xiv AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
July, 1909 
w CORRESPONDENCE © 
The Editor of American Homes and Gardens desires to extend an invitation to all its readers to send to the Correspondence Department inquiries on any matter 
pertaining to the decorating and furnishing of the home and to the developing of the home grounds. 
All letters accompanied by retum postage will be answered promptly by mail. 
Replies that are of general benefit will be published in this Department. 
Problems in Home Furnishing 
By Alice M. Kellogg 
Author of ‘‘Home Furnishing: Practical and Artistic’ 
INTRODUCING BLUE IN A COLOR SCHEME 
**7 AM especially desirous,” writes M. J. 
T., of New Jersey, “of introducing in 
my living-room a suggestion of blue, as 
I am very fond of this color. I do not want 
a blue room, you understand, but to combine 
this color with others in an attractive way. 
Please tell me how to do this, as I often read 
in this magazine about color schemes of blue 
and brown, but I do not know how to go to 
work. So far there is nothing in the room but 
some solid oak chairs with leather cushions in 
brown—mission, I think, the style is called.” 
If the room has a sunny exposure a combi- 
nation of blue and green would suit the dark 
tones of the furniture. A rug in these two 
colors would be the beginning, using a gray 
or buff paper on the walls, the former, if the 
room is sunny and well lighted, the latter, if 
there are few windows and a north or east ex- 
posure. As the fireplace is probably finished 
there is no opportunity for introducing any 
blue in this part of the room, but the mantel 
may hold one or two vases of some of the 
artistic glassware that is made in New York, 
each one a separate piece of blowing. If there 
is a divan or lounge in this room there may be 
some pillow-covers of blue silk, not a clear 
plain color, but showing a mixture of gold 
threads in the weaving. Again, in the table- 
cover or lamp mat this shade may appear; or, 
in the cushions for some wicker chairs, the seats 
and backs may have a shaded velvet of blue. 
Still another way of enjoying one’s favorite 
color indoors is to have a vase of flowers or 
a flowering plant, lobelia, forget-me-not, vio- 
lets, foxglove, pansies or corn flowers, accord- 
ing to the season. 
LACE FOR A HALL DOOR 
The difficulty of treating a hall door that 
has a long glass panel is often brought to the 
attention of this department. Such doors are 
the delight of the suburban builder and the 
perplexity of the home-maker. In reply to H. 
G. the new filet lace that comes in imitation 
of the antique hand-made work is suggested. 
This usually comes in white or cream, but it 
may be dyed a deeper tone or an ecru if it is to 
be placed near dark-finished woodwork. The 
pictures that appear in squares on the lace, 
sometimes seven and sometimes nine or twelve 
inches, contribute a touch of interest to the 
long panel, and if the width of lace is right 
for the space, it may be shirred loosely, but not 
in folds, on small brass rods at the top and 
bottom. A pretty tearoom in New York em- 
ploys this method of shielding the glass doors 
and windows, with the filet lace dyed a pale 
yellow like the walls of the room. 
LAMP-SHADES FOR THE COUNTRY HOME 
“Ts there anything new this year for lamp- 
shades that are suitable for a house in the 
country. My own taste is for a silk shade, 
but this is expensive for the summer weather, 
as it needs renewing after a season’s wear. 
‘The Japanese paper shades are too gaudy for 
the colors in my rooms. Some years ago they 
were daintier and less aggressive in colors.”— 
S. J. G., Springfield, Mass. 
The new wicker shades would be just what 
this correspondent would like, if the lining 
suits the coloring of the room. ‘These linings 
are orange, bright red or green, and the colors 
when the lamp is lighted are not too brilliant. 
They suit the tall banquet lamps of black iron, 
or a pottery jar that is fitted with an oil fount. 
The diameter of the shades at the bottom range 
from twelve to eighteen inches. “The candle 
shades, too, are very charming in this style. 
BEDROOM FURNITURE 
A bride who is fitting up her first home has 
three bedrooms to furnish. She writes: “Now 
that I am selecting my furniture I see that 
there is very little choice of woods. In my 
own town I can only buy mahogany and ma- 
ple. Would you have two rooms in mahogany 
and the other in the maple? Or, the other 
way? As I am buying the furniture from 
money given me for wedding presents, I am 
not hampered by the price, but I do want 
something that will be in good taste for a long 
time.”—D. F. R. 
The maple furniture may be left out of the 
list, as there is no restriction in price, and the 
maple is a cheaper and less interesting wood 
than some others that are now on the market. 
The Circassian walnut comes in a gray- 
brown that suits the dainty colors of a sleep- 
ing-room, and this is especially good in the 
plain styles, Sheraton or Louis XVI. Ma- 
hogany can also be had in the light finish, 
with or without inlaid lines in dark wood— 
reversing the ordinary way. Satinwood with 
inlaid and painted decorations in the Adam 
style is another suitable bedroom furniture 
that gives character and _ interest. White 
enamel and gray enamel in the very fine fin- 
ishes make beautiful guest rooms when com- 
bined with high-class wall coverings and rugs. 
Oak is finished in a number of ways—gray, 
green, brown and natural—and birch is given 
a silver-gray stain. 
From this list a choice may be made to suit 
the different rooms and their exposures, and 
as all of the large cities can show the different 
kinds it would be worth while to make a 
trip for the specific purpose of seeing and buy- 
ing. Or, if one is satisfied to buy from cata- 
logues, the choice could be made through the 
mail. 
CHINA FOR AFTERNOON TEA 
“A Teacher” writes: “I take great pleasure 
when spending a little time with my friends in 
the afternoon in the tea or coffee that they 
make for me in their own rooms. I have a 
few cups and saucers that I brought from my 
home some years ago, but they are of no espe- 
(Continued on page xvi) 
Garden Work About the Home 
By Charles Downing Lay 
WHAT TO DO WHILE THE HOUSE 
IS BUILDING 
$s E ARE in the greatest quandary you 
can imagine. Our house, which was 
to be ready on the first of October 
will not be finished until the end of Novem- 
ber, or later. We shall move in at once, but 
dread to live all winter in a house surrounded 
by such disorder, and it will be too late after 
the end of November to do much work out- 
side. Is there anything we can do to fix up 
the grounds now? ‘The grading has not been 
touched, the terraces are not built and the 
roads are not even staked out. It is too dis- 
tressing for words! How can we make the 
place presentable for the winter?” 
Your case is, indeed, a hard one, but you 
need not be discouraged. It may be possible 
to do much before the house is finished. At 
least, it will be a help to lay out the drives 
and have them built, to arrange the paths and 
to grade the terraces. 
If the outside of the house is nearly finished, 
except the painting, all the work of grading 
can be done now as well as any time. ‘The 
space which is needed for piles of lumber, tools, 
and for unpacking cases, can be provided on 
one side of the house, perhaps on the site of 
the drying-yard if the service court is not large 
enough. 
It will be impossible, of course, to do much 
planting now, but it will be a great comfort 
to have the grading done, and to have the 
place neat and orderly, even if it be bare. 
The edges of paths and roads can be sodded, 
and the garden can be gotten ready to plant in 
September and October. 
‘Toward the end of August the lawn should 
be seeded, and in a month or six weeks every- 
thing will be green and flourishing. 
Evergreens can be moved in August with 
some succcess. It is certainly worth trying, 
because they will embellish the place at once. 
If you get at the work at once you should 
be ready for a long planting season in autumn, 
and the following spring should see the work 
finished. 
There is no time to be lost, as grading and 
getting ready to seed a lawn is a long job if 
it be well done. 
Everything that is done now makes the 
work next spring more easy and the result 
more sure. 
HOUSE FLIES 
A. M. B. wants to know if anything can 
be done to abate the fly nuisance? 
The house fly is a serious pest in many 
country districts, and one that should be 
fought by every means in our power. ‘The 
flies lay their eggs and the larve are hatched 
in horse manure, so it is in the stable that the 
battle must be waged. 
(Continued on page xvi) 
