1588 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



The ability to create frictionlcss home surroundings depends chiefly 

 on the cultivation of two qualities, a sense of arrangement and a sense of 

 selection. 



By arrangement is meant the systematic pladng of objects within a 

 given space, as the placing of rugs on a floor, pictures on a wall, furniture 

 in a room, shrubs, lawn, and paths in a yard, or even such lesser things as 

 dishes on a dinner table. 



By selection is meant the choosing of materials or objects that will 

 suitably fit into the proposed plan, as the selection of rugs, wall papers, 

 furniture, pictures, dishes, or plants. 



THE MEANING OF A FURNISHING SCHEME 



In order that success may attend the housewife's efforts at creating a 

 sound environment, a study of arrangement should precede any attempt 

 at furnishing, or even the selection of new articles. To be sure, many 

 of the practical problems of the home arise quite the other way round, 

 that is, certain articles have been inherited or have been acquired through 

 a number of years, and the main problem is to find a place for them. Such 

 a method is, however, a back-handed approach to the problem of furnish- 

 ing, and has been the original cause of the usual conglomerate effects; 

 for if furnishings are bought under pressure of immediate need and without 

 any relation to a comprehensive scheme of arrangement, the rooms where 

 they are used will naturally lack unity of idea and therefore of effect. 

 Although it will take more time, it is, in the end, far more satisfactory 

 to work out a definite plan for the completed room, arranged and equipped 

 according to its use, and, as time and means permit, to assemble the 

 various objects that are needed. Whether old or new furnishings are to 

 be used, the most pleasing and livable interior will result from such a 

 procedure. Little by little the plan can then be developed until the 

 rooms are completed. Such a result is sure to be more rational, more 

 simple, and more effective than if an attempt is made to combine an 

 tmstudied assortment of objects. 



A STUDY OF ARRANGEMENT 



When a number of useful objects are to be disposed in a given space, it 

 is necessary to consider first the practical and then the decorative aspect 

 of the arrangement. To use a homely example, the contents of a jelly 

 closet should, for convenience sake, be arranged on shelves in neat, orderly 

 rows, with like kinds of fruit grouped together. While the use of many 

 kinds of jars is entirely feasible, it is evident that if only those of a uniform 

 size and shape are used, the display will be more shipshape and impressive. 

 Indeed so friendlv are the elements of beauty and of convenience that 



