82 TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART II 



CHEERING UP THE DARK ROOM. 



We have no desire to call up unpleasant subjects, but housecleaning 

 is on the bill of fare for most of us before many more moons. Fortu- 

 nately, fall housecleaning is no such woman-killing process as in the 

 spring when stoves must be gotten down and the soot and smoke of 

 winter tussled with. 



Fall housecleaning is more likely to be rearranging the rooms for 

 winter comfort and brightening them for winter cheer. Have you a 

 dark, cheerless room in your house that you do not enjoy sitting in 

 long in wintertime? Or a room which seems in some indefinite way 

 to need brightening? What can be done to make it attractive? 



If you can afford a little carpenter work, the first thing to think of is 

 the windows. Can the single window be cut into a double one or a wider 

 size so as to let in twice the light? Or if the wall space is needed for 

 necessary furniture, two small windows over a mantel or bookcase will 

 perhaps let light into an otherwise hopeless corner. If there is an 

 outside door of solid wood, will having the upper part of glass mean more 

 sunshine at times of the day? 



But if carpenter work is out of the question, plan to make the most of 

 what window space you have. The draperies in the naturally dark 

 room should never completely cover the window. The curtains should 

 be very sheer and drawn back with straps to the sides of the window 

 or else just side draperies of brilliant colors may be used, in either 

 case leaving the center of the window free for light. The tendency is 

 more and more to leave part of the windows uncovered in all rooms. 

 We are not half so afraid of someone seeing in as we are of not getting 

 enough of nature's sterilizer, sunlight. 



Just so simple a thing as a screen may keep out lots of light on a dull 

 winter day, so off with the screens as soon as possible after frost. 



Turning from the windows to the walls, a wall finish or paper of 

 yellow is the thing for a dull room. In fact, it is a mistake to use 

 yellow in a room where the sunlight comes for any length of time, for 

 yellow is too near the color of sunshine and is hard on the eyes. 



Repainting the woodwork to a cream color will work wonders in 

 the dark room. Or abandoning a heavy, dark carpet for painted or 

 varnished floors may turn the trick. It is quite likely that the dark 

 room should not have the floor covered with a large rug, but with two 

 or three small rugs of rather bright colors. 



But supposing the room must be brightened without any of these 

 changes, what can be done? Well, we must look to the little things. 

 Take down every dark or heavily framed picture and substitute colored 

 pictures, even if they are not such good ones. Gilt frames help in 

 such a room. Try putting a mirror in this room if it is a living or din- 

 ing room. It is peculiar what a brightening effect a mirror will have 

 In a room like this the very little details count for much; a white scarf 

 on the table, bright candles, two or three colored cushions, or a bowl 

 of the most gorgeous blossoms available. Plants will not thrive long 

 in a sunless room, but on occasions of company, a geranium resting on 

 the window sill seems to radiate cheerfulness. 



