Evening star., 1942-08-26

way of handling the situation. Fash
and many times the annoyance yo'
merely because they are out OF da
hanging them. with professional ad-'
vice on how to "tie them in" with
the color scheme and period Of your
house. will give an entirely new
effect.
There Is nothing more in keeping
with the 18th century Georgian or
Colonial house. which is SO typical
Of Washington, than old family por-
traits. In adapting a period house
or furniture to modern living, we
make certain concessions in color
and arrangement that bring the
house up to date. In this atmos-
phere the ponderous and ornate
gilt frames with which portraits
were decorated go years ago are no
more typical of their early original
handling than they are Of 1912.
They do very little for the portraits
and much less for the room as
whole. There are two modern
methods of handling this problem.
First OF all, the portraits are
cleaned and protected for another
80 years. If the frames are very
fine and simple enough in design,
theye are tinted or blended into
the wall tones Of the room SO that
the heavy gilt frame is not too
prominent and the picture Is able
to speak for itself. II the frame
is too definitely dated, too ornate
or in bad repair, the expert will
probably advise a return to the
simple, fiat, hand-carved type which
was originally used. This will be
done in pale gold leaf or toned
down with color so that 1t will fit
into its background as though they
were designed for each other.
Photographs of family and friends
which many of us enjoy are always
difficult to hang on the wall. OF
various sizes and scale and in nu-
merous finishes, it Is almost i'm
possible to arrange them SO that
the wall does not have cluttered
.ehit-and-miss" effect. In a room
which is personal" such as the
library, study, upstairs sitting room
or an alcove in a bedroom, photo
graphs may be very cleverly han
died. Here again the picture franz
ing expert is helpful. Selecting half
q dozen photographs which go well
together. he will frame them all
alike, with a molding that Is dis
tinctiye in itself. The continuity
of the frame and the uniform size
and color will make all six pictures
harmonic. These may be hung IN
q panel Of six or in a group with
three abuve and three below, the
whole composition forming an ir1-i
teresting spot on the wall. This
NAV be balanced on the opposite
wall by large group OF photographs
In various sizes and shapes which
are grouped In an interesting man
ner. A mat which matches the wall
color masks the edge Of each
picture and the whole group Is sur
rounded by molding which
matches the six individual pictures
on the other wall. This makes q
homogeneous collection which be-
comes part, and q most interesting
part. of the furnishing OF the
whole room.
Just as individual Is the treat-
ment for the etchings, water color
sketches, crayons or pastels which
you have been treasuring. One, too
small, may be made most important
by a wide mat of a tone to blend
with your color scheme and q neat
frame in natural or antique white
wood. A flower print which Is q
bit innocuous from distance and
which demands close scrutiny to
realize its worth may be given the
necessary amount of come hither'
by a mat of textured fabric or grass
cloth which is a perfect foil for
the delicacy of the drawing. A toe
large or too heavy print may be
toned down by masking mat which
cuts out part Of the picture, blending
it with the wall background. There
are all sorts of tricks" to solve
the individual problem neatly ano
to make of the things you own
q worth while and usable wall dec.
Grafton far superior to most of the
framed pictures offered for sale
Distinctive treatment based on tn.
combination of what you know o1
your own home and what the pic
ture shop knows Of modern picture
framing will give your wall an in
diwduality which cannot be sur.
passed.