Household Decoration 



1033 



and are used chiefly for coloring expensive stuffs. Greens and blues are 



especially treacherous, because, roughly speaking, colors tend to fade 

 ■ toward the yellow. Hence buffs, tans, and browns are usually more 



permanent. 



If we stand off and look, at a summer landscape we notice that, 

 ' broadly speaking, the great masses of leaves, grass, and grain, 



broken as they are by sunlight and shadow and softened 



by atmosphere, are 



only tones after all; 

 and that brilliant 

 colors are reserved 

 for bits of accent or 

 fleeting effects, as a 

 bluebell, a yellow 

 daisy, an orange 

 sunset, or an autumn 

 maple. These con- 

 ditions in nature, 

 if applied to our 

 subject of home 

 decoration, would 

 suggest soft colors 

 for all large surfaces 

 as wall, ceiling, floor, 

 and hangings, with 

 accents of bright 

 color in pictures, 

 books, lamp-shades, 

 and other small ob- 

 jects, as Nature uses 

 her flowers. This 

 furnishes a sparkling 

 play of color over the 

 interior and enlivens 

 the scene. 



Figures and patterns for walls. — Since a wall is a flat surface, designs 

 should be flatly represented so as to lie tight to the wall. They should 

 in general represent only two dimensions, length and breadth, not thick- 

 ness. All shaded moldings or designs of any kind that imitate rounded 

 forms are false in principle. A natural rose or an actual grape vine crawl- 

 ing through an actual trellis is not good decoration. A floral wall paper 

 should suggest to us the idea of a rose or other growth adapted to use on 



a flat stirface — not a confusion of lifelike flowers bulging from the wall. 

 40 



Fig. 4. — At! harmonious corner in a north room. Walls and 

 furnishings in soft broivns and tans, with bits of color fur- 

 nished in pillows and picture 



