3 ° 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
January, 1914 
WITHIN THE HOUSE 
SUGGESTIONS ON INTERIOR DECORATING 
AND NOTES OF INTEREST TO ALL 
WHO DESIRE TO MAKE THE HOUSE 
MORE BEAUTIFUL AND MORE HOMELIKE 
The Editor of this Department will be glad to answer all queries 
from subscribers pertaining to Home Decoration. Stamps 
should be enclosed when a direct personal reply is desired 
PROBLEMS OF FURNISHING THE SMALL 
COLONIAL HOUSE 
By George Crane 
io 2 awaa^ BZG| 1 IE furnishing of a house, be it large or 
small, Colonial or French, should receive 
careful attention. This attention can and 
must be given — that is, if the house is to be a 
I success — whether the above home is to be 
simply or elaborately treated, with ample 
means at one’s disposal or a limited pocketbook constantly 
reminding one and, so to speak, blocking the way. Even 
with slender means, thought and consideration are still pos- 
sible and should not be cast aside. After all, is it not a 
greater satisfaction to accomplish a pleasing result with 
little than to reach the same end by an unlimited spending? 
The shops “are so full of a number of things” that those 
with full pockets “should be happy as kings,” but the same 
is true for those hunting, though with less at their disposal; 
the difference being that after selecting the necessary articles 
the price must be considered, and probably a greater part 
set aside until a future time. Nevertheless, one thing well 
chosen is worth a hundred carelessly purchased. Build the 
small home as a monument to good taste and gradually fill 
it with excellent things carefully chosen, and the result will 
surely justify the means. 
Let us then assume that we have a small Colonial house 
to work with, and that absolutely nothing has been done 
to make it fit for occupancy — that it has not even been 
painted and papered. We shall then have a perfectly clear 
field, with nothing to hamper us. Downstairs we have a 
broad hall running the entire depth of the house, with a 
good-sized living-room on the right as one enters. Open- 
ing from this room is the library, with a double door into 
the hall giving a glimpse of the Colonial stairway. On the 
opposite side of the hall one finds the dining-room, quite 
long, and across the end a sunroom that is to be filled with 
plants. I here is absolutely nothing in the house, as we 
have said, not even paint; but the foundation is there and 
complete, and we must wait for the desired result. 
Above stairs a hallway corresponds to the one below with 
the bedrooms opening from it. The family rooms occupy 
the entire floor with the exception of the one room over 
the living-room, which is set aside for guests. Two bath- 
rooms complete this floor. On the third floor are two 
servants’-rooms and a small bath, besides a storeroom and 
a trunkroom. On the first floor the kitchen opens from the 
dining-room, a natural position for this necessary member 
of the house. 
Assuming now that all is in readiness for papering and 
painting, let that receive our first attention. The wood- 
work throughout the house is to be a light ivory white that 
will be pleasing, as the character of the moldings and panels 
is well adapted to simple treatment. The broad hall is 
papered in a plain golden-yellow oatmeal paper, extending 
to the ceiling, where a two-inch picture molding in ivory 
white divides it from a plain ivory ceiling paper of egg- 
shell texture. It is necessary to be thus explicit about the 
paint and paper, for paints and paper are two very im- 
portant factors in furnishing that are sometimes not suffi- 
ciently considered because they are not movable. In a house 
of Colonial style, white or light paint and plain light paper 
are always to be chosen, as they form an excellent back- 
ground for the dark walnut or mahogany furniture of eigh- 
teenth century pattern, making every piece show to full 
advantage and giving an appearance of ample furnishing 
when in reality there are but comparatively few pieces. 
Against the wall, in the space between the dining-room 
door and the stairs, let us place a long drop-leaf table either 
of walnut, in Queen Anne pattern with cabriole legs and 
Dutch feet, or of mahogany in later Chippendale style. 
Both are good. This in place of a hatrack, that abomina- 
tion of nineteenth century invention. On the table stands a 
charming lamp with gray crackle ware base and a shade of 
rice paper in plain white with a black lacquer frame. This 
lamp complete cost fifteen dollars, eight for the vase and 
five for the dull brass fount to fit. The shade was pur- 
chased for two dollars because a tiny split in the paper 
made it imperfect. This was easily mended, and the result 
was a delightful combination for little money well worth 
the trouble and thought. 
In the wall spaces opposite we place several plain Chip- 
pendale chairs, one a fine old family piece and the other two 
admirable reproductions, which answer just as well for all 
decorative purposes so long as they are accurate. In the 
space at the right of the door leading to the garden we 
place a chest of drawers with a cupboard bottom. It is of 
mahogany, plain but of excellent lines. In it are kept rub- 
bers, garden gloves, whisk brooms and various other un- 
sightly but necessary articles. On the floor several good 
Oriental rugs in soft tones and the necessary note of color, 
while a couple of old prints in ebonized black frames adorn 
the walls. The lighting comes from side brackets made of 
two pairs of old brass candle sconces wired for electricity 
and fitted with little white china candles. So much for the 
equipment of the hall. Enumerate the articles of furni- 
ture used and you will have simplicity itself. Neither has 
much expense been incurred. Nevertheless, the effect is 
ample and quite sufficient to give the aspect of dignity and 
cheer that a hall ought to have. 
Next we take the bright sunny living-room with its four 
good-sized windows looking out upon a world of green. 
Here, as in the hall, the woodwork is a light cream with 
walls done in tan paper with a good deal of brown in it. 
1 he ceiling has a cream egg-shell paper and about the wall 
angle a cream picture molding serves as a dividing line. 
Ihe fine Colonial mantel, a notable relic of former days, has 
