Evening star., 1923-05-25

VERY attic contains some arti-
- cles of furniture that can be
put to practical use again II
they are painted and decorated.
Perhaps all they need is to be menoeu
and have the surfaces scraped before
being decorated and made into arti-
cles of beauty. If the dark recesses
of your attic fail to yield the coveted
treasures. it is still possible to secure
suitable furniture for this purpose
from second hand furniture dealers
at comparatively small cost, but When
buying such furniture be sure and
select well-made pieces of very plain
design.
The handles. drawer pulls. hinges.
and other trimmings are indications
of the quality of the furniture.
Drawer pulls on lowgrade furniture
are often of filagree design stampeu
from thin sheet brass. htted WIN
fimsy handles, and finished to imltate
oXidizcd silver. copper, or nre GU.
AS the grade of trimmings IS usually
in harmony with the construction ana
finish of the piece of furniture that
they are intended to decorate the9
are very useful guides to the selec-
tion of weTl-made furniture. whetner
the furniture is new or second hand.
If YOU know very little about dit
fercnt kinds of furniture. II woulu
be a good plan first to examine the
best types of plain furniture In the
best stores before you buy a second
hand specimen for painting purposes.
In your search you Will ma tnat
most good designs are extremely sim
pie. and that their beauty Is depend
ent upon proportion and dellcacy OF
contour rather than upon heavy
machine carvings or fiiagree work.
Innumerable brackets and 1urnlnSs
that support nothing have no reason
for existence other than to keep the
housewife busy with dust cioth.
If the strength and rigidity of
piece of furniture depends upon
round headed screws or angle irons
ii should be avoided. Screw threaus
90 not hold well in the end otSwood
and although angle irons may be
valuable to reinforce weak place
they are not satisfactory substitute
for wood wood construction:
Buying pieces of furniture for the
rooms of an ordinary-sized mouse
that are large enough for the rooms
of a much more pretentious house is
an Illustration of one of the most
common errors to be avoided when
choosing furniture. Cncomfortaoie
chairs in a sitting room, and any
other furniture that cannot be used
with comfort. show at once that there
has been a lack of thought in the
selection
Preparation for Work.
Furniture to be painted should be
clean and perfectly dry. \ shiny
varnish finish should be removed with
a varnish remover. which can be
bought, accompanied by full direc-
tions as to how to use'it. Shellac can
be easily removed by the application
of some denatured alcohol and
scraper. If the finish is not very
toll nd ha o
removed, you can finish the work by
rubbing the surface thoroughly with
sandpaper before applying the new
paint.
After this is done. several coats of
paint should be applied and each coat
should be lightly rubbed with fine
sandpaper when the paint is dry.
Three or four coats of paint will
probably be enough, but some pieces
of old furniture will be found to
require even more applications. If
you wish a final finish of enamel.
apply two coats of enamel the last
thing.
Be careful not to have the paint
so thin that 1t runs. and choose a
dry day for the painting process.
Use good brushes and use turpentine
to thin the paint If necessary. All
the pieces of furniture that are to
be painted in the same color should
be treated at the same time. so that
the final shade will be the same for
ALL When you have secured a salts
factory foundation. you are then
ready to apply the decoration that
you have decided to use. that is. after
the foundation is thoroughly dry.
How to Do the Decorating.
The decora tive possibilities of
painted furniture have so far only
been hinted at. 1t is not only suitable
for the most elaborate schemes of
decoration for those who have un-
limited incomes. but it also affords
a charming way of furnishing a SIM
pie house economically.
It is difficult to subdue the glazed
effect of cheap, heavily vanished
mahogany and oak furniture even by
the cieverest use of the color match
ing your rugs and hangings, but in
expensive white-wood pieces of fur
niture o: French design can be
transformed into something very at
tractive by painting them a solid
neutral color. and then just adding
for relief few well-placed lines Of
a contrasting color. selected to har-
monize with the color of the hangings
of the room. If you already own
some simple white enameled furni-
ture, you can use that as a back
ground for the decorating. Many a