Evening star., 1923-07-14
USEFUL ORNAMENTS
FOR HOUSES URGED
Beauty Can Rest in Utility
as Well as in Deliberate
Decoration.

The well furnished house is not one
which is Cluttered up with things
which may be useful or attractive in
themselves. but which nobody uses or
enjoys, but one which contains those
things which are necessary for con-
venience in working and for comfort
and satisfaction in living and no
more. 1t need not on that account be
strictly utilitarian; on the contrary. II
1t were well planned, perfectly con-
veuient and perfectly comfortable it
would also be beautiful because
beauty does not lie so much in the
ornaments which are put on a thing
as in the perfect adaptation of that
thing for the use for which ii is
intended.
In collection of historical furniture
the most beautiful pieces of each pc
riod are not those which are most
deliberately decorated, but those in
which material shape and workman
ship best answer the needs they were
designed to meet. If there is orna-
ment ii does not interfere with use
fulueSS or comfort. and it is so ap-
piled that it brings out the Inherent
beauty of the lines and material. The
reason why some of the plain old
tables and chairs which we have in
herited from earlier times look bet
ter than many of the elaborate and
snowy ones which. have just left the
factory is that their makers were
more Interested to make them strong
and comfortable than simply to pro-
duce novelties the chief merit of
which is to catch the eye.
To Make Home Attractive.
The same principle applies in all
household furuishings-in fact, in
everything. If woman tries sim
Cerely to arrange her house accord
ing to this idea of adaptation to use,
she need not worry about its being
pretty. She may not be rich enough
to have expensive things, but if she
uses harmonious colors for her walls,
floors and upholstery and chooses fur
niture for it's good design and COM
fort rather than for its orname nta-
tion. her house can hardly fail to be
restful and attractive.
1T sometimes seems difficult for a
person who cannot patroniZe shops to
lind furniture with strong and yet
graceful lines. wall papers and up
holStery materials in simple designs
and good soft ColorS. or china or plate
glass with plain but good shapes and
decorations. Nevertheless they do
come in inexpensive grades and the
more people demand them the more
dealers will carry them.
Need of Good Taste.
Undoubtedly ii is easier to take
what is offered and to be satisfied
with the assurance that lit is posi-
lively the latest" even when ones
better Judgment says that it is
neither suitable nor beautiful. If
women would insist in getting what
they want instead of what the dealer
wants TO sell, their houses would be
better furnished and they would do
much toward improving public taste.
1t is possible to carry the idea of
simplicity too far. For example d
chair is not necessarily beautiful.
comfortable or easy to take care of
merely because il is made up of
straight lines. On the contrary such
severely plain furniture is often both
awk ward looking and uncomfortable
Too many useless ornaments in a
room undoubtedly give it an over
crowded. restless look. and have a
further disadvantage in making un-
necessary work in cleaning on the
other hand. no ornaments at all would