August, I912 
century, presented in a manner worthy of such fine examples. 
The Museum for the Arts of Decoration at Cooper 
Union, New York, is likewise a rich treasure house of deco- 
rative art and in its galleries can be seen beautiful speci- 
mens of the wood-carver’s art, furniture, fire-gilt bronze 
furniture mounts, fabrics, painted panels, and a vast quan- 
tity of other material, all of which is of great value to 
those who are interested in the arts and crafts of another 
day. This museum is especially rich in the work of the 
“Second French Renaissance,” including those great periods 
of decorative art, named after the monarchs of the time 
and known as the periods of Louis XIV, Louis XV and 
Louis XVI. 
Here, too, the collection is shown in chronological se- 
quence and this convenient and logical arrangement enables 
one to note the gradual transition from one period to the 
next. The best originals extant have been selected with 
great care by French connoisseurs as eminently useful and 
worthy of emulation and embodying all that is best in the 
French art of the advanced seventeenth and the eighteenth 
century. 
Art collections, both public and private, such as these are 
a great factor in formulating the public taste and must 
result in a demand for better things in architecture and 
oe decoration and a more keen aleve of them. 
A BARN THAT BECAME A HOUSE 
(Continued from page 273) 
SS Se as Ose es ae ee OST see | See | Oe meee ee, 
getting of meals. This is done largely by having modern 
conveniences for cooking and the best possible utensils, while 
the meals are served simply and attractively. Time and 
labor are saved by having the kitchen and dining-room in 
one. 
This room, which was the former stable, is about twenty 
by twenty-two fect in size. The coal range and porcelain 
sink, on one side of the room, are hidden from the dining- 
_room part by the high backs of two settles, which serve as 
seats at the dining table. The range and the sink, which 
were brand new, were great extravagances, but very neces- 
sary ones. The sink is oatmeal-color, and has brass faucets 
instead of nickle ones. Galvanized iron also must be used 
in that part of the country, on account of the rust which 
comes from the sea dampness. 
On a table behind the settles is a denatured, alcohol 
stove with two burners, which is much used in the hot 
weather. A fireless cooker also saves time and trouble. 
In one corner of the room there is an old driven well, 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
295 
twenty feet deep and bricked up on the sides. This makes 
an excellent ice box, and perishable food is kept down there, 
while lemonade and grape juice are hung below in the well 
for a while, and brought up ice cold. 
There is a pantry adjoining the kitchen, which is so 
arranged as to have a continual current of air flowing 
through it. The flooring is made of very heavy wire netting 
and the shelves are made of the same material. ‘The air 
comes through the flooring and from a high window at 
the north, making this room thoroughly comfortable to 
work in. 
The tray wagon is a happy institution. It is made of 
lead tubing with rubber-tired wheels, and with its aid after- 
noon tea can be wheeled into the living-room, or meals 
can be taken out on the porch, with very little trouble. 
This unique Summer home is both picturesque and prac- 
tical. ‘There is every comfort and convenience that there 
was in the house and many things that never could have 
been found in a conventional home restricted in its range. 
GS |e] el) ee ee men Ol ee moe eee IIE 
WOVEN FURNITURE 
ee ies meee 276) 
a eee ee NOISE 
rying ie peacock blue ana green ee the draperies to the 
furniture the two were successfully tied together. 
To accompany a cretonne showing pink roses climbing 
over a pea-green trellis, the furniture was painted two tones 
of a soft, tender green, and another set, intended for a 
Wistaria-room, was painted a beautiful gray, with just a 
suggestion of mauve showing through the last coat of gray. 
Some other willow chairs were painted a dark mahogany, 
almost black, and were just right for a room to be done in 
the Chinese taste, where the walls were covered with a natu- 
ral-colored grass-cloth, and the draperies and cushions were 
of black chintz in which dark reds predominated in the 
Chinese design. In a room such as this, where things 
Chinese were taken as the keynote, the “hourglass” chairs 
already referred to could be used to advantage, and would 
carry out the spirit of the Chinese decorative scheme. 
In all of the rooms mentioned, it was planned to use plain 
wall coverings to counteract the effect of the very decorative 
fabrics used for draperies and cushions. 
‘Tables of the lighter Mission type, with tapering legs, 
when stained to match the general color scheme, make excel- 
lent living-room tables to be used with willow furniture. 
Soft loosely woven fabrics, textiles of flax and rag rugs and 
like materials and shapes, owing to their loosely woven 
texture, are fitting accompaniments for woven furniture. 
The two interiors hike ee Alfiouchl Gen new houses, yet suggest in their FRR ee suitable deceive scheme for the Ponodsled farmhouse that 
finds itself transformed into an attractive modern country home. 
