The Wilmington morning star., 1946-05-15
Mrs. J. Henry Gerdes Leads Final
Meeting Of Cape Fear Garden Club

Mr.. Render opened by saying
that decorating is a good parlor
game. Today it is as easy to change
your color scheme as it is to change
your mind. Though your experience
be limited or varied you can ere
ate your rooms to live in. One Of
the first important single tools is
color and learning to use it skill
fully. Choose any color you like
and build a decorating scheme
around it. He said there n basic
techniques and you should know
before hand if you want a soothing,
blended color scheme or a drama
tic one of contrast. Thought should
be given to the room, whether it
be bright Or gloomy, and to its size
These factors will affect thu color
scheme in which is to be carried
out in a particular room; every
accessory should point to a single
sustained effect. After the color
problem has been settled and the
walls are the desired effect next
the question arises, and this is
just as important, . what to put
between the walls and how it
should be arranged, many small
items as to where the sofa should
60, the %off-center fireplace. drapes,
rugs, etc. These and many more
relate back to the color tie-in.
Color in the home is most i'm
portant and no mistake should be
made. First it is expensive then
you have to live in it. Color styles
do change and your minds change
when so many people say this is
''in'' and that is "out". So choose
well and choose a suitable color
scheme that will be good for a long
time and your are not likely to tire
of, he continued.
In explaining these points Mr..
Render illustrated his talk with
beautiful flower arrangements with
suitable background drops, the
types of flowers to be used in ar
engagements particularly suitable to
certain shades of wallpapers,
Grapes or rugs. On the stage were
seven or eight various type flower
arrangements conferred with a
screen draped ingold an d chart
reuse featured by, a flower ar
rangement Of gold shading to a
deep blood red which brought out
the desired color effect. Another
lovely arrangement was Of soft
pastel pinks and blues with white
set against an aquamarine drape,
then there was the beautiful ar
rangement of deep pinks shading to
burgundy in a low bowl carrying
out the same hue, this was an ex-
ample to be used with a bright
chintz on a neutral background,
with the same colors being carried
out in the print.
Another important item to be
considered is the kind Of room,
if it is to be used for long periods
of time as a living room, a bed
room or a library or if it is to be
a room such as foyer. guest room
Or dining room, if the former it
should be restful if the latter it
should be more striking and have
stimulating schemes. The mood of
a room is also set by the kind OF
house, whether it is in the country
or city. Town decorations tend to
be more formal, country more
casual, with the use Of color ex-
pressing this. He went on to tell
Of the various means in which a
large room can be made to appear
larger or a small room can be
made to appear large Or smaller.
This is usually accomplished by the
type and color of walls, ceilings,
papers, etc. Again the actual colors
you chose for a room are govern
ed largely by personal taste, but
different colors do differt things to
rooms. A sunny room is usually
pleasant done in more of so called
"cool'' colors, blue, green or blue
violet. A room with a northern ex-
posture OF one that gets little sun
will be made more inviting by a
warmer" hue, yellow, red or one
of their variants such as gold,
peach, rose or wine, he said.
Also attracting much interest
were the three type dining tables,
one for a formal dinner, a modern
buffet dinner table and a children's
party table. The formal dinner
table held a center arrangement
OF pastel flowers bringing out the
same hues in the floral design of
the service, the buffet table, cen
tered with a modern arrangement,
featured the brilliant darker
shades and the children's table
carried out the soft Colds, peach
and soft blue hues. All the china,
linen and glass were loaned by
Belk-W Williams for use in the ar
rangements while the fabrics, wall
papers and decorating materials
were loaned by Edwin J. Farrelly.
Mr.. Render presented each
member present with a lovely gar
denia corsage and on the speakers
table was a beautiful low arrange
l