258 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 19 13 



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 



^^^j X^OOOOC^OOOO^X [Q]|[)(^OCXXX^OOOO^ 



LIGHTING OF THE HOUSE IN SUMMER same time, this method of lighting will not heat the rooms. 



n ,-, ^ Upstairs these lanterns may be placed in the bedrooms or 



by Ueorge Lrane ■i-'iiht.ip ■ it 11 



simply in tne hall. In the bummer time the Japanese light 



O write of the lighting of the house in Sum- their houses in this way so why shouldn't we? Another 



mer sounds, perhaps, quite like 

 giving a bit of needless advice, and 

 you will be apt to say, "Why light 

 a house in Summer when hot 

 evenings come and out of doors 

 is the place and not indoors?" This is quite true, 

 it is admitted, but perhaps a few suggestions will 

 be helpful to those who wish to remain indoors. 

 If there is one thing that is annoying it is to 

 be sitting quietly on the porch enjoying a Summer 

 evening, then to go indoors and have to hunt about 

 for a match to scratch or a button to press, because 

 the idea that a light must mean heat and that heat, 

 an added dread to the Summer night, must be 

 done away with. There is absolutely no need to 



very attractive and decorative way of lighting is 

 that of the hanging lamp. A variety of hanging 

 lamps may be found in our large shops and if 

 one is really anxious to give a note of the good old 

 days to a room, an antique shop will often pro- 

 duce a very decorative and delightful lamp of this 

 sort. Let us say we cannot find what we wish in 

 the way of a hanging lamp and see what we can 

 make to answer the purpose instead. Buy sev- 

 eral good sized gold fish bowls. Perhaps various 

 sizes will look better when used in a house in any 

 number. Have a carpenter turn some stands in 

 plain moulding, resembling the teakwood stands, 

 that one sees in shops. Paint them with black Jap- 

 , a-lac, glossy finish, and set the bowls on the stands, 



carry this notion to extremes the way some do and ■ ^'"th 03 ^ 1^ ^ Y ou are P art ' cu l ar an( I do not wish the table top 

 I do hope these suggestions will add light on the way f a Summer scratched, paste a piece of felt on the bottom. In 

 subject and, at the same time, to a too often dark cottage the bowls place a plain finger bowl filled with oil 



and rather gloomy interior. 

 Let us suppose the 

 evening is hot and humid 

 and that what little life 

 there is in the air is to be 

 found on the porch or lawn 

 where we wish to sit. Be- 

 fore leaving the living-room 

 it would be a wise plan to 

 go to the hall closet and on 

 the shelf will be found a box 

 containing numerous all- 

 night candles, the kind that 

 are used in sick rooms, 

 where little light but a very 

 long one is desired. There 

 are three or four very deco- 

 rative candle lamps in the 

 form of a lotos flower on 

 tall highly polished stands 

 with shades of rice paper, 

 white not cream. In these 

 the night candles are placed 

 and lighted. One is put in 

 the living-room, one in the 

 hall and one in the library. 

 The rooms are at once filled 

 with a soft diffused radiance 

 that saves the house from 

 having the appearance of a 

 gloomy cavern and, at the 



An iron side lantern of distinctive design 



such as is used in altar lamps 

 and let as many little tap- 

 ers float about as can com- 

 fortably do so and when 

 these are lighted the effect 

 of the bowls all aglow is 

 very charming. It will sur- 

 prise you to see how much 

 light will come from these 

 little flames and how very 

 little heat they give out. 

 If you are clever with the 

 brush, a design in oil paint 

 can be applied, but the chief 

 charm is, I think, in the 

 light showing through a 

 clear crystal bowl. Lamp 

 shades made of black wood 

 with the openings filled in 

 with rice paper and covered 

 with Japanese stencils make 

 very effective and satis- 

 factory lighting. The plain 

 bottoms of the inverted 

 ceiling lights may be made 

 a decorative feature by 

 placing Japanese shades on 

 them with the panels filled 

 with some decorative silk 

 or paper, as the case may 

 be, and hung from the ceil- 



