22 
House & G arden 
In the room above the 
low Coromandel screen, 
so popular in the l&th 
Century, has been re¬ 
vived in its proper use 
by a settee when it is 
placed near a doorway. 
Schmitt Bros., deco¬ 
rators 
The successful use of 
screens to form a whole 
background is here 
happily illustrated. 
Corners of rooms could 
be so created or ob¬ 
jectionable doorways 
closed up. Alice Schille, 
decorator 
The VERSATILITY 
of SCREENS 
A Useful Accessory of 
Varied Possibilities 
NANCY ASHTON 
O F all the decorative accessories 
probably the most versatile and 
at the same time the least understood is 
the screen. It never occurs to most of 
us that it has any use except in the 
dining room to shut off the service door. 
As a matter of fact its possible uses are 
as varied as its designs and its pres¬ 
ence frequently creates the character of 
a room. 
In Georgian days when the huge liv¬ 
ing rooms were cold and draughty and 
heated by nothing more adequate than 
a small fireplace, a screen was an actual 
necessity. Discreetly placed at one of 
the entrance doorways it served the 
double purpose of cutting off the cold 
air and breaking the length of the 
room. So placed today, with an inter¬ 
esting furniture group in front of it, it 
may be equally effective. 
Such a screen must of course be tall 
and no less than four-fold. It may be 
of painted canvas in an infinite num¬ 
ber of designs or of tooled leather, or 
carved wood, but it must be of suffi¬ 
ciently lovely design and color to add 
a great deal to the harmony of the room. 
I suppose one of the most beautiful 
illustrations of this was the use of a 
tall screen in itself so lovely that it was 
the dominating note in the room. 
It was made of plain emerald green 
old Chinese satin without a sign of 
decoration and it was very tall, at least 
eight feet. In its bright surfaces was re¬ 
flected all the light and shadow of the 
room. Placed directly in back of the 
glazed chintz davenport, which was 
drawn up at one side of the fireplace, it 
made a perfectly delightful background 
for the charming hostess. The room 
was a library lined with books, with a 
gay flowered glazed chintz at the win¬ 
dows and on the furniture and the 
striking note of emerald green repeated 
in the glass wall sconces. 
In A Studio 
In these days of huge studios which 
serve the purpose of living room and 
dining room as well, the screen plays 
an important foie, and if wisely placed 
may effectively cut off that part of the 
room where dinner is to be served. 
Sometimes an ugly wall may be dis¬ 
guised by the correct placing of screens, 
so as to form a new and interesting 
background. If more than one screen 
be used, they should of course be the 
same height and the same general char¬ 
acter of design, preferably as simple 
as possible. 
To break a long living room by dis¬ 
creetly placing a tall red lacquer screen 
at one of the entrances, with an ar¬ 
rangement of furniture in front of it, 
is an interesting treatment. Schmitt 
Bros., decorators 
