I HOUSE AND GARDEN 
September, 1913 
188 
\\0 
^ Your Decorating and Q 
o 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 bothei 
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 U Co., 31 E. 17th St., New York City 
low and brown with brownish mortar and 
green tile in the floor part. I wish to re¬ 
paper this, and wish you would tell me 
the kind and shade—not too expensive— 
and suggest a rug, a runner for the hall¬ 
way, and whether or not it would be best 
to have the stairs covered. They are very 
much marred. 
The house is rather old-fashioned, 
though not old enough to be interesting, 
being built in 1884. High ceilings, large 
and high windows, and very large porch 
on west and south; a driveway on north. 
It is painted a dark reddish brown with 
light tan trimmings, and I wish to change 
the paint as soon as weather is good. The 
yard is large—two lots—with many maple 
trees, and on a corner with terrace on the 
south. It is difficult to keep my yard look¬ 
ing nice because people walk over it, so I 
have decided to inclose it in some way. 
What would you suggest—an iron fence 
or a dark brick wall with pickets (the 
foundation of house and porch is of dark 
brick) ? The place has a cement walk all 
around and a cement driveway on the 
north side and walk leading up to the 
front. The house used to have green blinds 
when it was painted a light yellow. Would 
you say put them back, if the house is to 
be painted white or light ? I notice so many 
Eastern houses have the blinds again. 
My lawn was looking badly last year, 
having been neglected a year that we were 
abroad. It is bare in places and very 
lumpv-looking. Tell me how I can treat 
it this spring and when to begin. I shall 
be very grateful to you if you will help 
me in beautifying my home and thank 
you in advance. 
Answer —Under separate cover I am 
mailing to you samples of wall-papers 
with the hangings for each room you have 
described to me. The price per roll and 
per yard (for the materials) is marked on 
each, and the room for which they are in¬ 
tended. This seems to be the simplest way 
of answering the questions which you 
have asked. 
Georgia pine will make good floors for 
your second story, and is quite inexpensive. 
I think the floor in your bathroom might 
be the same, but instead you could have a 
plain wood floor, and use a linoleum, the 
cement-like, sanitary floor covering. 
By all means I should carpet the stairs 
in your hall. If possible, I would have 
the cherry woodwork in the living-room 
stained dark, to look like mahogany, if 
possible. Your hall runner and the carpet 
for the stairs can be plain brown Axmin- 
ster or velvet carpet. 
By all means I should have the dark 
brick wall to enclose your yard. Have 
the house painted white, and the green 
blinds put back on. There is no prettier 
house than this. 
You can get a plain blue rug for the 
bathroom in any number of different 
makes and grades. 
The curtains throughout the house 
should be the same, and for this purpose 
I am sending a sample of a very fine voile. 
In writing to advertisers please mention House & Garden 
