SOMETHING ABOUT MANTEL-PIECES AND FIRE-PLACES.
THE spirit of hospitality and comfort presides over the ruddy blaze
of an open fire; yet, as we gather cosily around and bask in the
delightful warmth and radiance, its cheerful influence is too often
retarded by its very unattractive surroundings. This lovely household
spirit should have a more fitting habitation than the one frequently
accorded it. The fire-place should at least be pleasant to look upon,
and not depend wholly upon the bright fire to make it inviting.
The ordinary marble and marbleized slate or iron mantel-pieces are the
reverse of beautiful, but they may be very much improved at the expense
of a small outlay of money, time, and trouble.
The examples we give here of the treatment of commonplace mantel-pieces
are simple, and can easily be managed by the girls themselves, with but
trifling aid from a carpenter.
In a room occupied at one time by a young friend of the writer,
there was an old-fashioned white-pine mantel-piece. It was stiff and
plain, with no attempt at ornamentation, and the border of white
marble, about five inches wide around the fire-place, was apparently
inserted to protect the wood from the heat of the fire, and not for
beauty. A hint from the writer was sufficient to set this girl’s brain
and fingers to work. Soon the white-marble border was transformed
into a row of blue and white tiles, which were not only pretty and
appropriate, but were also the means of dispelling the impressions of
coldness and hardness the marble gave.
[Illustration: Fig. 375.—Shelves over Mantel-Piece.]
The manner of effecting this transformation was simple enough. First
the marble was divided into squares, the lines being painted black;
then conventional patterns were sketched with a pencil on the squares
and painted in blue, oil-paints being used for the purpose.
How the mantel-piece was otherwise reformed, the writer never saw, but
it might have been greatly improved and altered by the addition of
shelves above, or a suitable lambrequin upon the mantel-shelf. However
that may or might have been, the tiles were a successful bit of work,
and the painting of them within the capabilities of almost anyone. Then
why should we long in vain for a tiled mantel-piece, when we have it in
our power to gratify the wish?
On a plain white-marble mantel a border around the fire-place may be
marked out, and a set of tiles painted, which will look just as pretty
as any that can be bought.
If the rest of the marble is painted black or brown, the tiles will
look as though they were set in, and the contrast will make them more
effective.
Fig. 375 illustrates our suggestion of putting shelves over the
mantel-piece. The braces can be bought at any hardware-store, and the
shelves may be of black-walnut or pine boards, stained or painted to
match the mantel-piece.
Fig. 376 shows the effect of a mantel-shelf covered with enamel-cloth
made in imitation of leather. The color of the material used for
the one from which our sketch is taken is dark red, and has a dull,
soft finish like Russian leather. It is ornamented with small brass
curtain-rings sewed on in points or pyramids; a strip of enamel-cloth
is also put behind the shelf, and at the top edge a piece of narrow
gilt moulding is tacked.
[Illustration: Fig. 376.—Mantel-Shelf covered with Enamel-Cloth
ornamented with Brass Curtain-Rings.]
A mantel-board of pine, two inches longer and two inches wider than the
shelf, is always necessary when there is to be a lambrequin, for upon
this the lambrequin is tacked.
First, the board must be neatly covered with the material, enamel-cloth
or whatever is used, the edges of the cloth being brought over and
tacked under the edge of the shelf; then the strip composing the
lambrequin must be turned in at the top edge and tacked across the
front and two ends of the board with brass-headed tacks. It looks
better if the corners of the board are rounded as shown in illustration.
The piece at the back of the shelf should be about eighteen inches deep
and must be tacked at top and bottom with small tacks, the edge at each
end being turned in and tacked to the wall with brass-headed tacks.
Fig. 377 is the diagram of enamel-cloth ornamented with brass rings,
and shows a section of the pattern. The bottom row of rings should be
sewed on first, and the edge of the cloth turned up as the rings are
fastened on. The stitches which hold the rings catch the hem also. This
first row of rings should extend half way below the edge of the cloth,
as shown in Fig. 377. Strong yellow embroidery-silk or saddlers’ silk
is the best to sew them on with.
[Illustration: Fig. 377.—Enamel-Cloth ornamented with Brass Rings.]
The gilt moulding can be bought by the foot and small headless nails
are furnished to tack it with.
Another mantel is treated in very much the same manner as Fig. 376,
the difference being that, instead of enamel-cloth, the covering for
the shelf and the piece at the back are dark-red canton-flannel, and
around the edge of the shelf is tacked a worsted fringe, about six
inches deep, matching the canton-flannel in color. This has a warm,
comfortable look and is quite appropriate for a bedroom, while the
other should be used only in a library or dining-room.
[Illustration: Fig. 378.—Shelves around Projecting Chimney.]
The writer was once invited into a young girl’s room which was very
attractive in its daintiness. It was not pretty in shape, and an
uncompromising chimney, in which there was no fire-place, projected
into the room; but taste had overcome these difficulties, and the
effect produced was decidedly pleasing.
Pretty wall-paper and the arrangement of the furniture helped very
much, but the greatest triumph was in subduing the awkwardness of that
chimney by surrounding it with a set of shelves for holding pretty bits
of bric-à-brac.
In case another girl may have the same difficulty to surmount in
decorating her room, we give an outline drawing of the shelves (Fig.
378) that she may see and profit thereby.
[Illustration]