HOUSE AND GARDEN 
December, lgu 
r 
Wicker stands and tabourets have the ad¬ 
vantage of being much lighter than wood 
window casing, back to the corner and so 
on down to the baseboard. Each passage 
along the wall covered about eighteen 
inches of wall space. 
Care was taken to go over the ground 
just enough to blend the lines but not to 
give a muddy appearance. 
When this occurred the whole section 
had to be washed with clear turpentine 
till all stain was removed and the stain re¬ 
applied. 
When all the wall had been stained, the 
corners seemed to have lost their plumb. 
This was remedied by dipping a small 
brush in the stain and lightly passing it the 
whole length of each corner from top to 
bottom. 
Without removing the paper the ceiling 
was given two coats of one of the prep¬ 
arations found on the market similar to 
kalsomine, matching in shade as nearly as 
possible the groundwork of the walls. 
The finished room was entirely satis¬ 
factory and has stood the test of time, for 
the paint was applied three years ago and 
the walls show neither fading, rubbing, 
nor ripping away of the paper. 
I did the entire work myself, the cost of 
materials was less than two dollars and a 
half. 
Other colors may be obtained by using 
other shades for groundwork with cor¬ 
responding wood stains for the surface, 
but I chose the yellows and browns as it 
brought into harmony my light wood¬ 
work. red mantel, and black walnut furni¬ 
ture upholstered in brown leather. 
Rag Rugs 
HE rug woven from our hand-sewed 
rags proved so satisfactory that we 
decided to fit out the bedrooms of our 
country bungalow with them, matching 
the warp with the general color scheme of 
wall paper and draperies. But where 
were we to get more rags? The last rug 
had emptied our rag bags, stripped our 
piece trunks, and even taxed our good 
neighbors for the material for the final 
pound ball. The weaver volunteered to 
sell us balls of rags in hit-or-miss colors, 
but we felt dubious about his source of 
supply. Since we must have new rags we 
decided upon that heavy chambray which 
retails at 6c. per yard. We found that we 
could get it by the piece at great reduc¬ 
tion from the wholesale shops; so we 
bought one piece of rose, one of blue and 
one of natural or unbleached color. Then 
came the problem of reducing them to 
rags. Surely it was not worth while to 
cut them into short strips merely to sew 
them together again! We finally hit upon 
the expedient of cutting four or five yards 
from a piece, tearing a strip about 
inches in width down one side, turning 
the corner by the aid of a little snip of 
the scissors, and when that side was torn 
across to within iRj. inch of the edge, 
turning the next corner, and so on around 
to the starting point (still not cutting off 
the strip) repeating the operation until the 
entire piece was cut into one rag many 
yards in length. While one wound this 
into a ball, another piece was hastily pre¬ 
pared in the same way and its end affixed 
The trays have colored hunting scenes in at¬ 
tractive colors set in beneath the glass 
to the first strip so that within a few hours 
several pound-balls were piled in our bas¬ 
ket. Some old sheets were treated in the 
same way (old material always cut in 
strips a trifle wider than the new) and 
in a fortnight everything was ready to send 
to the weaver. We insisted upon the 
“four and four” weaving, a little more ex¬ 
pensive but making a much more artistic 
and durable rug. After the required num¬ 
ber of yards had been woven in any one 
color, the weaver often finished off the 
warp on the long or short lengths (strips 
two or three yards long) bordering each 
end with rows of a contrasting color, and 
allowing for fringe. When these were 
ravelled and tied, they made excellent 
runners for bathroom and halls. Where 
the color of a rug is given mainly by the 
warp, it often pays to use the wool warp 
(adding about two cents a yard to the 
cost) or else the “oil-boiled” as it holds its 
cotton warp color long after the ordinary 
cotton warp has been reduced to nonde¬ 
script hues. We found that rugs woven 
in tan and blue warp were serviceable for 
dining room and sewing room, as the 
debris is easily gathered up from them. 
On the porch the rag rugs gave a home¬ 
39i 
like touch and stood rough treatment from 
weather and foot tracks. And in the 
four-poster room the rag carpet gave an 
old-time atmosphere and ideal setting for 
grandmother’s furniture. 
Wicker Trays 
HP RAYS for all sorts of uses, and small 
stands and tabourets for the ac¬ 
commodation of smoking sets are made of 
English wicker and for the time being at 
least, are used in place of the same arti¬ 
cles made of wood. 
The wicker is so closely woven and of 
such substantial quality that to all intents 
and purposes it is quite as serviceable as 
wood, to say nothing of being much light¬ 
er in weight and the color, a rich shade of 
brown, is most effective. 
All of the trays and stands are supplied 
with sheets of glass that fit over the tops, 
and under the glass are colored prints that 
add considerably to the decorative appear¬ 
ance. Some of these prints show land¬ 
scape or water scenes, but the majority 
are sporting subjects, either hunting or 
coaching scenes, which with their rather 
vivid colors, seem more in keeping with 
the brown wicker frames. 
The smoking stands and tabourets are 
of nearly the same design, the principal 
difference being in the height. The tabou¬ 
rets have an additional lower shelf which 
makes them rather more serviceable in 
point of capacity. 
Another piece in the English wicker is 
a folding stand, quite a novelty that adds 
no little to the appearance and usefulness 
of the trays for which it is designed. It 
is much like the regulation butler's stand 
in size and shape, and has legs of wicker 
with brass tips. The tray fits snugly over 
the top of the stand, making a firm, sub¬ 
stantial table for the afternoon tea things, 
the smoking set or the after dinner coffee. 
The tall folding stand is made to fit the trays 
exactly and makes a substantial table for 
tea or coffee things 
