house with care
fully furnished rooms and a neg
lected hall.
The hall cannot be properly
equipped with left-overs and tag
ends from the rest of the house,
and attempts to do so must neces-
sarily be unsuccessful in the out
come. The visitor entering the
house gets his first and often most
lasting impression from the hall,
so II one values the effect of first
impressions upon the minds of all
who cross the threshold. one must
needs have an eye to the hall.
Then, again, the hall is the bond
that links the other parts of the
house together.
Three sorts of halls are to be
taken into account in making any
classification. Recent domestic
Of informal fVnA
has popularized the living hall.
which is. in effect. merely a liv-
ing room with a staircase intro
duced as one of its features. The
arrangement of such a hall Is so
similar to that of a room that we
may dismiss II from present con-
sideratton and devote attention TO
the other two varieties of halls
which are really Railways, passage
ways from the entrance to other
parts OF the house. They are the
broad. central hallway so common
ly found in large. double houses
OF In the roomy old houses of
colonial date. and the narrow hall
way, an undesirable oontrivance OF
city house architecture which. how
ever, must be faced as wide
spread reality and dealt with as
circumstances will best permit
Hall simple Problem.
The broad hall does not usually
present any very serious furnish
ing difficulties to be surmounted,
while the narrow hall. on the
other hand. almost invariably does.
Because the narrow hallway Is
small and seemingly unimportant
(even insignificant) there is. how
ever. no excuse for treating it with
contempt as unworthy of effort, or
neglectinG it. Indeed. 1t Is the
very small hall and the ill-planned
hall that oftentimes requires the
utmost care and thoughtful con-
sideration in their treatment, and
where so little furniture can be
used II is of the first Importance
that little to be of the best and
chosen with the most punctilious
regard for thorough suitability.
Whether the hall be broad or
narrow there are several general
principles to keep in mind when
selecting and placing the furniture
and preparing a proper background
for II. In the first place, II is
highly desirable to have an agree
able grouping of furniture visible
to anyone entering the house door.
Next, in the choice and arrange
ment of hall furniture, It Is we'll
to preserve an aspect of proper
restraint and dignity. While every
thing possible should be done to
create an air of hospitality, all
evidence OF personal and thorough
ly informal treatment should be
reserved for the rooms which are
necessarily of more intimate char
acter. Finally, in choosing hang
ings and determining the color for
the walls, II is best to stick to
neutral tones or such as are abso-
lutely certain to harmonize with
the color schemes used in all the
rooms opening into the hall. Fur
thermore, as many halls-especial-
ly narrow halls of the city type
have but little direct light from
windows, it is advisable to con-
serve all the light possible by ap-
propriate coloring OF the walls.
Exclude, Hat Rack
In furnishing halls of either type,
a most essential preliminary step
Is to exclude or. II one has been
in use, get rid Of the always OBJ
JeCllOHdDlc mat rack. tIS presence
Is a concession to laziness and an
indication OF careless habits. A
miscellaneous array OF hats, coats,
umbrellas and overshoes draped
over or clustered about a piece of
furniture cannot be other than
hideous and. in a house otherwise
we'll furnished, positively incongru-
Gus.
For hats. gloves. clothes brushes,
overshoes and the numerous odds
and ends that are convenient but
unsightly when scattered about a
cupboard with shelves and, per-
haps. a few drawers. is to be recon-
mended. Such a piece of cabinet
work is a dignified and agreeable
item IN a hall furnishing scheme.
The broad hall, besides having
room for a hat and glove cabinet
or cupboard and a hanging cup
hoard" for coats and Urops if no