HOUSE AND GARDEN 
ARY, 1913 
121 
paint increase the amount of heat given 
off six per cent. Two coats of white lead 
will cause an increase of nine per cent, in 
the heat, while rough bronzing gives about 
the same results as black paint. On the 
other hand, one coat of glossy white will 
reduce the efficiency of the radiator ten 
per cent. One to three coats of bronze 
paint do not materially affect the quantity 
of heat emitted, but additional frequent 
application of bronze operate to decrease 
the efficiency. The white enamel so ex¬ 
tensively used on radiators in lavatories 
and bathrooms very materially reduces the 
effectiveness of a radiator. 
To Clean Unlacquered Brass 
H ERE are several ways, old but good. 
For tarnished mounts upon old 
furniture tie a pinch of fine salt in a soft, 
thick cloth, moisten slightly with sharp 
vinegar and rub hard, taking care not to 
touch the wood with the salt swab. Polish, 
by rubbing until hot, with a flannel dipped 
in fine wood ashes—it gives a soft luster 
otherwise not obtainable. Brass candle¬ 
sticks, dulled, not tarnished, need to be 
washed clean in hot soda water, dried and 
rubbed with wood ashes. Smear hand 
rails, etc., with salt wet with vinegar, let 
stand five minutes, then rub off and 
polish with either ashes or fine chalk on 
a thick cloth. 
A Convenient Shelf Closet 
T'HE closet of my nine by ten bedroom 
_ is so small that it can be used only 
as a linen press, and as storage space for 
boxes and so forth was badly needed I 
procured an inch thick board of redwood, 
two feet wide and long enough to fit into 
the end of the room over door and win¬ 
dow, the frames of which supported one 
end and a strong cleat the other. As the 
ceiling was high this left a space of two 
feet above the shelf. To protect the con¬ 
tents of the shelf from dust as well as to 
hide the unsightly array, I curtained the 
space by tacking with brass headed tacks 
onto the side of an inch strip of pine, a 
series of cream colored cheesecloth cur¬ 
tains. The inch strip of pine had previ¬ 
ously been nailed with long wire nails to 
the ceiling on a line with the front edge 
of the shelf. Each curtain section was 
A ceiling closet is made by a redwood board 
above door and window 
finished with hem and tiny heading at 
top, was slightly gathered, lapped one inch 
over the next and stitched firmly to a strip 
of strong tape as long as the entire length 
of the shelf. They were left disconnected 
on the sides for ease in handling. This 
shelf closet has proved a great con¬ 
venience, taking up no space which could 
be used in any other way and interfering 
in no way with the arrangement of furni¬ 
ture or lighting of the room. 
Hiding the Unsightly Radiator 
TT is hard to imagine anything less use- 
A ful and less ornamental than a steam 
radiator during the summer months. The 
radiator in our guest-room is in a very 
conspicuous place where no possible ar¬ 
rangement of furniture can hide it from 
view. 
It was the lady of the house who first 
thought of a plan to convert the objec¬ 
tionable object into a thing of beauty and 
utility. A yard and a quarter of cretonne, 
a yard of cotton-ball fringe, an odd piece 
of board and a few upholsterers’ tacks 
were all the material needed to make the 
cover shown in the first of the two photo¬ 
graphs. 
The board was cut to fit against the 
wall and extend half an inch beyond the 
front of the radiator. It was left long 
enough to extend out over the valve 
joint. Cleats were fastened edgewise 
across the bottom of the board to fit down 
between the sections of the radiator to 
keep it from slipping. 
A piece of the cretonne was stretched 
over the top of the board and tacked down 
smooth. The balance of the cretonne was 
hemmed at top and bottom and gathered 
on a string run through the top hem. The 
string was fastened at the back of one end 
of the board and stretched around the 
front and fastened again at the back of 
the other end. With the fullness evenly 
distributed, the fringe was tacked down 
on top of the cretonne with gilt-headed 
tacks. The radiator is completely hidden 
and the cover forms a useful shelf, at a 
total cost of about fifty cents. 
Our success with this radiator fired the 
imagination of the man of the house, who, 
after making a crude sketch, sent an order 
to the lumber mill calling for 
18 feet of 9" x oak 
7 “ “ 3 "x%" “ 
4 “ “ 10" x%" “ 
This he constructed into a piece of fur¬ 
niture resembling a set of shelves, with all 
but the upper shelf and top concealed be¬ 
hind a curtain. When the carpenter work 
was done the oak was given a coat of 
fumed oak wood dye, and when dry was 
rubbed down with furniture wax, giving 
a rich, dull polish. 
The curtain is made of aurora cloth, of 
which one and one-quarter yards—fifty- 
inch width — was required. It is sup¬ 
ported on a brass curtain rod. 
In the summer time this useful piece of 
furniture is placed over the radiator, which 
is entirely hidden behind the curtain. 
When the steam is turned on it is moved 
to another part of the living-room and 
fitted with two additional shelves for 
which cleats are provided. 
The cost of this piece of furniture was 
Lumber .$2.50 
Hardware .20 
Stain and wax (about)... .25 
Curtain material . 1.25 
$4.20 
To look at these covered radiators when 
not in use one would not imagine that be¬ 
hind the curtains are unsightly shapes of 
metal. They are most successfully con¬ 
cealed, and surely the cost is light. 
Cretonne and a board change the radiator 
into an ornamental shelf 
This piece of furniture can be fitted over the 
radiator when not in use 
