October 
51 
, 19*6 
THE 
DECORATION OF THE MORNING 
ROOM 
With this article begins a series of little 
monographs on the furnishing and decora¬ 
tion of various rooms. At the end of each 
mill be three suggestive color schemes from 
which a choice may be made. For further 
information or for solutions to your dec¬ 
orative problems address House & Garden, 
440 Fourth Avenue, New York City. 
COSTEN FITZ-GIBBON 
T O make it a reality, to make 
it something more than a 
mere name attached to one 
of the divisions on the architect’s 
floor plan, we must first realize 
just what the name ‘‘morning room” 
connotes in its ordinary sense. 
To begin with, the morning room 
is not a boudoir. It is too domes¬ 
tic in tone for that, and all mem¬ 
bers of the family are supposed 
to have equal right to share in the 
enjoyment of its comforts. Neither 
is it a “sitting-room” as that term 
was commonly understood not so 
many years ago and as some old- 
fashioned people still understand it 
to-day. It is distinctly a place to 
sit and be comfortable, but its name 
does not raise before our mind’s 
eye a picture of a mid-Victorian 
apartment in which pater familias, 
a Dundreary sort of person in tight 
pantaloons and narrow - waisted 
frock coat, sitting in a large up¬ 
holstered armchair beside the cen¬ 
ter table, pompously scans the eve¬ 
ning paper; mater familias, hair 
parted in the middle, voluminous 
skirts, sits on the other side of the 
round table and assiduously cro¬ 
chets in the effulgent glow of the 
Argand burner, while elder son and 
daughter lift their voices in sweet 
accord at the square piano; and 
younger son and daughter, to com¬ 
plete the vision of domestic felicity, 
bend their heads over a game of logomachy or 
a picture book upon the hearth rug. We can 
all, doubtless, remember some such illustration 
in an old Godey’s Lady’s Booh or Graham's Maga¬ 
zine, published in the 50’s or 60’s. 
What It Really Is 
The name sitting-room, then, however unob¬ 
jectionable in itself, had better be left in abey¬ 
ance until the vision of stilted frumpishness it 
suggests has faded from the memory of the oldest 
inhabitant. Besides, the function of the old sit¬ 
ting-room is now fulfilled by the modern living- 
room. Whatever may be said for or against 
the terms “living-room,” “drawing-room” and 
Wilson Eyre & Mcllvaine, architects 
Since the morning room is the housewife's working roo 
sunny, furnished to aid her in her duties and yet pleasan 
family. It may also be the repository for the marks 
“parlor,” whatever be their actual differences in 
use and outward aspect, they are all used for 
the entertainment of guests, and they are all 
considered as proper places in which to spend 
the evening in either formal or informal fashion. 
The morning room as a place to sit in of eve¬ 
nings would be an anomaly, nor is it intended for 
the entertainment of guests. It is, however, a 
room of intimate character for the common use 
of the immediate family where they may sit and 
carry on their various domestic activities during 
the forepart of the day, as the name implies. 
While in tone the morning room is quite likely 
to be much more feminine than otherwise, it is 
not exclusively or insistently so by any means. 
m, it should be 
t for the entire 
of one's hobby 
A good 
to or k b o x 
should be 
in the morn * 
ing roo to. 
This, meas- 
uring 13" 
by 14" is of 
raised lac¬ 
quer deco¬ 
ra t e d and 
sells for $20 
The desk should be substantial and roomy. This old 
English pattern has generous pigeonholes covered 
by sliding doors, and commodious drawers 
There should also be a sew¬ 
ing table. This of walnut. 
30" high and 20" wide in 
Colonial style, costs $40 
What It Should Contain 
The truest conception pictures^ it as a broad,- 
minded, wholesome-toned room" ifiteudeC. fo\V >, 
sane and unaffected use by sensible, normal ,* . . 
people. To meet their needs there are three 
cardinal desiderata it should satisfy. First of all, 
it should be thoroughly comfortable, and its 
wholly informal character makes this require¬ 
ment particularly easy of realization. In the 
second place, inasmuch as it is apt to have con¬ 
stant and, often times, hard wear, the furnish¬ 
ings should all be of a thoroughly durable s’o.rt 
capable of withstanding the stress and strain 'lai'l. S . 
upon them, and anything of a finicky, perishable" 
nature should be rigidly excluded. Last of all, 
as the morning room is purposely designed for 5 
morning use, and as there is nothing so welcome 
or so wholesome in its effect upon the normal 
human disposition as morning sunshine, it should 
have a southern or southeastern exposure so that 
there may be sunlight and cheer aplenty. 
In deciding upon the several features that will 
make for the most thorough comfort and usable¬ 
ness of the room, let us first of all consider who 
will occupy it, and how they will busy themselves. 
1 he mistress of the house will naturally spend a 
(Continued on page 60) 
Its equipment recognizes the tastes and prefer¬ 
ences of the male members of the family. 
Furthermore, the feminine tone of the room, 
so far as it can be said to be feminine, is de¬ 
cidedly domestic and maternal, or at least 
executive, and in nowise savors of the bou¬ 
doir or the whims of that witless impersonality 
whom the fashion pages of our daily news¬ 
papers insist upon designating as “milady.” 
