AMERICAN tHOMES 
The Modern 
Wall 
Covering 
568 
SANITAS 
q A washable and perfectly sanitary wall cover- 
ing. Cloth foundation finished in oil colors. 
Best wall covering for kitchen, pantry, bath- 
room, closet and other walls where a washable 
surface is desired. Prints, plain colors and tiles 
in dull and glazed effects. Plain colors in oil 
admirably adapted to ceiling and fresco work. 
Hides cracks and plaster stains. 
G Water-proof, vermin-proof, applied to the wall 
like paper, and inex- 
pensive. 
@ Send for Booklet 5, 
samples and name. of 
nearest dealer. 
Standard 
Table Oil Cloth 
Company 
NEW YORK CITY 
ixon’s Silica-Graphite Paint 
For the Preservation of all Classes of Metal and Wood 
WRITE FOR ILLUSTRATED FOLDER B-106 
JOSEPH DIXON CRUCIBLE CO. 
JERSEY CITY, N. J. 
AND “GAR DENS April, 1906 
which plants can be grown in rows, and the 
circular ones in which plants of contrasting 
colors can be arranged in such a manner as to 
produce pleasing results with but little trouble. 
Keep in mind the fact always that the flower 
is of vastly more importance than the shape 
of the bed it is grown in. Leave pattern-beds 
to such plants as coleus, achyranthes, alternan- 
thera, and others of that class, whose foliage 
is depended upon to produce the effects 
aimed at. 
Of course, you will have a bed of pansies. 
No garden nowadays is considered complete 
without this lovely flower. If you have a 
preference for any particular color, it will be 
necessary for you to order plants from the 
florist, telling him just what colors you want. 
His early seedlings will soon be showing bloom, 
and from them he can select the colors you de- 
sire. Only in this way can you be sure of 
getting what you have in mind. 
FIFTY SUGGESTIONS FOR 
THE HOUSE 
34. Room Harmonies 
THE simplest harmonies are those of self- 
tones, scales formed by mixing either gray or 
white with a fundamental hue, harmonies 
which may be studied in the high lights and 
shadows of a beautiful texture, especially a 
velvet or silk, or from Nature herself in the 
variation in depth of tone which she intro- 
duces in the tiniest petal or blade of grass. 
Flat plain colors are always uninteresting, but 
the effect of light and shade playing upon 
any color will make a perfect color scheme. A 
room with a medium tone of golden-brown 
walls, a darker brown rug, and yellow hang- 
ings and upholstery is an illustration of a 
beautiful scheme of this kind. In distribu- 
ting color the darkest shade should always be 
on the floor, the next on the wall, and the 
lightest on the ceiling, while the hangings 
and upholstery may vary between the two ex- 
tremes. ‘The curtains and hangings may or 
may not match the walls. In so doing they 
make a room appear larger. A tone between 
that of the floor covering and the wall is desir- 
able, while frequently the purest and richest 
tone of all is beautiful for both curtains and 
furniture covering, although the portiéres 
should always approach closely to the wall 
tone.—Martha Cutler. 
35. Ceiling Treatment 
THE French method of treating the cornicé 
as part of the wall is more sensible than the 
English method of treating it as a part of the 
ceiling. The French method suggests a feel- 
ing of support to the ceiling, while the English 
method may be accounted for by the extensive 
use made of the plaster ceilings in the earlier 
English houses, and which necessitated the top 
part of the cornice being of the same material 
as the ceiling, in order to miter with it. There 
can be no greater drawback to the appearance 
of a room than the common matchboard ceil- 
ing, stained a dirty color and varnished, often 
consisting of sappy, knotted and discolored 
boards. When painted they are permissible, 
but they can not be compared with the plain 
white plaster ceiling, which materially en- 
hances a room. Of the many materials avail- 
able in ornamental relief some very suitable 
for covering ceilings are to be found. If the 
ceiling is heavily ornamented, it is best to have 
the walls plain, thus balancing the effect of 
the ceiling. When paper ceilings are used 
they should be light in color and design, as a 
heavy pattern paper appears to bring the ceil- 
ing down too far.—Reginald G. Kirby. 
