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SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MONTH 
'ORTHE HOUSE AND GARDE! 
THE HOUSE 
This is the month of good cheer, of merry home¬ 
comings and generous hospitality. The month 
when all the spent brightness of the outside world 
seems to be garnered indoors, and the house-gods 
reign supreme. The test of a house comes at this 
time. Is it a good place in which to spend Christmas ? 
With all its errors in workmanship and design, is it 
genial, warm, livable, and adaptable at this time ? 
Private dwellings are erected as the abode of man, 
and yet frequently one would not dream it. Eleven 
months of the year they are fairly serviceable, but 
when the twelfth comes they are found wanting, 
because they are ill planned and artificial. To be 
sure much depends upon the furnishing and still 
more upon the inmates; but fancy a comparison 
between a square room with moderately low ceiling, 
broad windows and spacious open fireplace, and 
one which is long and narrow, high ceiled, formally 
lighted and heated by radiators. 
And yet much can be done with unpromising 
material. Christmas “greens” will cover a multi¬ 
tude of shortcomings and help much to alter the 
appearance of things. But they should be used 
with care and discretion—not too lavishly or without 
a sense of proportion. A laurel rope festooned to 
form a panel or border, can be made exceedingly 
decorative, and the running pine lends itself to 
effective treatment. The Japanese use branches 
most skilfully as factors in composition for interior 
decoration and we may learn of them. Consider 
weight, background, and rhythm of line in placing 
boughs, wreaths or trailing branches. And color 
too must be taken into consideration. What is 
more inspiriting than the Christmas red ? Nothing, 
provided it does not shame its environment or 
openly quarrel with its neighbors. 
It is at this time that special thought is given to 
the children’s room and the guest’s chamber. Once 
upon a time they were almost equally cheerless; 
and still occasionally they may be. It is by no 
means needful to give the children the best, to give 
them lavish accommodations, but it is very desirable 
that they should have a room which they can call 
their own—one big, warm and sunny, with if pos¬ 
sible a good sized closet. This is the “bears’ den,” 
the “goblin’s cave,” the “steamer’s cabin,” the 
altogether indispensable place of imagination, as 
well as storehouse for toys. Let the furnishings be 
simple but substantial a table which will not 
topple, chairs which can be converted without 
injury into prancing steeds or an automobile, a 
built-in book case with open shelves, and let there 
be pictures on the walls; a few—the works of the 
world’s masters, well reproduced, those which tell a 
story and yet leave something to the imagination. 
It is better to have too little than too much. 
The guest-room also must need be ordered. Here 
again the first consideration is comfort. Let it be 
well ordered but adaptable—a room upon which the 
guest may impress his or her own personality. 
With all the gentle radiance of the Christmas sea¬ 
son however, mundane things will still demand at¬ 
tention and woe betide the householder who utterly 
disregards them. The dripping faucets must have 
new washers before the thermometer gets too low 
or there will be frozen drains and broken pipes. 
The kitchen range must be cleaned out and its 
several parts renewed; the adjustments of the 
furnace and radiators carefully inspected. 
It is not a bad plan too, at this season, to have 
a drier put in the laundry—a big oven-like structure 
with sliding racks, heated by the laundry stove—for 
it is at this time that Old Sol goes off duty and 
Jack Lrost plays havoc with the clothes. 
Nor is it ill advised to give some thought to the 
coat closet -to equip it with hangers and racks 
which will save it from dire confusion and help to 
preserve its contents. Delightful indeed is it if this 
closet has a window admitting both air and sunshine; 
but a coat closet is desirable even without a window. 
THE GARDEN 
The most successful gardener knows that to get the 
full benefit of his time, labor and space in planting 
and cultivating flowers, he must have the best of 
stock to start with. In order to get the best, deal only 
with the most reputable florists and seed growers— 
there is too much risk in dealing with others. 
In making up your lists of what you expect to grow 
next year, it will simplify matters if you will consider 
separately what you desire for the house and con- 
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