November, 1906 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



301 



3 — Poor Furniture in a Poor Architectural Setting 



trinkets and mementos in her pri- 

 vate apartments to which Fig. 7 

 would seem empty by comparison; 

 and how any house-maid ever dusts 

 all the objects and keeps them clean 

 is a wonder to the spectator. To 

 sweep, dust and put in order again 

 an interior like that presented in 

 Fig. 7 must consume what Wash- 

 ington Irving was fond of calling 

 an "unconscionable time." 



There are several things the mat- 

 ter with Fig. 8, though I am not 

 prepared to say what they all are. 

 which while obvious enough are dif- 

 ficult of enumeration. There is 

 such a thing as making window- 

 seats too long as well as too deep, 

 and that is one trouble. Corner 

 pilasters in conjunction quarrel 

 awfully, and ought never to be so 

 arranged. But the main trouble is 

 that the furniture is too small and 



forms the keynote to the room, has 

 a good Colonial mantel, over which 

 there is placed a tine old Colonial 

 mirror, thereby carrying out one of 

 the decorative characteristics of the 

 Colonial period. 



Never place a chair after the 

 manner of Chippendale, at right 

 angles to the arm of a davenport. 

 A davenport is a piece of furniture 

 of such incontrovertible importance 

 in itself as to need few accessories in 

 its immediate neighborhood, espe- 

 cially when it is completely covered 

 by upholstery to a valence touching 

 the floor. 



The tendency of some people is 

 to have too little furniture, and 

 others too much; but the latter is 

 an aristocratic failing, I suppose, as 

 it is the weakness of royalty. The 

 present Queen of England main- 

 tains an accumulation of pictures, 



4 — Both Conditions Hopelessly Bad 



5 — The Elements Must Be in Accord 



insufficient in quantity for the vast space to 

 be furnished, quite the reverse of the con- 

 gestion we had in Fig. 7. Never put a 

 piano across the room from the windows. 

 It is too dark over there. The keyboard 

 should have an enfilading light, preferably 

 so as to catch the reflected chiaroscuro of 

 the setting sun. That is the ideal way. 

 The piano in Fig. 8 is very badly placed. 

 Then rugs placed diagonally, except in 

 studios, are always disturbing notes, espe- 

 cially when the architectural treatment of 

 a room is classic, as it is in Fig. 8 ; and to 

 place a small rocking-chair in the very cen- 

 ter of so ample an apartment is a very in- 

 consequent thing to do. To sum up is to 

 say that neither architect nor decorator has 

 grasped "the idea." 



Fig. 9 shows us an extremely well-fur- 

 nished apartment, architecturally good win- 

 dow-draperies — which are rare — a good 



