Year: 1877




Donald G. Mitchell before the Yale Art


School on Esthetics of Everyday


Life" was delivered on the 25th ult.


The speaker said: .G.. f


To speak understandingly of the


adornment of interiors, we must have


a well-detined idea of the disposition


and collection of rooms. In this matter


convenience is the first law. Whatever


arrangement sacrifices this, no matter


for what effect, is bad. Instead of a


stark, narrow hall, with only a hat
stand to welcome the visitor, should be


a good breadth of hallway, which al


ways carries with it a welcome. The


space so used will be far more effective
there than when put into a little-used


parlor. 1t permits also partial equip


ment with such fixtures as books, pic
lures, ETC., as shall tell at the outset


something of the taste of the occu-
pants. Stairs play an important part
IN our domestic economy, and are not
to be sighted. They should give free
and easy passage to whatever may be
above. 1t is amazing what inconveni-
ence has for year after year been inn
posed by only four or five feet of need
less curtailment of space and the fail
ure to throw off an inch or two from
the rise OF home stairs. 1t is barbar-
ism which women, had they been archi-
tects, would have remedied long ago.
The space needed-and this would
make all the difference between an
easy, inviting stairway which gives dig
nifty to hall, and pinched, niggard-
ly one-is so small that it could, in the
great majority of cases, be secured
without interference with other wants.


In regard to the general arrangement
OF rooms, in view of the Hmitless variety
OF the demands which different condi-
tions impose, little can be definitely
said. But certain large rulings, which
can be borne out by good sense and
good taste, may be made. First, we
should order our divisions and parti-
tions for the comfort of our own fami-
ly, not for the benefit of outsiders. In
dividuality may express itself as charm
ingly and piquantly in the distribution
OF parts as in the exterior or furnish
ing. If condition of life and tastes in
vite to the bestowment of large hospi-
talities, or if we love domestic quietude
and modest hospitalities, these should
be respectively provided for. The
friends whom we invite will have q |
stronger relish for those appointments
which are most characteristic of our
own taste. Outside architecture should |
be declarative of purpose, while the in
side admits of pleasant and grateful |
surprises, and should not be so arrang-
ed as to be read from the outside. Fin |
ally, with respect to interior division,
the mistress of the house, in nine cases
out of ten, is the best Judge, and to her
should be given the judgeship, if, in
deed, she does not of her own accord
take it. The best planned of all houses
are those which have grown up under
the suggestion and supervision of a
good, resolute materfamilias.


The speaker here began to consider
the arrangements of house in detail,
starting with the vestibule. Passing
from this he took up the matter Of |
floors, and said: Floor surfaces we
find covered with wooden carpeting of
every tint and figure. This is agreea-
BILE to the foot, however CALLING It may
be to the eye. But it is reservoir of
dirt and dust, no matter how vigorous
and aggressive the housewifery, and is
wisely giving way to such use of it as
only necessity demands. In the proper
flooring Of halls no soft wood should be
used. Georgia pine is excellent, and so
are black oak and ash, though the lat
ter may be disposed to silver. No light
wood should have place in any floor.
Tints may be varied and made fast by
a wash of solution of asphaltum. There
should be distinct border with inter-
ed angles having tints of their own. A
arrangement is effective. Elk.
treme polish and shining surface in a
floor are to be avoided. Naturally.
parlors, reception-rooms, chambers,
and even bedrooms will demand their
if no more, of carpeting in
our winters. But border of flooring,
darkly tinted, with ats nitered angles,
will make the happiest possible setting,
and do away with that periodic moving
OF heavy furniture, which is haunting
to housewives. Respecting
carpet materials, taste long ago declar-
ed against those 1amboyancies of figure
which our grandmothers loved so well.
While gala-day chamber may be
strewed with daisies for the welcome of
our friends, in rooms subject to much
use, simplest geometric or fiowery
which merely hint at floral
growth, will be more fitting; or, per-
haps, better still, such fine, confused
of tints as sha)l suggest moth
ing but soft dalliance with the foot.


The subject Of ceilings and walls was
now taken up. There does not seem
to be any well-devised method of eyad-
ing the usual plaster treatment. Plas-