70 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
August, 1913 
Q Your Decorating and ^ 
• Furnishing Problems • 
O many inquiries have been received in 
HOUSE & GARDEN seeking hints and 
advice for the decorating and furnishing of 
houses that some time ago we made the ex¬ 
periment of organizing this work into a special de¬ 
partment. It has proved itself worth while by our 
final test — the satisfaction of our subscribers. 
We wish to call your attention to the fact that 
we are prepared to attack the problems that bother 
you in the decorating and furnishing of your home. 
We invite you to solicit our services. The perplexi¬ 
ties of furniture arrangement, and style; the proper 
treatment of walls; woodwork, floor coverings, 
lighting fixtures, and hangings appropriate to your 
need — these are the special fields in which we are 
prepared to give advice. Harmonious schemes in 
all possible completeness will be submitted. Where- 
ever possible samples of the materials recommended 
will accompany the plans suggested. 
We wish to assist those living far away from the 
great shopping centers to get ideas of the new and 
interesting things that are constantly appearing in 
the beautiful shops of this city. All the artizans of 
the world pour their products into this metropolis, 
perhaps HOUSE & GARDEN can show you the 
way through the maze of good things to the very 
one article your imagination has been seeking. 
We hope in this way to give auxiliary information to that 
contained in the magazine — and to help practically those 
whom we have directed through our columns. 
Requests for any information should be accompanied by 
return postage. The case should be stated as clearly and 
tersely as possible, giving enough data to make the require¬ 
ments of the situation evident. 
HOUSE & GARDEN DECORATIVE DEPT. 
McBride, Nast & Co., 31 E. 17th St., New York City 
the lower part was commonly used as a re¬ 
ceptacle for clothes as the furniture was 
costly and made to serve for more than 
one purpose. 
It is not generally realized how much 
furniture was made in this country. Peo¬ 
ple love to say, “My great-great-grand¬ 
father brought this from England!” It 
seems to imbue the article with an added 
luster. Before 1700 Boston had at least 
twenty-five cabinetmakers whose names 
can be found in various records. By 1785 
there were seventy-three cabinetmakers 
listed in Philadelphia alone, and it long re¬ 
mained a center for fine furniture. 
Every ship brought over pattern-books 
like the ones advertised by John Riving- 
ton, of Hanover Square, in 1760. He says: 
“These books contain 180 designs, consist¬ 
ing of Tea-tables, Dressing, Card, Writ¬ 
ing, Library and Slab tables, Chairs, 
Stools, Couches, Trays, Chests, Tea-ket¬ 
tles, Bureaus, Beds, Ornamental Bed¬ 
posts, Cornishes, Brackets, Fire-screens, 
Desk and Book Cases, Sconces, Chimney- 
Pieces, Girandoles, Lanthorns, Etc., with 
scales.” 
There are desks of this pattern made of 
mahogany of much later date than this 
one; in fact they were made well into the 
Nineteenth Century. On most of them 
the feet tell their age, and are often 
of the clumsy turned under type called 
“Empire.” Less frequently there is the 
bracket foot, and sometimes a slender 
turned foot somewhat in the Sheraton 
style. 
Painted Floors 
A FLOOR that is neither hard nor soft, 
but just an ordinary, “plain floor,” 
sooner or later falls to the lot of the 
painter, and fortunate are the homes with 
the old-time broad board floors. Take a 
room with such a floor, rip up the old 
dust-laden carpet or filling, throw it far 
away where it cannot return in the dis¬ 
guise of rag rugs or some other terrible 
connection, and free the floor from all dust 
and crack accumulations. Then, with a 
bucket of hot water and soap go over the 
floor and wash up the surface dirt. Then 
with another bucket of hot water plus a 
scrubbing brush go over the floor again 
until the boards are really clean and ready 
for the next attack. 
The cracks are wide and long — old 
floors are ever thus, unless the house be in 
unusual condition; and this, one seldom 
finds. Buy a crack filler which you mix 
with the paint you are to use so that it 
will cover well. Let us choose a dark red 
brown for the floor and begin work. Ready 
mixed paint is to be had at all paint shops, 
but many prefer to mix their own, for then 
the exact shade is possible, and you can 
play with the color until it is just as you 
want it; and that is a great satisfaction. 
A broad brush is necessary so that the sur¬ 
face may be well covered with as few 
goings over as possible. Two coats are 
absolutely necessary to give a sure cover¬ 
ing, allowing the first to dry before ap- 
In writing to advertisers please mention House & Garden. 
