78 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



February, 1910 



Fig. 2 — Anyone can follow out this simple treatment of a drawing-room 



This is why the ceiling should be lighter than the floor, 

 otherwise it seems like something settling down on your 

 head, instead of a something that carries the eye agreeably 

 away. 



It will be noticed that the pictures on the wall are not 

 ponderous, but preserve the general air of the room's 

 airy quality. The mantelpiece, though crowded, is prop- 

 erly balanced with its uprights of candlesticks, and the 

 crowding is done with tact, being obviously a collection of 

 Dresden china, not a massing of conglomerate objects. 



The drawing-room shown in Fig. 4 belongs to the same 

 apartment house, and has therefore the same dimensions. 

 The object of presenting the two is to illustrate a point too 

 often ignored: that, given the same dimensions and out- 

 look, no two interiors need be alike. To try and make 

 them so is one of our most grievous mis- 

 takes as a people. The charm of a 

 French room once extolled, everyone 

 tries to copy it. So it has been with 

 "cosy corners" and "fish net hangings" 

 and no end of other things. Too close 

 imitations of what another person has 

 done only produces the conventional, as 

 when one buys so-called suits of furni- 

 ture and thinks the work of furnishing 

 accomplished. The rights of individu- 

 ality should be exercised, even when 

 suggestions are taken from others. 



The chintz on this furniture is used 

 only as a summer covering, and costs 

 28 cents a yard. It shows red and gray- 

 white chrysanthemums on a white 

 ground, the gray-white predominating. 

 The design was chosen not only because 

 the green of the leaves suggested cool- 

 ness in summer, but because the wall 

 coverings and hangings are green. 

 There is a green burlap on the wall, 

 making a good background for pictures 

 and books. The window curtains, of 

 green denim, cost 16 cents a yard, and 

 are washed year after year. The thin 

 curtains, of white muslin with a wreath 

 of green vines, cost 1 1 1^ cents a yard. 



Though this drawing-room has a 

 greater number of objects brought into it, 

 the same laws of elimination have been 

 observed. Thus no color is permitted 

 which would destroy the scheme of green 

 and white, lightened by the brass of and- 

 irons and hanging lamps. The red of the 

 chrysanthemums is subordinated to the 

 green, and becomes only a cheery note. 

 The white ground of the chintz is repeated 

 in the white ground of the curtain, the green 

 vines of which are the green of the rubber tree. 

 These relationships should never be ignored. 

 The large, winged chair can be had for 

 $14.50 to $35 in the linen. The pur- 

 chaser is advised to study his own comfort 

 in making a selection. William Morris 

 has been quoted as saying that every chair 

 should be built according to each man's 

 separate anatomy. That not being pos- 

 sible, the value of soft chair-cushions, for 

 elbows and backs, cannot be too strongly 

 insisted upon. No two people sit in the 

 same way, and when a hostess offers an 

 easy-chair she should also provide that 

 which would make it adaptable to people 

 of various sizes and proportion. These winged chairs 

 come also in willow, costing $8.00, and can be stained any 

 color for $2.00 extra. When cushioned, they are charm- 

 ing. The cane sofa costs from $40 to $50. 



The plaster casts here shown are very cheap, costing 

 from 50 cents to a dollar. In this instance they are toned 

 to a soft dull yellow, so as not to make them too obtru- 

 sive against the green of the walls. Over the top of the 

 mirror, however, the plaster cast has been left for Time's 

 staining, as no background had to be considered. The 

 staining process is done in this way: A little beeswax is 

 soaked in turpentine until it becomes soft enough to apply 

 with a camel's hair brush. Then a small portion of burnt 

 umber is mixed into it. The polishing is done with an old 

 silk handkerchief, until the cast looks like dull ivory. When 



Fig. 3 — A large-flowered chintz is used for the furniture coverings and at the windows 



