THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
INSIDE 
THE 
Marcu, 1916 
Why Not Wicker? 
Mr. James Collier Marshall, Director of the Decorating Service of The Garden Magazine’s Advertising Dept., will solve your problems of home 
decoration—color schemes, hangings, floor coverings, art objects and interior arrangements, making purchases at the most favorable prices. 
This service is free to our readers. 
O MANY  in- 
quiries are made 
of me regard- 
ing the appropriate- 
ness of wicker 
furniture in the liy- 
ing rooms, that it 
occurs to me that a 
few words on this 
subject may be help- 
ful to us all. 
Those who are 
about to furnish new 
homes as well as 
those who contem- 
plate the doing over 
of old furniture, will 
find much to interest 
them in the various 
new designs of wicker 
to be seen in the 
shops, and they will 
do well to use some 
of this good looking 
and comfortable ma- 
terial in their decora- 
tive schemes. Mod- 
ern wicker furniture 
has an array of fine qualities that win favor. It is 
excellently made, attractive, comfort yielding, and 
durable, being at the same time adaptable to many 
different settings. It is the one modern material that 
combines easily with antiques and particularly those 
early American pieces that are so popular to-day, but 
which are somewhat stiff and unyielding. 
Among the new designs that will undoubtedly prove 
popular there is a very interesting chaise longue that 
is intended for use in the combination sitting and bed- 
room. Unlike the usual couch or day bed, it has two 
curved ends about the height of chair arms, though 
there is no back, and so constructed that a box spring 
The red lacquered base and blue 
and yellow painted shade of this 
lamp will combine well with wicker 
Nothing more is needed here to further perfect cuntentment 
except perhaps a small pillow, a footstool and a book 
may be added for comfort. This bed comes in single 
and three quarters width. Simple in line though 
sturdily built, it will, when fitted with roll pillows at the 
ends, be most attractive as well as serviceable. 
There is an unlimited number of chair designs from 
which one may choose. Those shown here are quite 
good-looking and have none of the clumsiness about the 
bottom that frequently make these articles seem all 
legs. The familiar hour glass chairs are also very 
satisfying but all of these must be properly cushioned 
if their full effectiveness is to be realized. 
Ordinarily, lamps of wicker or bamboo are satis- 
factory only as porch decorations, but there are some 
very good ones, notably those that combine other ma- 
terials with this weave, that may be used with excellent 
effect anywhere. It may be a combination of wicker 
base with a paper shade, a glazed pottery bowl with a 
bamboo shade, or one like the one shown here, with a 
Re Ri 
One seldom finds such a comfortable writing desk as this one of 
wicker, selling with stool at $41.00, Stand $15.00, cage $11.00 
simulated bamboo base and vellum shade. All of 
these fit in nicely with wicker furniture and those 
settings with which this weave is in harmony. 
There is an unusual wicker lamp intended for the 
dressing table that is quite goodlooking and useful, 
though very difficult to explain. Perhaps the best 
idea of it may be had by saying that it looks like a 
lamp whose shade had a very wide opening in the top 
filled with a dainty cretonne under glass, the whole 
shade seeming to stand on edge on the lamg standard 
which is about 15 inches tall. The cretonné covered 
opening is turned toward the mirror. This method 
directs the greater strength of the light against the face 
while the eyes are saved the blinding reflection through 
the softening influence of the cretonne. These lamps 
come in dark brown and green and sell at $5. 
As has been said above, much of the success of 
furnishing with wicker depends on its proper cushion- 
ing. Generally speaking, it is better to use only the 
seat cushion for wicker chairs. Upholstery on either 
Address inquiries to “Inside the Garden Home,” The Garden Magazine, |] West 32nd Street, New York. 
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their arms or backs 
seems peculiarly in- 
appropriate. A pillow 
for the back to match 
the seat cushion is 
much better looking 
and, because it is ad- 
justable, infinitely 
more comfortable. It 
might be well to say, 
too, that these pads or 
cushions seem much 
more fitting when 
they are covered 
with material hav- 
ing very small de- 
signs, the conven- 
tionalized all over 
floral and scroll pat- 
terns being by far the 
best. Such patterns 
make the cushions 
seem a part of the 
chair which is, of 
course, the point that 
proves their correct- 
ness. 
The double seat, 
pictured here, would look much better if the seat had 
a three or four inch upholstered cushion, with one or 
two pillows standing against the back. 
The smaller chair does not absolutely require another 
cushion, but it would be improved if there were a 
smaller pillow, possibly a round one, against the back. 
Whatever the pattern, only chintzes or printed linen 
are satisfactory. Under all conditions one must be 
careful not to use too much of this furniture, however 
interesting, else the room will be cold and too light 
weight in effect. By contrasting it with articles of other 
materials its effect will be strengthened as indeed will 
be the whole decorative plan—a point worth re- 
membering when doing bedrooms. 
Not often does one find in metal a 
lamp so graceful and goodlooking 
as this one in verde antique 
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A flat upholstered pad with two or three pillows for the back 
will make this seat complete 
