Evening star., 1925-02-13

any room IN the mouse
Is to supply comforts and the
things that are useful, then
give your attention to things that add
beauty. For instance, is your living
room fitted out SO that 1t meets the
everyday needs Of your family? Is
1T we'll lighted by day? Is the arti-
hcial lighting equally satisfactory?
Can 1t be heated easily in Winter,
kept cool in Summer, and is it we'll
ventilated at all times? Are the tables
and chairs arranged for comfort and
convenience? Is the color scheme
agreeable both by day and by night?
Are there few pictures, well chosen?
Are there plenty of fresh flowers in
summer and a few in Winter? Are
your books where they can be easily
found? Is there "a good reading light
at all times? Take each room in the
house separately, and study to see
where you can add conveniences and
touches of beauty.
Good Furniture
The first requirement of a piece of
furniture that can be called good"
is it's fulillmeut of the duty for
which 1t was intended. For instance.
q chair must be strong enough to
hold its occupant. 1t must really
serve as chair as we'll as deco
rative article. 4 table must be solid
enough to hold things that NATURALLY
belong on it.
Some pieces of furniture are made
Tor no other purpose than decoration
and such furniture should be chosen
with only the thought of beauty in
mind.
Good pieces of furniture never go
out of style. Their line, design and
usefulness make them invaluable.
These include furniture that has been
in style for centuries and will re-
main in style for centuries to come,
such as colonial furniture. old Eng
lish furniture and early French fur
niture. AS ways of living change, the
desire for comfort, beauty and con-
venience combined leads to changes
in furniture as in everything else, but
ever retaining the good features of
the old furniture.
Beauty in Rag Rugs.
1t scarcely seems possible that just
rags have made the beautiful rugs
that are displayed in some of the
stores. Some of these rugs have
handmade flower borders The bor-
ders are about a foot wide and the
flowers look like soft crushed hy-
drangeas in different lovely tones of
pink. Sometimes this band of flowers
is worked onto lavender center, or
center of soft blue, or old rose, or
pale gray.
AS hand work is always expensive,
such rugs cost more than IL they
were made by machine, but they can
be easily copied by the home worker
who learns bow to combine colors
All that Is necessary TO do is to study
the colorinss in those on exhibition and
reproduce them as nearly as possible.
A good size tor such rugs is 8xs feet
One Of these is sometimes sufficient
fnr -.
finished, or IL not the addition Of one
or two small rugs to match will make
up the lack. One style that Is very at
tractive has a deep blue center bor-
dered at the ends with two white
stripes, another with an old gold CEN
ter bordered with green.
rs--Metsl Ornaments.
Brass, copper, silver and pewter or
naments play an important part in
decoration, when 4 CLINT Of color is
needed in the furnishing OF q room.
Pewter and silver add soft gray tones
and copper and brass supply more bril-
liant touches. Sometimes a single
brass ornament can make a dull
color scheme sparkle.
When selecting metal or even pot
terry pieces, ono must be careful not
to overdo the matter. Just enough
and no more is the only safe way
when selecting tho number Of pieces
for any room. Picture to yourself the
effect of tall copper vase, for In
stance, filed with deep purple, lilac
and maroon dahlIas, or the same vase
empty. placed on q quaint table of
mahogany or walnut, together with
some books with richly colored
leather bindings. Brass candlesticks,
either single or in pairs, holding can
dies that blend with the metal and
the color scheme OF the room, are ap-
propriate to place on a mantle, desk,
table or square piano. A single can
6lestick would be appropriate for q
bedside table. A low. dark. pol
ished sideboard would be suitably
furnished with graceful bowl OF
brass or copper filled with real or
artificial fruit and a pair of can
diesticks. All three of the pieces
should be Of the same metal and fn-
ish and general type of design. II
your room needs a ray OF concen-
trated sunshine, use a few brass or
copper ornaments, piacing them
where the light. either real or arti-
ncial, strikes them. and make your
dull room bright.
other Brishteners.
Bring a bunch Of vividly colored
fowers into a dull room, and if the
flowers are placed in a bowl which
gives a tone contrast, and If in har-
mony with the rest of the room,
there will be remarkable improve
ment.
Every room needs it's own touch of
color and color scheme, and the color
scheme usually starts with the floor.
A floor covering should contain the
darkest color tones used in the room
Next come draping and uphoistering,
then the wallpaper and ceiling,
which shuld be very light II not
white.
II is best to select your rug first
.s it is often less trouble to fnd the
other materials to so with rug
than IL would be to try to select rug
TO harmonize with certain wallpaper
and hangings. Also remember that
the better a rug Is the less furniture
YOU will require to furnish room.
Cretonne and Chintz.
Although you may have become
familiar with the possibilities of paint
in renewing furniture and ornaments
Won may not know what paint can DO
In renewing cretonne and chintz
draperies that have faded. To do the
painting. spread the article smoothly
on a table, or do large articles in IN
stallments. Select the most prominent
three colors IN the material and match
them in ordinary oil paint that comes
in tubes, procuring a small tube Of
each shade. Dissolve in gasoline to
the right tint, using medium wide
yarnish brush, then paint the design.
It Is not necessary to follow the de-
tails. Just press the paint in the GEN.
ter Of each grouping. The gasoline
will spread slightly in drying, giving
that soft blurred effect that is seen
a