MAKING A ROOM ATTRACTIVE,

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3610, 24 August 1912, Page 10

MAKING A ROOM ATTRACTIVE,

THE PROBLEM OF HARMONY

Nowadays, when the demand for living accommodation in cities is so much greater than the supply, the houses are run up in such haste that often care has not been taken in the first planning to have the best possible result in any room. The woodwork is put in without regard to the fur.virare which will sometime bo them and the color scheme are so many and varied, that it is a problem to make a room attractive. It is a problem to be faced, nevertheless, and the solution does not lie in the doing over of the woodwork. For while this is, of courso,* the most satisfactory plan and the Lest choice of a finish is white paint, in most cases it is unfeasible, as it is sometimes difficult to obtain permission to make the change, but more often it is hardly worth while to go to all the trouble and expense entailed, unless one is more certain of permanency than is the average resident. The 'easiest solution, and the one which brings about the least expense, lies in the choice of hangings. It is possible by this means to cover up the greater part of the woodwork and to make the remaining expanses, such as the baseboard, mantel, etc.,,-not so glaringly ugly, by the proper eombin-

ation of colors in these hangings. ! There are many stuffs to choose from and one secs such beautiful examples in the shops it makes even a quest for samples a pleasure trip. Sometimes the clerk will give a generous sample or else it may pay to buy a quarter of a yard where one is moderately sure that this special piece is going to he satisfactory. But it is really necessary before buying to try some of the cloth in its future home, for color has such a way of doing unexpected things that one should he certain of the effect it is going to give, that there may be no disappointment. Cretonne or tapestry bought with the idea of harmonising the effect of two kinds of woods should unite in the design these two colors. For instance, in one ease of yellow oak and mahogany cvetoiinc could be foupd with, perhaps, a cream ground and well covered with a design of tan, which blonds with oak, and a red brown which blends with the mahogany, and may be a little green and blue. But the predominant note should be the tan and brown. This will give a rich effect to the whole room amt would make a harmonious color scheme- With figured hangings of this kind one should have plain wall paper and a floor covering not too pronounced in design.

In the problem of trying to combine the red woodwork with, perhaps, craftsman furniture the best choice would he hangings of green and brown —rather dark in tone. In every ease hangings can he used at the windows, and should be arranged so that none of the window is covered. Inside window curtains are used of net or scrim, and the heavier material hangs from a wooden curtain-pole, the material well pushed hack to each side, so that no light will ho excluded. Then portieres of the same material can ho hung at the doors, and when a few pillows are covered with it, perhaps again used on the seat of a chair, and may be introduced into the lampshade.