Feb 



ruary, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



6S 



WITHIN THE HOUSE 



SUGGESTIONS ON INTERIOR DECORATING 

 AND NOTES OF INTEREST TO ALL 

 WHO DESIRE TO MAKE THE HOUSE 

 MORE BEAUTIFUL AND MORE HOMELIKE 



The Editor of this Department will be glad to answer all queries 

 from subscribers pertaining to Home Decoration. Stamps 

 should be enclosed when a direct personal reply is desired 



THE GENTLE ART OF DOING WITHOUT 



By Harry Martin Yeomans 



HEX furnishing the little house or apart- 

 ment people frequently purchase furniture 

 and decorations, which are cheap and taw- 

 dry in appearance and also in doubtful taste, 

 because they wish to stretch their appropria- 

 tion for that purpose so that it will cover 

 the entire house. It is a pardonable desire, perhaps, to 

 want to get one's house in order and have everything "fin- 

 ished up," but there are a great number of pieces of furni- 

 ture which one can get along without and not be greatly 

 inconvenienced, and the money spent for only such objects 

 as are absolutely necessary. Then practice the Gentle Art 

 of Doing Without, until such time as the exchequer has 

 revived sufficiently to stand another attack. 



One will be surprised to find out how well you can get 

 along with only a few pieces of furniture, and then grad- 

 ually add those which you find are demanded by the needs 

 of your family. This is especially true when you move 

 into a new house, as no two houses are exactly alike and it is 

 better to live in your new house, and get acquainted with it, 

 before purchasing all of your furniture. This enables one 

 to get a good perspective of his interiors, and you can then 

 purchase furnishings with a better idea as to just what will 

 be required, rather than purchasing beforehand, only to dis- 

 cover that the larger pieces are out of scale with their sur- 

 roundings. Most rooms are too crowded anyway with use- 

 less furniture, some of which would not have been acquired, 

 were it not for the fact, that it was bought in a hurry so as 

 to have the house completely furnished by a certain date. 

 The furnishing of a house that is to be a real home, is 

 necessarily a gradual growth, and objects must be selected 

 with care and discrimination, if one's interiors are to be 

 successful. Those who live in cities can effect a great sav- 



ing by waiting for the semi-annual furniture sales, which are 

 usually held in August and February, when reductions are 

 made whereby there is a saving of as much as one third to 

 the purchaser. 



There are certain articles of furniture, such as a dining- 

 room table, beds, etcetera, that it would be impossible to do 

 without, so they should be purchased first, but the sideboard 

 and china closet can wait until some other time. It should 

 be definitely decided beforehand, exactly what style and kind 

 of furniture will be used in each room, so that the final 

 results will be consistent and not a hodge-podge of furni- 

 ture. 



One family that I know of, resided in an old-fashioned 

 city apartment, and as their dining-room furniture was quite 

 impossible, they decided to change it for Colonial mahogany 

 at some future time, although the exact date seemed rather 

 remote. They would not compromise on anything short of 

 the cherished mahogany, and as it was impossible to buy all 

 of the furniture at one time, a start was made with a repro- 

 duction of a small Hepplewhite sideboard having inlaid 

 tapering legs, such as this designer liked to use. The side- 

 board was purchased first, as it was seen at a special furni- 

 ture sale, and an immediate purchase meant a saving of 

 several dollars. After a brief period a beautiful Hepple- 

 white mahogany, circular dining-room table was obtained. 

 It was also inlaid and was an admirable companion for the 

 sideboard. Later, some reproductions of Chippendale 

 chairs were purchased at an August furniture sale. The 

 slip seats were covered with green denim, but the owners 

 recovered them at home with a fabric which brought them 

 into closer color relationship with the rest of the room. 

 After the furniture was assembled, they prevailed upon the 

 landlord to put gray tapestry paper on the walls and paint 

 the woodwork cream-white, which made a beautiful setting 

 for the mahogany furniture. It took three years to do this, 

 but they now have a Colonial dining-room of good taste. 



Chinese ware is easily procurable in the shops nowadays and is distinctive and attractive 



