| October > DU 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
229 
two entirely for books. The mantel, with a picture of importance 
over it, balanced them at the other end of the room, and some 
low bookcases, a large table and several small ones, comfortable 
chairs and a sofa, and restful coloring, all helped to make the 
room delightful. 
With the kind of furniture 
there was in the house, a draw¬ 
ing-room was quite out of the 
question, but a charming morn¬ 
ing-room was made with one 
end almost entirely of glass, 
which was kept full of growing- 
plants and ferns. 
None of this furniture was 
fine Georgian or Colonial, but 
was simply unadulterated black 
walnut and horse-hair of the 
hopeless time called Victorian, 
and it was the cleverness of the 
people which saved the day and 
made a charming and delight¬ 
ful home of what might easily 
have been a hideous one. 
It is questions more or less 
like this that many of us have 
to meet: How to do over what 
we already have, and how to 
bring harmony out of seeming 
chaos; how to add to the old 
without making it seem shabby 
by contrast, and how to make 
our homes attractive with what 
we have to spend, whether it be 
much or little. One of the first 
and most important things to 
do is to simplify, simplify, sim¬ 
plify. Nearly everyone has much more than they need to make 
their homes beautiful and useful. Try looking about you with 
unprejudiced eyes and see how many things there are you could 
easily do without and 
whose loss would 
greatly improve the 
appearance of the 
room. If an object 
has great merit and 
beauty we should do 
it the honor of allow¬ 
ing it to be seen, and 
if it has not, there is 
no reason for its 
masquerading as an 
ornament. People 
more and more are 
coming to realize that 
restfulness and har¬ 
mony and beauty of 
effect can never be 
had in crowded 
rooms. 
Luckily one often 
finds in doing over 
old furniture that 
things are not so bad 
as they seem and that 
a little shellac or paint 
and re-upholstering 
will do wonders. Any 
new pieces of furniture one plans to buy should harmonize 
in scale with the old. By this I mean that an elaborate piece of 
period furniture should never be put in a room full of comfort¬ 
able but nondescript chairs and tables. The scale of furnishing 
should be the same throughout 
the house. 
There are various kinds of 
furniture which “fit in” beauti¬ 
fully, and to these we should 
turn in time of need. Wicker 
furniture is a case in point 
that is, if the simple good de¬ 
signs are chosen; it becomes 
quite dreadful if there are 
fancy twists and turns upon it. 
Wicker furniture seems to 
have some of the attributes of 
a well-bred person, for it fits 
peacefully and quietly into 
one's house. It can be stained 
to harmonize with any scheme, 
and a dull finish is nearly al¬ 
ways best. It can be stained to 
match mahogany, and there are 
several shades of brown which 
go exceptionally well with oak. 
It can also be painted any color 
desired, and the cushions, of 
course, can be covered with ma¬ 
terial suited to the room in 
which the furniture is to be. 
Comfortable stuffed chairs and 
sofas are also a good choice, 
and every homelike home- 
should have some of them.. 
Under this head come all 
shapes and sizes, but here also one must be careful to choose 
those built on good, simple lines. There are good copies of wing 
—or fireside—chairs, and various armchairs that have not the 
unhappy appearance 
of being overstuffed. 
In certain rooms, such 
as some libraries and 
living-rooms, leather 
chairs are a sensible 
and appropriate- 
choice. Rocking- 
chairs should never 
be chosen for any liv¬ 
ing-room. If one 
must have them, keep 
them for the privacy 
of one’s own apart¬ 
ment. 
There are many 
suitable designs for 
dining-room furni¬ 
ture, many of them 
copies of that made- 
during the different 
great periods of dec¬ 
oration. There are 
the various English 
and French styles, 
both simple and elab- 
(Continued on page 
25 7) 
Very often woodwork is used in place of fabrics. This library is 
an example of a room which serves its function—easy chairs, a 
fireplace, an alcove lounge and attractive woodwork 
This living-room adjoins the dining-room in the upper right hand corner of page 228. 
Its color scheme is the same and is summed up in the mahogany and green tones on 
the cream background of the Jacobean sofa cover 
