_The Floor the Foundation._--Almost unconsciously our young architects
found themselves under the guidance of these three great fundamental
principles of design. When they came to the problem of specifying the
finish for the floors and other wood work of the hall, living room, and
dining-room, they found that this problem was intimately associated
with the larger question of the colour scheme as a whole. The mutual
dependence of all the elements concerned could not be overlooked.
It was evident that the floor, which is the foundation of the room,
should be darker than the walls and ceiling and the general tone of the
furnishings, in order to give the suggestion of sufficient weight and
firmness for the support of the entire room and all it might contain.
The effect of solidity could be produced by staining the floor boards
or by providing a liberal supply of dark, rich-toned rugs, large ones
as well as small ones. There was no question of carpets. These, of
course, are not allowable in a model house. A few rugs were already
available, and others could be procured by buying them or by making
them. A properly toned floor, however, is desirable, even with a most
generous covering of rugs. It was therefore decided to give the floor a
coat of stain when it was ready to be finished.
_Importance of Colour Schemes._--But what was the colour to be? The
designers were thus brought face to face with that difficult but
important problem which all who plan houses have to solve before they
can hope to bring their work into harmonious adjustment with the
various natural and human conditions that must be satisfied in the
final product, if it be made a good example of the designer's art.
The problem of the colour scheme is fundamental. Upon this depends
not only the tone of the floors, the walls, and the ceilings, but
also, to a certain extent, as has already been suggested, the kind of
woods to be used in the interior finishing, and whether they are to be
painted, stained, or left in their natural colours. It will determine
the material and the colours of the portières, curtains, cushions,
lamp shades, picture frames, vases; in fact, it will largely settle
the decorative character of every article placed in the rooms. The
consideration of movable objects, however, may be deferred till the
more substantial and fixed elements are decided upon.
_Southern Exposures and Cool Colours._--In settling the all-important
question of the colour scheme the first point to be considered was
the location of the rooms with reference to light and to external
surroundings. Rooms that have a southern exposure and nothing to
interfere with their being flooded with sunlight need to be protected
against the glare of too much light. For such rooms dull tones of
colour are the best--dull browns, soft gray-greens, certain blue
tones, and the medium grays--light, cool colours that counteract the
overbrilliancy of direct sunlight and give a positively tempered
feeling to the atmosphere of a room. Incidentally, too, perhaps because
they are the tints associated with distant views, the cool colours make
a room seem larger than it really is.
_Northern Exposures and Warm Colours._--Northern rooms, on the other
hand, do not generally suffer from excess of sunlight and heat. Warm
colours are needed in such rooms. Deep reds, rich yellows, and golden
browns will seem to bring sunlight into a sunless room. Our designers
noted the fact that many of the rooms in the house they were planning
must be comparatively dark. The house was to face the high brick walls
of the neighbouring school building, not more than twenty-five feet
distant, and its principal rooms had a northern exposure. A warm colour
treatment, therefore, was unquestionably needed. Should red, brown, or
yellow be the prevailing tone? The deciding point was the location of
the hall and its relations to the other rooms. It was, first of all,
the hall, the place of welcome for the guest; but it was dark. Its
walls must have the sunniest of all colours--a rich golden yellow. The
same would serve the needs of the living room, or perhaps a brown with
yellow enough in it to be well in tune. The dining-room could safely be
darker and more luminous, in pleasing contrast with the golden yellow
of the hall; but it must not be decidedly red. The ceilings of these
three rooms, whether beamed or not, since they must be lighter than the
walls, could have the same or nearly the same tint. This might well be
a light corn yellow.
The colouring of the walls of the bedroom, bath room, and kitchen was
not so important a question as the decoration of the three front
rooms. Utility and sanitary conditions were important things to be
considered. Light tints were decided upon, which in the bedroom might
be relieved, in the finishing touches, by delicate stenciled figures in
some warm tone.
_Interior Woodwork._--With the colour scheme settled it was a
comparatively easy matter to decide what should be the general tone
and character of the interior woodwork. The floors of the three front
rooms, since they were to be closely associated, required the same
solid colour, which could well be a walnut brown, darker than any
of the walls. Fumed oak trimmings were thought desirable for the
dining-room and gum wood for the living room, either of which could be
extended to the hall; but ivory white for the living room and the hall,
leaving the oak for the dining-room, found much favour. It was finally
decided, however, to adopt for the three front rooms the combination
of natural woods first suggested. The bedroom and bath room, where
suggestions of cleanliness are peculiarly appropriate, were specified
to be finished in white. Yellow southern pine was decided upon for the
kitchen and its accessory rooms.