FURNITURE AND DECORATION
The Carpet Square--Furniture for the Parlor--Parlor Decoration--The
Piano--The Library--Arrangement of Books--The "Den"--The Living-room--The
Dining-room--Bedrooms--How to Make a Bed--The Guest Chamber--Window
Shades and Blinds.
Housekeepers often prefer carpets to bare floors, and rugs for the
reason that they "show the dirt" less. It is for this very reason that
bare floors are best. Dirt is something to remove rather than conceal,
and bare floors and rugs are more easily cleaned than carpets.
Covering the entire floor with plain filling, as a base for rugs, is an
alternative for either hardwood or stained floors. It should be in the
deeper tone of the color employed as a main part of the room's decoration.
When carpets are used, those in the hall, parlor, and dining-room should
not be fitted into the corners, but a space should intervene between
their edges and the walls. This may be filled with wood-carpetry, which,
like all devices which suggest continuation of fine material through
unseen parts, gives an air of art and elegance at comparatively little
expense. Otherwise the floor, if hardwood, should be finished; if of
other wood, stained and varnished. The carpet square is kept in position
with brass-headed pins sold for the purpose.
Articles of furniture which are suitable for a parlor used chiefly as
a reception room are light side chairs, and a settee, cane-seated with
dark frames, or willow chairs, and settee, stained a dark hue, and
brightened up with pretty cushions. These are not dear, so a little
extra expense may be incurred in buying the parlor-table, which should
be graceful in design and of rich dark wood, preferably mahogany, or in
mahogany finish. A small table, of similar design and finish, should
serve for afternoon tea, and a pretty desk stand near a window, with
writing materials for the use of guests. There should be a clock upon
the mantelpiece, and a few other articles of vertu, such as a vase or
so, a bronze statuette, etc., all harmonized by the common possession
of artistic elegance.
The pictures in the parlor should possess evident artistic merit. There
should be no suggestion of amateurishness. Family attempts at drawing or
painting, crayon portraits, etc., all photographs, with the exception of
those intended as artistic studies, should be excluded from the walls.
If good originals by capable artists are not obtainable, fine engravings,
etchings, and even colored copies of noted pictures may take their place.
A few books, well bound and with contents worthy of the binding, should
lie on the parlor table, with a late magazine or so, for the entertainment
of the waiting guest. There should be fresh flowers arranged in pretty
bowls to add their impress of cheerfulness and beauty to the room.
In most American homes the parlor is also the music room. Since a piano
should be chosen for quality rather than appearance, an instrument of
any finish is allowable in a room, whatever its decorative scheme.
Except in a family containing an expert performer, a piano should be
chosen for softness and richness of tone, instead of brilliancy. For
most households the old cottage organ is a more practicable instrument
than the "concert grand" often found in a small parlor, where its
piercing notes, especially in combination with operatic singing, are
so confined that tones and overtones, which should assist each other,
mingle in jarring confusion. Indeed, when the parlor is large and high,
a genuine pipe-organ built in a recess and harmonizing in finish with
the woodwork of the room is not only the finest decoration possible, but
the most appropriate musical instrument. Those families who possess an
old-fashioned piano, such as thin and tinkly "square," are advised to
have it overhauled and refinished by a competent piano-repairer, and
preserved, if only for practice by the children. In case such an
instrument has "overstrung" wires, it can be restored to a tone that
is better than that of the usual upright piano.
The parlor that is put to family use is usually the best room to fit up
for a library. In this case the form-and-color scheme of furnishing and
decoration should differ entirely from that when the room is used only
for the reception of guests. The furniture should be heavier and larger,
indicating utility, and its finish, as also that of the walls, floor and
woodwork, in deep shades of the more restful colors of the spectrum.
Sage-green is a good color for the parlor-library. The furniture may be
of this or even darker hue. There is no better style of furniture for
the library than the Mission, made comfortable by leather cushions.
If leather is thought too expensive, there are fair substitutes for it in
such materials as pantasote. But leather should be procured if possible.
It looks better and wears longer, and even when shabby keeps its
respectability. With the Mission furniture may be mingled an
old-fashioned upholstered chair or so, such as a large "Sleepy Hollow."
A Morris chair is almost as comfortable as this, and perhaps upholds the
dignity of the room a little better, though it does not give the same
suggestion of "hominess." An old-fashioned sofa, wide-seated, and
designed to be lain upon, should be placed in the room with its head
toward the light, so that the occupant may read while reclining upon it.
In almost every old house there is a horse-hair sofa, either put away in
the attic or even in use, which can be reupholstered to fit the
color-scheme of the room.
Books naturally form the chief ornament of the library. It is a mistake
to give them an elaborate casing. The simplest form is the best; the
shelves should run up evenly from the floor to a more or less ornamental
and somewhat projecting top, terminating several feet from the ceiling.
On this top a bust or so of an author may be appropriately placed, or
copies of an ancient statue, and on the wall above, between the cases of
shelves, may hang a few pictures, not necessarily bookish in suggestion,
but reposeful in subject and tone, such as landscapes and marines.
A writing desk of comfortable size, with its chair, is essential in
every library. It should be as far away as possible from the type of
the modern business desk, and therefore an old-fashioned article with
a sloping top, which, when let down, serves for the writing board,
is an ideal form. Manufacturers continue to make these desks for home
purposes.
The library table should be large and simple. One that is oval in shape
is the best for the family to gather about, and therefore gives the most
homelike appearance. The illumination of the library should center
either upon this table, if a lamp is used, or above it, if gas or
electric light. The desk should have a side-light of its own.
Modern library conveniences are presented in so handy and presentable
shapes that the room may be perfectly equipped as a literary workshop
without crowding it, or detracting from its appearance. A dictionary
holder (wooden, not wire), a revolving bookcase for other works of
reference, and a card index of the library may complete the equipment.
It will be well to utilize one or more of the drawers of the desk as
a file for clippings. These should be kept in stout manila envelopes,
slightly less in size than the width and height of the drawer, and with
the names of subjects contained, and arranged in alphabetical order.
The carpet should be plain in design, and underlaid with padding. The
curtains should be of heavier and darker stuff than those in the parlor,
and easily adjusted to admit the light.
The library and living room are generally next each other, and so each
may and should have a fireplace in the common chimney. That of the
library should be of severer design; that of the living-room more
homelike. Dutch tiles, with pictures that interest children, are
specially appropriate for the latter.
Where the father of the family demands a "den" for reading and smoking,
this may be a small room on the same general order as the library, but
with an emphasis on comfort. Thus, the sofa should be replaced by a wide
divan, which may also serve on occasion as a sleeping-place. The Turkish
style of furnishing is the customary one; the Japanese style being a fad
that came in with the aesthetic craze, was carried to an uncomfortable
excess, and has gone out of fashion. The most appropriate style for an
American house is American Indian. The brilliant and strikingly designed
Navajo blankets may be used for both rugs and couch covers, or hung up
as wall-ornaments. Moqui basketware serves equally well for useful
purposes, such as scrap-baskets, and for ornamentation. The pottery of
the Pueblo Indians, being naive and primitive in design, is much more
intimate and therefore appropriate than the Japanese bric-a-brac which
it replaces.
The living-room is the heart of the house, and everything in it should
be of a nature to collect loving associations. Almost any style of
furniture is admissible into it, if only it is comfortable. There should
be rocking-chairs, for the woman and the neighbors who drop in to see
her, other chairs stout enough for a man to tip back upon the hind legs,
and little chairs, or a little settee by the fireplace, for the
children. The mother's desk should stand here, plainer than the one in
the library, but of design similar to it; there should be a sofa as
comfortable as the library one, to which the mother should have the
first right. The paper should be cheerful in its tone and with a
definite design. This will become endeared by association with home to
the children, and the mother should be slow to replace it. The window
draperies may be home-made, such as of rough-finished silk or
embroidered canvas, and the floor covered with a thick rag-carpet,
preferably of a nondescript or "hit-and-miss" design. If the housekeeper
thinks that this is "hominess" carried to excess, she may cover the
floor with an ingrain carpet, or better, plain filling of a medium
shade, on which a few rag rugs are laid, light in color. Very artistic
carpets and rugs are made out of old carpets and sold at reasonable
figures, and there still remain in some small towns throughout the
country weavers who weave into carpets the carpet-rags sewn together
by housewives for the price of their labor alone.
There is a reason additional to its economy why this practice should not
die out. The tearing up into strips of old garments, and the tacking of
their ends together with needle and thread is work eminently suited for
children, and one in which they take great pride, as it gives them a
share in the creation of a useful and beautiful household article.
The dining-room should be decorated in accordance with the quantity of
daylight it receives. It should be, if possible, a light room, with
preferably the morning sun. In this case, it is properly furnished and
decorated in dark tones, on the order of the library; if the room is
dark, the furniture, wood-finish, and wall-paper should be warm and
light in feeling. The housekeeper has a wide variety of sets of dining
table and chairs to choose from. Whatever she selects should be
distinguished by the quality of dignity. Here is the one room in the
house where formality is thoroughly in place; it is at table where bad
manners are wont most to show themselves among children, and laxity in
etiquette among their parents. Just as the exclusive use of the room
for eating purposes saves labor in housework, so will its dignity in
decoration aid in enforcing the mother's teaching of good habits to
the children.
Here, if anywhere in the house, plain wall-paper should be used, since
the chief decorations are the china closet, cabinet and sideboard.
The dining-room ought not to have a fire-place or stove if other means
of heating it are available, since heat, like food, should be equally
distributed to those at table. Preference in seating should be a matter
of honor rather than of material advantage.
Comfort and cleanliness are the qualities which condition the equipment
and decoration of the bed-room. When one considers that a third of a
man's life is spent in bed, it will be seen how exceedingly important
is the selection of this article of furniture. The essential parts of
a good bed are spring and mattress, and no expense should be spared here
in securing the best. The frame, which though the ornamental part is the
least essential, is a matter of indifferent consideration. There is no
better kind of a bedstead than an iron or brass one, because of
cleanliness and strength and the ease with which it may be taken apart
and put together again. The pillows deserve almost equal consideration
with the mattress. Since the feathers used in stuffing pillows may be
cleaned, it is economical to see that these are of the best quality.
Bed clothing is often selected under the mistaken impression that weight
is synonymous with warmth, and heavy quilted comforts are chosen instead
of lighter, woolen blankets. The pure woolen blanket is the ideal
bed-covering and in various degrees of thickness may serve for all of
the bed clothes save the sheets, and the light white coverlet, which
is placed over all merely for appearance.
With increasing attention paid to hygiene, single beds rather than
double are coming into favor. Even where two people occupy the same room
they will be more comfortable in different beds. It is a mistake for
young people and infants to sleep with older people, or for those who
are well and strong with sickly or delicate persons, as there is apt to
be a loss of vitality to the more vigorous party.
Everything connected with the bed should be regularly and thoroughly
sunned and aired. The occupant on rising should throw back the
bed-clothes over the foot of the bed, or, indeed, take them off and hang
them over a chair in the sunlight.
The first thing in making a bed should be to turn the mattress. The
lower sheet is then put on right side up and with the large end at the
top. This is tucked in carefully all around, then the covering sheet is
put on with the large end at the top, but the right side under. This is
tucked in only at the foot in order to permit the bed to be easily
entered. Over these the blankets are placed and folded back at the head
under the fold of the upper sheet. Pillow-shams should never be used,
as ornamentation on a bed is not necessary, and if it were a sham is
never an ornament.
The walls of bedrooms may very properly be painted, as also the floors,
to permit scrubbing, especially after the illness of an occupant.
If papered, a chintz pattern is preferable; cretonne of similar design
should then be used for furniture slips, etc. The woodwork may be white,
with the chairs to match. There should be washable cotton rag-rugs,
loosely woven to be grateful to the bare feet, at the bedside and in
front of the bureau, dressing-table and doorway. Where space is limited,
a combined bureau and dressing-table, or even a chiffonier with a
mirror, may be used.
A child's bedroom may very appropriately have a wall-paper of a design
intended to interest it, such as representations of animals, scenes from
Mother Goose, etc. This is also suitable for the nursery.
The guest-room has come to be the _chambre de luxe_ of the house,
the place in which every conceivable article is introduced that might be
required by the visitor, all being of expensive quality. Probably it is
best to conform to this practice, since it is an expected thing, but
money spent on the guest-room beyond that necessary to make it simply
the best bedroom in the house, brings smaller returns in usage than
anywhere else. The average guest is more pleased with a room such as he
sleeps in himself at home, than with one where elegance seems too fine
for use. It was a plainsman, who, being lodged in such a room on a visit
to civilization, slept on the floor rather than touch the immaculate
pillow-shams and bed-cover, which he conceived to be parts of the bed
clothing not designed for use.
The window-shades of a house, since they show without, should be uniform
in color, and no attempt be made to suit the individual decoration of a
room to them. The material should be plain Holland, white or buff when
there are outside blinds, otherwise green or blue. In recent years
shutters, or outside blinds, have come somewhat into disuse. This is,
on the whole, perhaps an improvement, for they are rarely manipulated
with judgment, being either left open or kept shut for continuous periods.
In the latter case they darken rooms which, though unused, would have been
better for the admission of sunlight. The reason for this lack of
manipulation is that they are opened and fastened with difficulty from
the inside. All the purpose of the outside blinds is served by inside
blinds, which are much more easily operated, and lend themselves
admirably to decoration. One form of these, known as Venetian blinds,
consisting of parallel wooden slats, strung on tapes, is coming again
into vogue. They are cheaper than the usual sort of blinds, and are very
durable as well as artistic. After all, however, shades are the most
practical form of modulating the entrance of light into a house.