August, 1 910 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



3" 



cision. A common mistake in many homes is to hang the arate line, a method 

 pictures without regard to the spaces which they occupy. A is no balance of 

 long, wide wall 

 space requires a 

 long wide pic- 

 t u r e , with 

 enough of the 

 wall showing at 

 the sides to bal- 

 ance the picture 

 and the frame. 

 Narrow spaces 

 should be left 

 without pictures, 

 or else hung 

 with those of the 

 same shape. 

 This point of 

 correct spacing 

 is of the utmost 

 importance i n 

 giving to a room 

 t h e "restful" 

 appearance that 

 is so desirable. 



Pictures that 

 are hung too 

 high or too low 

 lose both dig- 

 nity and inter- 

 est. The happy 

 medium is oft- 

 e n e r attained 

 through experi- 

 ments than by 

 following any 

 specific law. In 

 the grouping of 

 pictures in any 

 one space or 

 room, the usual 

 custom is to 

 bring together 

 the oil paint- 

 ings, place the 

 water colors by 

 themselves, with 

 colored prints 

 and monotones 

 each in their 

 own division; 

 but sometimes 

 this rule must 

 be relaxed as 

 frames and 

 mats of a dis- 

 tinctive type 

 may need a con- 

 siderate hand to 

 place them in 

 fellowship with- 

 out paying too 

 much attention 

 to the pictures 

 they inclose. 



One some- 

 times sees a 

 number of pic- 

 tures hung like 

 a series of steps, 

 each on a sep- Decoration for a paneled wall 



that distracts the eye because there 

 either the object or the back- 

 ground. On a 

 staircase this 

 ascending line 

 would be a 

 natural follow- 

 ing of the in- 

 terior architec- 

 ture and, there- 

 fore, acceptable 

 and satisfying. 



The group of 

 three pictures in 

 the illustration 

 shows a careful 

 placing of two 

 small pictures of 

 the same size at 

 the right and 

 left of a large 

 picture with 

 enough space 

 between to give 

 a correct bal- 

 ance. If all of 

 the pictures had 

 white mats (like 

 the center pic- 

 ture) the effect 

 would be still 

 better. 



If pictures are 

 to be an enjoy- 

 able feature of 

 a room some 

 regard must be 

 paid to their 

 background. 

 This fact is be- 

 coming more 

 appreciated a s 

 the artistic sense 

 receives more 

 cultivation, and, 

 rather than risk 

 a mistake many 

 home makers 

 use a decorative 

 wall-paper t o 

 the exclusion of 

 pictures in cer- 

 tain rooms. 

 That there is no 

 lack of wall 

 coverings for 

 making a back- 

 ground for pic- 

 tures is shown 

 by the large as- 

 sortment of 

 plain colors, two 

 and three tones 

 of the same 

 color, texture 

 effects, burlap, 

 crash, buckram 

 and many novel 

 effects designed 

 for this particu- 

 lar purpose. 



