Evening star., 1960-02-27
Thot CIuttered-WoIl Decor
By BETTY PEPIS
Contributing Writer

peen remarked, Is well on the
way to becoming the hall
mark of mid-20th century
decor. 1t has, to all intents
and purposes, replaced the
Georgian breakfront and the
later Victorian what-not.
Sometimes these built-in
decorative wall units contain
books. Sometimes not. Stor-
age space and television sets,
sound equipment and bars
are often fitted into orna-
mental walls, but it is the
decorative objects, and their
placement on the shelves.
that lend individuality and
charm to such arrangements.
Cluttered walls, like the
currently popular arrange
mentS Of many pictures, lend
themselves to the inclusion
of arts and crafts. 1t is this
catch-all quality that makes
them suitable both for in
formal rooms for family liv-
ing and more elegant drawing
rooms for somewhat formal
entertaining.
An example Of the latter
seen recently in a collectors
home in New York City al
ternated open and closed
shelves. The open shelves
contained pottery vessels
made in Colombian days
in South and Central Amer
lea. On the closed shelves,
shut off by sliding glass doors,
were precious gold and silver
objects of the same culture.
All the shelves we're backed
by milky glass lighted from
behind. The total effect was
utterly charming.
Quite in a different spirit
was an informal dining area
in which family portraits
played the major part.
The most interesting ar
rangementS this reporter has
seen were those collections
made up of what seemed like
a million and one things. A
case in point was in the liv-
ing room Of a German indus
trial designers home. Here
the shelves held two or three
paintings by his wife; a pair
Of potted plants, some crude
Tyrolean wood polychrome
statues, and some examples
Of old, very handsome ruby
red Bohemian glass. The
walls in this case were all
white. The sehlveS, too, were
white and Of wood, and the
arrangement, as is usual IN
these mid goth century
shelved walls, was aSsymetric
with uneven spaces lending
interest to the decorative OBJ
jectS placed thereon.
Questions and Answers
Question: live in a small
apartment. My sofa is brown
and a chair is dark green.
The predominating color in
the draperies is brown. The
walls are painted burlap. The
tables are walnut and lamps
are white milk glass with
white shades. Wall decora-
tions are white and gold.
Would a beige tweed rug
make the room lighter? Also
! need another chair. I keep
my sewing machine in the
living room. Could I repaint
1t white and gold?
Answer-A biege tweed rug
would definitely help and I
would get the extra chair in
the same general color and
texture. Rather than refin-
ishing the sewing machine,
which may constantly chip
and became a nuisance, why
not make a box cover for it
with perhaps a round top
and slipcover like a Victorian
table with felt to the floor?
Question IL am in the
process Of building a Colo
nial house with a living room
19 by IS. 1t has a cathedral
ceiling and Tennessee stone
fireplace. The bottom half Of
the room is to be in wood
paneling, top half is to be
wallpapered. I have cherry
tables, off w hite ceramic
lamps. I am considering a
long couch in sandlewood
and two chairs in dark brown.
! like these colors very much
and wonder if the rug, dra-
peries and accessories will
enable me to have these
neutrals. I am considering
wallpaper in gold and white.
Answer Il think your
choice of a sofa and chairs
is fine but think a gold-and-
white paper is too dainty for
the sandstone and high
ceiling room. A beige and
gold might be better. AS for
adding color: Tennessee
sandstone is quite colorful
enough. In this room you
might try draperies and car
peting of avocado green and
accents of peacock blue.