The Furnishing of a House 
By MARY M. HODGES 
unn O furnish a house” is a phrase which until 
I more or less recently brought to mind 
“the upholsterer,” “the parlor suite,” 
the “dining-room set” and other phrases which are 
still enshrined in many cabinet-makers’ catalogues; 
but fortunately are fast becoming obsolete with even 
the uninitiated. To-day a house is usually furnished 
by a professional decorator whose scheme of decora¬ 
tion is supposed to be wholly uninfluenced by any 
commercial consideration; or, by its owner. And 
though one cannot maintain that the taste displayed 
is always good, or that the results are satisfactory, 
still, the fact that this method is growing more popu¬ 
lar has caused a wide-spread and personal interest 
in affairs decorative, and is emphasizing the theory 
that a dwelling should be an expression of the taste 
of its occupants. 
In a modern novel, “The Spenders,” there is a 
chapter entitled “The West against the East,” in 
which the furniture of a room is described as indica¬ 
tive of the mental attitude of its occupants. Writing 
of this room in which a conflict is waged, between 
opposing factions on a matter of vital importance, 
the author skilfully lays before the reader the attitude 
of one of the factions, hitherto not introduced, merely 
by a description of 
the furnishings of the 
room. The “what¬ 
not,” the “Verni 
Martin” cabinet, the 
clumsily upholstered 
chairs, the worked 
mottoes, and wax 
flowers under glass, 
all combine to create 
in the reader’s mind 
the degree of mental 
and artistic develop¬ 
ment of the people 
who are responsible 
for their indiscrim¬ 
inate assembling. 
The complacent 
acceptance of avoid¬ 
able ugliness which 
characterized the 
middle of the last cen¬ 
tury, both in archi¬ 
tecture and furniture, 
is gradually being 
supplanted by a brisk 
battle for the beauti- 
fu 1. Even in the 
smaller and less expensive home the influence of 
this is visible in the architecture of the house, the 
furniture with which it is fitted and the pictures which 
hang upon its walls. This crusade against “the 
upholsterer” has done more than add attractiveness 
to the home. It has opened up to many women an 
interest beyond the narrow range of petty household 
cares. It is as first aid to those who are seeking 
practical knowledge on points of house furnishing, 
to those who desire to know what the market affords 
that is really good of its kind, where specified articles 
may be found and at what cost,—this series of ar¬ 
ticles is proffered. 
Some fifty years ago a passion for collecting old 
furniture was rife in England and eventually reached 
America. Old furniture which had been consigned 
to the attic was hauled down by “those who knew” 
and given a prominent place m the house. Each 
piece added a visible twig to the family tree, so to 
speak. Then came the period when they were 
drawn from some one’s else attic and if by silence or 
discreet prevarication they still added “a twig,” 
was the sin an unpardonable one ? All of this gave 
rise to the wily “antique dealer” whom we all 
know and who has about had his day, and the dawn of 
the era of the repro¬ 
duction,—the gen¬ 
uine, honest, value 
giving reproduction, 
—is at hand. There 
is, of course, a senti¬ 
ment attaching to a 
piece of furniture 
that has been used by 
one’s ancestors, and 
there is interest un¬ 
deniable in a piece 
that has been used 
by a noted person. 
While to a real lover 
of things artistic, no 
reproduction can be 
quite so satisfying as 
the genuine antique 
with its delicate 
graceful lines so full 
of meaning, its well 
seasoned wood so 
carefully treated in 
the finishing process, 
its cabinet work so 
exact, honest and 
skilful, it is true and 
EXCELLENT REPRODUCTION OF THE FIELD BED 
49 
