144 
How often one sees in 
homes of refinement an ugly 
piece of material “picked 
up,” usually, at a bargain 
table, doing service as a 
pillow cover, yet throwing 
out the entire color har- 
mony of the room. Econ- 
omy, too, is often wrongly 
practised at this point, and 
expense lavished in un- 
needed parts of the home. 
The character that a 
single small object such as 
the covering of a sofa pil- 
low imparts to a room may 
be estimated by the fact 
that one of the largest 
decorating establishments 
in New York City gives as 
much attention to filling an 
order of this kind and in 
relating design and colors to 
their environment as to 
matters of Jarger concern. 
In furniture coverings 
there are undoubted possi- 
bilities for pronouncedly 
decorative effects, yet the 
advantages of restraint are 
too apparent to require dis- 
cussion. Unsuccessful ac- 
complishments in this do- 
main are mainly due to the 
introduction of too many patterns and too great a variety of 
colors—a mistake that has been avoided in the room illus- 
trated in Fig. 6 by utilizing one material for the over- 
AMERICAN HOMES 
AND GARDENS 
~ 
LFOTERE 
is 
4—A good design, simple and strong, for a brass bedstead 
fashioned carved sofas. 
an almost plain surface. 
April, 1909 
curtains and 
work. 
Covering each piece of 
furniture with a different 
material gives too many 
points of expression in 
any one set of four walls. 
A noticeable improvement 
may be made by allotting 
one texture to all pieces of 
furniture that are built on 
the same lines. (This rule 
is elastic enough to allow a 
uniform covering on all the 
furniture when desirable to 
balance the effects.) 
Furniture coverings 
should blend into their set- 
tings without giving a shock 
of surprise to one who 
enters the room for the first 
time. Difficult as this may 
seem to accomplish it is not 
an impossible feat when 
samples of a good size are 
available for experiments. 
The textile fabrics to be 
had at this time are much 
more varied in character 
than the market afforded a 
few years ago. Haircloth 
in charming tone, in a self- 
woven pattern or in a mix- 
ture of colors, suits the old- 
upholstery 
Cotton and woolen tapestries are 
now made in small, set designs that, at a little distance, have 
In velvets and velours there are 
5—A thick curtain is needed to draw across a door-window at night 
6—Curtains and sofa cover are alike 
