Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-11-14
You Can Design With Shelves
By BETTY PEPS

BY BETTY PEPIS
Contributing Writer

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like to play with building
blocks. today's designers and
decorators enjoy the chal-
lenge Of creating q pattern
on q wall.
This they do. usually. with
one of the many available
systems Of strips which can
be attached to the wall and
brackets which are then
added to the strips.
These last hold cabinets.
desks. tables, lighting units,
cases with drawers, contain
ers for hi-fi units or just plain
shelves. One Of the most
complete assortments Of these
units is designed by q Danish
architect, Poul Cadovious.
The units are made In his
own country Of teak or wal
nut. Brackets which hold the
system together come In brass
or black. According to the
designer, the system offers
nearly II million possible
combinations.
The amateur faced with
such limitless variations may
find himself in a sea Of con-
fusion. Careful planning. how
ever, combined with patient
trial-and-error combinations
of units can lead to delight
fully successful results. The
trial-and-error runs, quite
obviously, should be done on
paper first.
Remember Bolonee
Important thing to remem-
Der is that you are painting
q picture with three dimen-
sional objects. The picture
requires a pleasant balance
between lightweight areas
and heavier parts. Balance
does not mean symmetry and
on most walls Of this kind
off-center placement is the
rule rather than the eXcep-
ton. The variations in sizes
. and shapes Of the openings
adds interest.
Because you are painting
q picture, you may use color.
A bright color behind one
opening on which a collection
Of milk glass stands, for
example, will draw the eye
to that collection. The rest
Of the wall might then be
painted a contrasting shade.
Besides presenting an at.
; tractive picture, the system,
which is organized with
strips, brackets and shelves,
can help eliminate some
architectural deficiencies. I'm
wanted beams in the corners
of rooms, for example, fade
away If the pattern is cor
rectly worked out. An awk-
ward, highplaced window of
the kind found in many
houses can be framed with
such a system and become an
attractive incidental unit in
such a wall. A similar treat
ment might make an asset of
the two small extra windows
placed on either side of the
fireplace in many homes.
Questions and Answers
QuestiOn-My sister has an
almost square living room
that now contains only a
, charcoal gray couch speckled
with black dots. The fireplace
is black marble, has a gold
vein running. through it.
woodwork is natural finish.
She would like advice about
colors for walls, rug, drap-
cries, furniture. Any ideas
about the type of end tables
and lamps would be well
coined.
AnSwer-Plan a black, gray
and emerald green scheme.
Have French Provincial furni-
ture in a fruitwood that tones
in with the natural finish of
the woodwork. Table tops
could be black leather fooled
with gold and on them you
could use pewter lamps. Larg-
er chairs might be covered in
a medium gray, smaller ones
in emerald green and that
same color used for the WALL
to-wall carpeting. The palest
gray walls and matching
draperies would be effective.
Question: want to have
our dining room painted
and hang a new paper