HOUSE AND GARDEN 
200 
October, 1912 
The two panels stenciled above the (ire- The white enameled furniture used with the 
place are in conventionalized designs desk was old material refurbished 
on the subject of dancing 
The panel above the wicker couch has a motif of 
ballet dancers, the colors of which are chiefly gray- 
green and rose 
of the same shade as the curtains. The woodwork is painted a 
glossy white, with a faint cream tinge. 
Bookcases and books are always allowable anywhere and in 
the alcoves at either side of the chimney-jamb are built-in book¬ 
cases with small-paned glass doors. On the tops of the cases 
are a few well chosen pieces of bric-a-brac. The white Colonial 
mantel is of the simplest design and on its shelf the only articles 
are a round nautical clock which bells the hours and several 
vases of choice but unostentatious porcelain. 
Facing the fireplace and not far away is a deep, ample and 
luxuriously upholstered sofa, 
covered with blue velour, 
also to match the color of the 
curtains. The quiet colors 
are all enlivened by the shin¬ 
ing brass of andirons and 
fender. Close against the 
back of the sofa is a hand¬ 
some oblong rosewood table 
of excellent plain pattern. 
On it are several editions de 
luxe of rare old prints, a 
couple of very good small 
bronzes and one or two other 
articles of vertu such as are 
wont to find their way into 
drawing-rooms. 
This arrangement of sofa 
and table back to back is par¬ 
ticularly good in this instance 
for several reasons. In the 
first place the room is oblong 
and this grouping divides it 
practically in half and does away with the Desert of Sahara ef¬ 
fect sometimes noticeable in the central region of drawing-rooms. 
It also makes it possible to have two distinct conversational 
groups after a dinner, and this is always wise, for it rarely hap¬ 
pens that eight or ten people at a dinner party are all interested 
in the same topics of drawing-room discussion. The table in 
the middle also permits the low light from a lamp set thereon 
to shed a mild, subdued radiance in the room. 
In a corner at the other end of the room from the fireplace 
is a handsome mahogany Chippendale secretary and to go with 
it there are three good Chippendale chairs, the seats covered in 
blue velours to agree with the rest of the upholstery. The 
remaining chairs are modern and done in the prevailing pea¬ 
cock blue. The brass electric light fixtures are of the plainest 
possible design. IT D. Eberlein 
7 he Paneled Library T T sometimes happens that family por- 
-I- traits prized for obvious reasons, 
prove an embarrassment in a distinctly modern house. 
Taken all in all, probably 
the most satisfactory way to 
display any portrait is to set 
it into the paneling of the 
wall, and this method is es¬ 
pecially good when the por¬ 
trait is not in itself of supe¬ 
rior value, yet has an indefin¬ 
able charm. The formal pose, 
the little quaint details of cos¬ 
tume, the flashes of character 
that the painters achieved in 
spite of their tight method, 
all combine to make the por¬ 
trait a valued record of the 
past. And the setting of such 
a record should suggest per¬ 
manency above all else. The 
library here illustrated is in a 
beautiful suburban home, a 
house that is distinctly mod- 
■rn and of our own time, but 
speaks unmistakably of long 
years of future usefulness still ahead of it. 
The keynote of the library, as of the other first floor living- 
rooms, is found in its fine woodwork of dull-finished oak. Book¬ 
cases, of course, liven the walls except where interrupted by the 
great fireplace and grouped windows. Above the book-shelves 
the paneling extends to the ceiling, and into each space, left by 
doors and windows, is set one of the old portraits, the surround¬ 
ing moldings very cleverly arranged to throw the painting into 
relief, though they do not protrude much from the wall. 
In the third floor bedroom that was converted into a combination living 
and sleeping room book shelves were constructed of paneling to match 
the woodwork. The couch and curtains are of Russian crash 
