in the light of their distinctive features. They contain no coils or
patented mechanism. Yet there is a tremendous difference between a
poor pillow and a good one. Certainly many use pillows too old to have
retained their resiliency and complete comfort. Good pillows are a
part of beautiful and satisfactorily equipped bedding ensembles. Do
not diminish your service by failing to speak of this. Many of your
customers who are actually in the market for them do not realize that
the furniture store sells pillows. Therefore, it is a distinct service
to them and an added sale to you if you ask the privilege of showing
your stock. Unless you know and can explain the value of quality
pillows, many of your customers will surely buy less satisfactory ones.
One reason why pillows generally are used too long can be traced to
the unfortunate belief of many housewives that good feathers are an
heirloom to be handed down from one generation to another. In reality
feathers are delicate and perishable. After years of constant use they
lose resiliency and can no longer properly support the neck muscles.
TYPES OF PILLOWS
The best filling for pillows is the down and feathers of waterfowl.
Less satisfactory are land-fowl feathers. The quality of the pillow
depends upon the percentage of each kind of material that is used in
the filling.
Down.
Natural down is a soft undercoating that grows on adult waterfowl.
Its fibers are soft and fluffy and emanate from a center point. There
is no quill shaft. Down-filled pillows are a luxury item and are the
softest and lightest available. They are ideal for persons who prefer
an extremely soft pillow.
Goose Feathers.
Goose feathers make the finest feather filling. They are resilient and
have a curved quill which itself is buoyant. The feather fibers are
full and fluffy. Contrary to common belief, there is no difference in
the filling quality of grey and of white goose feathers. The white
feathers, however, are in greater demand and are more expensive. Goose
feathers vary considerably in quality. Domestic and European goose
feathers are generally considered better than those from Eastern
countries. A good grade of goose feather pillow is slightly firmer and
more buoyant than a down pillow.
Duck Feathers.
Duck feathers rate next in quality to goose feathers. They are
more slender and have weaker and less arched quills. They can be
distinguished from goose feathers by their pointed tips and by the
presence of fewer fluffy fibers at the base. A duck feather pillow is
firmer and heavier than a goose feather pillow and is less resilient
and buoyant.
Turkey Feathers.
Turkey feathers are inferior to waterfowl feathers but are somewhat
more buoyant than chicken feathers. The quills are straight and the
feather fibers are not as fluffy as those of the duck and the goose.
The shafts must be artificially curled to give them springiness and
this curl is lost after a few years' service.
Chicken Feathers.
Chicken feathers are the least expensive and make the poorest filling.
Like the turkey feathers, they have straight shafts which must be
artificially curled. Chicken and turkey feathers make pillows which
are heavier and less resilient than waterfowl pillows. They are used
in price merchandise and will not give long service. The salesperson
should talk with manufacturers' salesmen and acquire facts necessary
to explain convincingly the importance of the arch in the stem of
goose and duck feathers as contrasted to the stiff straightness of the
chicken or turkey feather.
Kapok.
Kapok, a vegetable fiber, sometimes is used as filling for pillows.
When new it is soft and fluffy. It is not durable, as the fibers
pulverize into hard lumps with wear. Frequent sunnings and airings will
retard this pulverization.
Characteristics of a Good Pillow.
A good pillow can be judged by its lightness in comparison to its bulk.
Pillows should be well filled in order to retain their resilience and
plump appearance. A down-filled pillow of standard 21- by 27-inch size
will weigh approximately 1½ pounds. The same pillow filled with goose
feathers will weigh about 2½ pounds. If filled with chicken or turkey
feathers this pillow will weigh about a pound more.
To test a pillow for resilience, lay the pillow flat and press down the
center with your hand. The quicker and more completely it springs back
to its original shape the better is the grade of feathers. Buoyancy
also is important. If the pillow is properly buoyant, it will support
weight so that the head is held comfortably without sinking too far
into the pillow.
A good pillow should contain no dust, stiff feathers, or lumps. The
presence of dust can be determined by pounding the pillow. Stiff quills
and matted feathers can be detected by pressing the pillow between
the hands. The selection of a pillow of the proper firmness depends
entirely upon the preference of the user. Always mention the degree of
firmness or softness in addition to the type of feather and quality of
ticking in each pillow that you show.
Pillow sizes ordinarily refer to the dimensions of the finished
product, not the cut size of the ticking. The most common sizes are 20
by 26 and 21 by 27. Increasingly popular is a 20- by 36-inch size.
The pillow case should be of tightly woven cotton which is
feather-proof and down-proof. Eight-ounce blue-striped ticking is
considered a standard of quality. Eight-ounce warp sateens also give
good service. Lightweight, closely woven, linen-finished ticking is
another popular fabric.
STUDIO COUCHES AND SOFA BEDS
The modern trend toward small houses and efficiency apartments has
created a demand for furniture which can be converted from ordinary
daytime uses into beds at night. By far the most popular in this field
are studio couches and sofa beds. (See figs. 22A and 22B, page 106.)
THE STUDIO COUCH
The studio couch for many years has been a standard auxiliary bed. In
its simplest form it consists of two parts, one on top of the other and
each containing upholstered springs. These two parts when placed side
by side make a full-sized bed. Modern studio couches are available in
many period styles and are used to complement the decoration plan for
the living room, library, recreation room, sunroom, bedroom, or even
entrance hall.
SOFA BEDS
The sofa bed is a later development. It equals in beauty and quality of
workmanship the articles of furniture from which it derives its name.
Yet it contains an ingeniously concealed sleeping unit. Good sofa beds
are made in authentic styles and are covered in rich satin, leather,
and tapestry upholstery that make them as attractive as any piece of
single-purpose furniture in the living room. When only occasional
sleeping use will be required, the attractive appearance and seating
comfort of the sofa bed should be stressed.
QUESTIONS
_1. What is the first step in becoming a better bedding salesman?_
_2. Under what circumstances may cut-out samples be used to the best
advantage?_
_3. What information do you need from the customer in order to
recommend intelligently the right mattress and bedspring?_
_4. What reasons can you give the customer to convince her that she
should buy quality sleeping equipment?_
_5. How do you overcome the customer's objection that competitors'
stores are selling mattresses $10 cheaper?_
_6. Why should you stress the purchase of a new spring with each new
mattress?_
_7. What are the best selling features of (a) box springs and (b)
convolute and platform-top coil springs?_
_8. Why are waterfowl feathers superior to land fowl feathers in
pillows?_
_9. How can you prove to a customer that her pillows should be
replaced?_
_10. What features do you stress in selling sofa beds and studio
couches?_
SUGGESTED READING LIST
_Furniture Record_, Bedding Articles, January 15, 1940.
GILES, RAY. _Sleep._ Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, Ind. 1938.
Bulletin 26, Basic Selling Facts for Bedding, Mattresses,
Bed Springs, and Pillows--Good Housekeeping, Department of
Merchandise Education, Fifty-seventh Street at Eighth Avenue, New
York, N. Y.
Bulletin entitled--"Consumer Investigation," issued for the
National Association of Bedding Manufacturers by the Lawrence H.
Selz Organization, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, Ill.
Bulletin 10, Feathers and Down--Pennsylvania Department of Labor
and Industry, Harrisburg, Pa.
JACOBSON, EDMUND, M. D. _You Can Sleep Well._ McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
Inc., New York, N. Y.
---- _You Must Relax._
MCCOLLISTER, FRIER. Selling Sleep, _National Retail Dry Goods
Association_, _The Bulletin_, November 1939.
_National Furniture Review_, 666 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Ill.
March 1940. Bedding Section.
PALMER, LOIS. _Your House._ Boston Cooking School Magazine Co.
1928. The Bedrooms, pp. 78-91.
SEAL, ETHEL DAVIS. Furnishing the Little House--Century Co., New
York, N. Y. The Bedrooms, pp. 155-168.
Magazine Articles.
American Home, November 1939, We're Campaigning for Better Sleep.
Good Housekeeping, November 1939, Buy the Mattress That Suits You.
House and Garden, October 1939, When You Select Bedding.
House and Garden, April 1941, How to Buy Bedding.
House Beautiful, April 15, 1940, Good Nights.
McCall's, April 1939, How to Buy a Mattress.
Parents', October 1939, Bed for the Baby.
Parents', September 1940, A Sound Bedtime Story.
Practical Home Economics, April 1941, An Outline of Sleeping Equipment.
The Bride's Magazine, Spring Issue, 1940, To Sleep.
The Bride's Magazine, Spring Issue, 1941, Choosing Your Bedding.
Woman's Home Companion, April 1941, How About Your Guest Room?
Unit VII
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ART OF INTERIOR DECORATION
Interior Decoration as a Selling Method
Emotional Values of Light, Color, Line, and Proportions
Color Management in Decoration
Principles of Furniture Arrangement
[Illustration:
Photograph by Grignon.
Figure 29.--This fernery server, part of a new eighteenth century
dining-room suite, gives the new interpretation to functional pieces
in period design. The attractive server with compartment for glasses
and a service shelf for plates, cups, and the like, is equipped with
two metal plant containers. The rug is an all-over textured olive green
Axminster.]
Unit VII.--AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ART OF
INTERIOR DECORATION
INTERIOR DECORATION AS A SELLING METHOD
The art of interior decoration is the skillful use of furnishings in
keeping with the architectural factors of a room to create a harmonious
setting adaptable to the social, economic, and personal use of the
occupants.
A room may be said to be beautiful if it gracefully, effectively, and
adequately fills the purpose for which it is intended and takes into
consideration the habits of all members of the family using it.
The salesman who creates a room which adequately and harmoniously fills
the purpose for which it is intended--taking into consideration all of
the personal and architectural factors--may be satisfied that he has
done a good job of interior decorating.
_Comfort and beauty._--Comfort can be created through proper exercise
of care and common sense. Everyone knows what comfort means, and is
able to recognize it. But in the case of beauty, no one knows precisely
what it means and many people are unable to recognize it.
The facts are that, although beauty is beyond definition, _it will
appear in the presence of certain conditions_; that these conditions
may be defined and controlled and discussed intelligently and
convincingly with customers. What these conditions are, and how their
presence may be insured by means of the merchandise, will be set forth
in this unit and in the four units which follow. For our present
purpose it is enough to say that one of the conditions of beauty is
harmony, and that any room will have a considerable measure of beauty
if its furnishings are harmonious.
A well-furnished and decorated room will have colors, contours, and
groupings that fit into the architectural background as though all were
conceived and executed simultaneously. The salesperson should guard
against the customer's rather natural feeling that there is inequity
between cost and the characteristics and qualities which give harmony
and beauty to home furnishings. In handling a sale at this point, the
salesman will develop convincingly the idea that home decoration,
although it is the distinguishing mark of all lovely homes, actually
is not dependent on lavish expenditure. Personal comfort, reflection
of individuality, dominant unity, and harmonious groupings result
from careful planning and educated tastes rather than from loosening
the strings of a heavy purse. After all, the basic consideration is
suitability, not decoration.
The salesman who will assemble a harmonious grouping quickly and keep
it within the customer's price range will accomplish two important
things:
1. Focus attention upon beauty and satisfaction of harmonized
groups instead of directing worry toward price and minor details.
2. Increase respect for his judgment and understanding of her
problem.
_Suitability means comfort first._--Every well planned sale of home
furnishing materials starts with the assumption that _the buyer is
always thinking in terms of her own interests_. She has little or no
concern with the construction, design, style, prestige value, or price
of any article unless she believes that her own interests will in some
way be affected by it.
Suppose for instance she has read several of many articles which appear
from month to month in magazines covering the home-furnishings field,
and that she has attended lectures on home decoration. She may even
have discussed particular problems intimately with several interior
decorators. She understands that she should never buy just for the
present with the idea of making replacements later. She long since has
given over the idea of wondering what the neighbors will think of her
selections. Before she faces the bewildering walk down aisles flanked
with sofa beds, lighting fixtures, tables, chairs, beds, draperies,
consoles, carpets, rugs, and chaise lounges, she has planned her room
on paper and has visualized the picture in terms of color and often has
decided on a color scheme. Furniture has been given a diagram placement
on paper to conform to wall spaces and windows. Rugs, draperies,
and accessories have been subjected to tests of suitability for the
purposes for which they are to be used.
When the salesman finally faces her in the first vital moments of
this sales effort he quickly will realize that she knows what things
she wants to see, their styles, shapes, sizes, and even their colors.
Without knowledge of at least elementary principles in the art of
interior decoration he is certain to feel a sense of inadequacy, even
of humiliation. Even with the requisite basic information, normally
it will be a sheer waste of time to assure her that any article is
handsome, finely made, fashionable, or even that it is a wonderful
value until he is sure that she considers this piece adapted to her own
situation and needs. Innumerable sales go on the rocks at this point.
Interior decoration as a selling method begins right here with the
revelation of the customer's situation and needs. If she has ideas
which are in the hazy, sketchy, and by no means certain stages, then
the salesman must proceed to secure the information he must have in
advance of any intelligent selling he may hope to do. Usually these
customer situations and needs will depend on two factors, the one
_personal_ and the other _architectural_.
_The personal factor_ involves such considerations as the age, sex,
size, tastes, and habits of the members of the family; the amount and
character of entertaining for which provision must be made; and the
amount of money or credit available for new furnishings.
_The architectural factor_ includes such details as the use, size,
style, and situation of the room; its woodwork, floor, walls, ceiling,
and lighting; its relationships with connecting rooms; and the size,
style, and coloring of the furnishings already in use.
In employing this method, even in the simple sale involving the
purchase of a single piece, the competent salesman will have three
purposes in mind. The first is to insure that this new piece will fit
the people who are to use it; the second, to insure that it will fit
the room in which it is to be used; and the third, to insure that it
will combine with everything else in the same room to form an agreeable
harmony. In other words, he must use his merchandise to secure comfort
through fitness or suitability to purpose and use, and to create beauty
through harmony. Correct room arrangement is essential to both.
EMOTIONAL VALUES OF LIGHT, COLOR, LINE, AND PROPORTIONS
Everything used in furnishing a room may be resolved into its elements
of light, color, line, and proportion. Psychologists have shown that
colors influence the mood of an individual, and create emotional values
which may be stated as follows:
LIGHT AND SHADE
To understand and correctly use light and shade, one must have a basic
understanding of values and know how by using these values different
effects may be achieved. Using as a key a scale of nine values (bearing
in mind that the term _value_ means degree of lightness or darkness
without regard to any particular color) ranging from black to white,
one finds that the grey tones toward the white end of the scale are
_light values_ and shade toward white; those toward the black end of
the scale are _dark values_ and shade toward black; in the center is a
medium grey tone.
Using these values in terms of room colors, it has been established
that _light values_ are cheerful and gay because they reflect light.
When used in pastel tones they are feminine and friendly. On the other
hand, _dark values_ are sombre, heavy, and masculine in feeling since
they absorb light and have a darkening effect. The middle tones are a
happy balance and combine essentials of both values. Thus, kitchens,
breakfast rooms, nurseries, playrooms, and boudoirs should be done in
_light values_; libraries, men's rooms, or lounges in _dark values_ and
living rooms and dining rooms in _medium values_, using both dark and
light.
COLOR TERMS
Although there are many technical color terms used by advanced
colorists to distinguish variations in colors, there are just a few
basic facts to remember to help you understand and use color to the
best advantage in interior decoration. _Hue_ is the pure color neither
mixed with white, black, nor a complementary color. A hue may be a
primary color, secondary color, or tertiary color in its true value.
When you mix a hue with white it becomes a _tint_; when mixed with
black it becomes a _shade_; and when greyed with a complement it
becomes a tone. Since walls should be lighter than the floor covering,
walls are usually done in a tint; floor coverings in a shade or tone or
a particular hue, and furnishings either in the pure hues in adjacent
or complementary colors or in tones, tints, or shades of these hues.
_Primary, secondary, and tertiary colors._--Primary colors are the
three basic colors known to man which cannot be produced by combining
any other colors, but which, when combined in proper proportion, can
produce every color known to man. These colors are red, blue, and
yellow.
Secondary colors are hues obtained by admixture of the primaries and
consist of violet (red and blue); green (yellow and blue); and orange
(red and yellow).
_Tertiary colors._--These are hues obtained by admixture of the
secondary colors with the primary colors and consist of red-violet
or plum; blue-violet or a deep, marine-type blue; blue-green or
aqua-marine; yellow-green or chartreuse; yellow-orange or tangerine,
and red-yellow or a warm red or vermilion color.
_Complementary and adjacent colors._--Complementary colors are the
colors directly opposite each other on a color chart made up of the
primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, and when used in pairs they
intensify each other.
Adjacent colors are the colors which follow each other in a color chart
made up of the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors and they may be
used together with an accent of a complementary color.
_Elementary color chart._--To properly understand these terms and
imprint these color combinations in your mind make this simple color
chart in color using the three primary colors. This chart also may be
worked out in pencil in a few minutes time and referred to when making
color suggestions:
[Illustration:
Figure 30.--Color chart. Numbers indicate: 1, primary colors. 2,
secondary colors. 3, tertiary colors.]
Draw a circle 4 inches in diameter. Divide the circle into three equal
parts by lines radiating from the center. Label these three lines, red,
blue, and yellow; they are your primary colors. These lines represent
the admixture of the primary colors and represent violet, green, and
orange. (See chart.) Now fill in the tertiary colors. (See chart.) When
doing these in colors you will see the colors change and blend into
each other as they are applied.
From the above color chart you can make any harmonious room
combination. For any true harmony all three of the primary colors
should be present. It is not necessary, however, to have three colors;
a secondary color (made by blending two primary colors) would use the
third primary as a complement. Look at the chart; you will note that
green (made by mixing blue and yellow) has red as its complement. A
third color in the room might be yellow or blue, yellowish-green, or
blue-green. This is termed a complementary color scheme.
When using an adjacent, or monochromatic color scheme, any series on
the color chart may be followed; for example, green, blue-green, blue,
blue-violet, and violet. The complement or accent to this color scheme
would be the complementary colors, orange, yellow-orange, red-orange,
etc.
Before applying these principles to room schemes, there is one more
rule to bear in mind. All colors in which red or yellow predominate are
known as _warm_ colors and colors in which blue and green predominate
are known as _cool colors_. Since warm colors are more intense and
tend to be exciting, they must be offset by cool colors, usually in
the ratio of two to one, since it often takes two cool colors to
balance one warm color. It is also well to remember that deep colors
"advance" and light colors "recede." An oblong room can be made to look
more square by doing the short walls in a deep green, the long walls
in a light green. Primary and secondary colors are more intense than
tertiary colors--colors receding and lightening with the admixture of
additional hues.
_Building a room scheme._--Taking all of the above facts into
consideration, it may be interesting to work out a few simple color
schemes for a living room. Assume that one wishes to do a "blue" room.
The predominating color in the room will, of course, be blue. However,
let us suppose we do not particularly care for a blue rug. Since the
second largest piece in the room is the sofa, we have decided to use a
blue sofa. We have two definite choices for a rug; it may be a greyed
tone of red or wine color, or a greyed tone of yellow (beige or light
brown). If we select the red-tone rug, we must think about our yellow
tone for the complementary chair. Let us suppose we decide upon a tint
of yellow or beige. A third chair now may be a secondary, or tertiary,
of these three colors, and since our room is predominantly blue, we
select a blue-red or violet color. Violet, you will notice, is a
perfect complement to yellow. We might have used a shade of red or wine
color as a complement but it would have given a red tone to the room.
For draperies we have several colors from which to choose but we must
take into consideration the wallpaper. We may use a tint of the floor
covering, or the sofa, or may bring in the third primary color. Let us
suppose we had decided to use a tint of the floor covering or a soft
pink tone. Our draperies now may be blue, blue-violet, or red-violet.
Accents necessarily would then be red or orange. If wine-colored
draperies were used, we would have practically an equal balance between
red and blue, and our accessories would be yellow.