60 FABM HOMES, IN-DOORS AND OUT-DOORS. 



Neatness and order are qualities to be had under any 

 circumstances. Without them the choicest furniture 

 cannot make an attractive room, and with them even the 

 "loft" in a log cabin can be made cosy and comfortable. 



Let us begin with the humblest country home and see 

 what things can be done with a little money. Suppose 

 the wood-work unpainted, the plaster rough or broken, 

 the floor bare, the chairs and bedstead old and ricketty, 

 and the windows hung with rattling paper shades ? This 

 seems a dreary enough groundwork for any reasonable 

 reformer. Let us commence with the walls and ceiling. 

 If there are any broken places and the "men-folks" are 

 too busy to attend to such repairs, a few cents' worth of 

 plaster of Paris mixed with water and applied in haste, 

 for it hardens instantly, will neatly mend the holes. Or 

 the cracks in the lath can be filled with paper and then 

 stout, white cloth smoothly pasted over. Then mix a 

 whitewash, coloring it delicately with either Prussian 

 blue, or vermilion, or yellow ochre, according to 

 whether a blue, pink, or straw-color is desired, and do 

 the ceiling, being sure to apply the last coat all in one 

 direction with smooth, even strokes. Then add a little 

 more of the coloring powder to make a deeper tint for 

 the walls, and apply it until all stains or fractures no 

 longer show. Stain the wood-work with burnt umber 

 and hot vinegar after directions in the chapter on Fin- 

 ishing. These dry powders or paints are generally sold 

 in drug stores, and are not expensive. They can be or- 

 dered by mail if need be. 



For the windows, perhaps the skirt of some old-fashioned 

 lawn or cambric dress can be fashioned into graceful lam- 

 brequins. Or a cheap calico, with a white ground and a 

 pink or blue or buff flower or stripe, can be used for the 

 purpose. Under these lambrequins place either plain 

 curtains of bleached cotton to be rolled up on sticks, or 

 long full ones of coarse book-muslin, if it can be afforded. 



