CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN 



WALL TREATMENT 



JN the internal treatment of the walls of the house, before 

 deciding on any superficial decoration which presupposes 

 the usual formula of plaster and wall paper, it will be well 

 to consider what claims the structure itself has to be dis- 



played internally and to what extent these claims should be 



admitted. At the fireplace, it has already been suggested that the stonework 

 or brickwork of the wall itself is peculiarly appropriate as a setting for the 

 fire. At the windows and doors the wall again may crop out in the form of 

 arches, and in the upper part in some cases of the walls themselves. In 

 order, however, to obtain a sense of comfort it is generally desirable that the 

 lower parts of the walls should be finished with a material not too cold or 

 rough to the touch. 



It is in the stone house especially that the structure is most interesting, 

 for brickwork is necessarily a little mechanical and monotonous in its effect, 

 and the best stone for this purpose is that which is rather warm in tone. 



Let us suppose the case of a hall for instance where the structure is 

 completed with stone-mullioned windows, stone archways to the doors and 

 fireplace, and the masonry left inside without plaster. Its effect would be 

 a little cold, though it would possess that air of reality which the actualities 

 of building have the power of conveying. In the modern phrase it would 

 " palpitate with actuality," but it requires a certain amount of clothing to 

 make it appear comfortable. Let us then fix to the walls, to a height of 

 six or seven feet, some wide oak planks, and on a portion of the upper 

 part of the walls hang a piece of tapestry. The room will now begin to 

 look comfortable, though the superficial finishings will not destroy the 

 sense of structure which they partially conceal. But a treatment of this 

 kind would only be suggested where the stonework was good in colour 

 too good to hide with plaster unless the plaster is the basis for decoration 

 which will compensate for the loss of the structural effect. In the room 

 which thus becomes a decorated plaster box, the result is not an example of 

 the art of building, of which architecture should be the supreme expression, 

 but a purely decorative affair. 



In a brick house the extent to which the wall is shown would be more 

 limited perhaps at the fireplace only, but in finishing the walls with plaster 

 it is suggested that this should only be brought to an absolutely flat surface 

 as a preparation for decorative work in the same way that a piece of 

 canvas is strained for painting a picture on. Plaster which is to be finished 

 with a plain colour should have its characteristic surface and should be 

 finished from the trowel. 



In the use of woodwork on the walls, it is not by any means necessary 

 to use expensive and elaborate panelling, and if ledged doors are used the 

 most logical continuation of their construction will be expressed in the use 

 of planks to the heights of the doors or forming a dado. These planks 



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