October, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



369 



thought to remember all. The library with its array of 

 bookcases is made tenfold easier by a little thoughtfulness 

 when the house is closed in the Spring. Paper is put under 

 every row of books and brought over the tops and pushed 

 down behind and fastened thus preventing dust from set- 

 tling. Over the shelves is hung a navy linen sheet from top 

 to bottom so that absolutely no dust can harm the books 

 and they are not in need of a dusting when the house is 

 being put in order. This will bring a word of praise from 

 those who are doing the reviving and at the same time is 

 well worth remembering. In this room the same method 

 is carried out, perhaps with more care, as each object is 

 of greater value and requires more care to be taken. The 

 heavy draperies are home from the decorator's where they 

 have been undergoing slight repairs and after the wood- 

 work has been rubbed and the windows washed, they are 

 hung all aglow with that new look that anything seems to 

 have after a long time out of sight. The fireplace is put 

 to rights with the fire irons cleaned, the brasses polished, 

 and fresh birch logs laid on the bed of neatly banked ashes. 

 The floor having been rubbed, the rug is laid, thus adding 

 another room to the list of completion. 



The drawing-room is next with its formality hidden be- 

 neath the white coverings. To this room the decorator 

 is called in to remove the covering from the damask wall 

 hangings and a real task it is. The woodwork is gone 

 over with a soft cloth, the crystal wall brackets and large 

 central chandelier are uncovered, and the pendants washed 

 until they sparkle and send dancing a thousand lights about 

 the room. Many people think that by covering the pendants 

 in the Spring there is no need to wash them in the Fall which 

 is a sad mistake. Of this they will be convinced when once 

 they see the difference wrought by the extra attention. The 

 large pictures are hung and those set in the panels over the 

 mantels are uncovered and once more look out upon an 

 old familiar scene. The furniture is by this time all ready 

 for the chintz coverings to be removed, but perhaps owing 

 to a few warm days still to come they will remain on as they 

 are more or less suggestive of coolness. The large rug is 

 put down and the smaller ones, and when the curtains are 

 hung this room takes on a livable appearance. 



The hall downstairs and the little morning-room, come 

 next. The morning-room needs little attention as all 

 through the Summer the mistress of the house has used it 

 as a quiet spot to write in when in town for the day. One 

 bedroom is reserved for this purpose, so the house is not 



absolutely closed to the world, and once in a while is re- 

 minded that the family is still alive and taking interest. 

 The dining-room, dark and cool, with ghost-like sentinels 

 on guard, is the next room to receive attention and be 

 brought to life again after the long period of inactivity. 

 A bay window looking out on the usual backyard has just 

 been uncovered and the wooden window boards laid away in 

 the cellar so that once more the room is bright and in the 

 process of airing. The furniture is uncovered until one by 

 one the white spectres disappear and the material world is 

 in possession once more. Before the general reviving began, 

 the painter freshened this room so that all is in readiness 

 without the labor of paint cleaning, and at this stage of 

 the work this bit of labor saved is most welcome. The 

 furniture is all thoroughly rubbed and placed in position 

 that it has assumed for years, for to remove a piece from 

 its customary place would be committing a breach in dining- 

 room etiquette and that would never do. The drawers are 

 all aired ready for the silver and linen to be brought back. 

 The windows have been washed and the heavy curtains hung, 

 the lace ones not as yet having come home. The floor is a 

 fine new hard wood one and looks spick and span with its 

 semi-glossy surface. All that is now needed to add the final 

 touch is the silver and that comes just as the family are 

 ready to step in. 



The butler's pantry and the various other closets beyond 

 are carefully put in order. It is needless to journey on as 

 we are sure what has been so carefully done will be done 

 in the region that is below stairs with just that same thor- 

 oughness that has characterized the rest of the reviving. It 

 is the careful putting up of the house for the long idle 

 Summer that adds ease, comfort and gratitude when the 

 time comes for the reviving of the house for Autumn and 

 Winter. A good old-fashioned housekeeper, to be sure, 

 will do these things, but that generation is fast passing away, 

 and it is sometimes imperatively necessary to remind people 

 of the most obviously essential things if thorough comfort 

 is to be realized. 



Finally who has not felt that the return from the country 

 house to the city home is not always something of a little 

 family event (an annual anniversary of the Lares and 

 Penates perhaps), and that the house should be more than 

 merely put in order, that it should have, as it were a garland 

 woven for it befitting the occasion. So it is the home maker 

 will plan to have the flower vases filled with blossoms 

 reminiscent of the fields and the gardens just left behind. 



ouse in order 



