1046 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



a pleasing change for one or two rooms, usually bedrooms. Any sort of 

 painting is to be preferred to " graining," which is a sham, since it pre- 

 tends to be oak or some other wood that it is not. We should express in 

 things only such qualities as we admire in persons : simplicity, honesty, 

 modesty, self-control, and common sense are virtues in both. 



Unless woodwork has a grain worth showing, it should be painted 

 rather than stained. Stain is a transparent finish intended for use on 

 woods that are beautifully grained by nature. Woods with grain are 

 usually finished in three steps: filling, staining, and surface finishing. 

 Filler and stain may often be mixed and applied in one coat. Firms that 

 manufacture wood finishes of various kinds show that cypress and ordi- 

 nary yellow pine may be made very beautiful by using on them the same 

 grayish, greenish, and brownish stains that are ordinarily applied to oak 

 and chestnut. After wood is filled and stained, the surface may be fin- 

 ished with either varnish or wax. The latter is preferable if it is to be 

 applied by members of the family, since it does not require skilled labor. 



Both wax and varnish require much rubbing to secure a good result. 

 Wax is rubbed up to a finish, varnish is rubbed down to a finish, with 

 powdered pumice stone and oil. Shiny varnished surfaces are cheap and 

 inartistic, as wood when finished should glow, not shine. There is no 

 short cut to securing a good finish on woodwork; whether painted or 

 stained, waxed or varnished, it takes time, labor, and patience. When 

 well done, however, a good wood finish is very lasting. 



The greatest menace to good taste in American homes to-day is the 

 desire to get results quickly. Tawdriness has been the result with us all. 

 Let us no longer decorate in haste only to repent at leisure. The artistic 

 problems of home life must be dreamed over for weeks and months before 

 our decisions are assured. Yet one such result will bring more satisfac- 

 tion than all previous snap- judgments put together. 



Ruskin says in the "Seven Lamps of Architecture: " 



" I am no advocate for meanness of private habitation. I would fain 

 introduce into it all magnificence, care, and beauty, where they are pos- 

 sible; but I would not have that useless expense in unnoticed fineries or 

 formalities; cornicing of ceilings and graining of doors, and fringing of 

 curtains, and thousands such; things which have become foolishly and 

 apathetically habitual — things on whose common appliance hang whole 

 trades, to which there never yet belonged the blessing of giving one ray 

 of real pleasure, or becoming of the remotest or most contemptible use — 

 things which cause half the expense of life, and destroy more than half 

 its comfort, manliness, respectability, freshness and facility. I speak 

 from experience: I know what it is to live in a cottage with a deal floor 



