HOUSE AND GARDEN 
February, 
I 9 I 5 
make, instead of mar, a room, as the 
lighting arrangements. Tables with good 
reading lights, and all lights well shaded; 
those on the walls should be used spar¬ 
ingly and always concealed by carefully 
made shields. Nothing perhaps is more 
inartistic than electric bulbs in the ceil¬ 
ing, which throw the light in the one 
place not wanted. Almost as important 
as the lighting is the curtaining of the 
windows. Light, and yet more light, is 
generally needed. Thin scrim or net 
across the glass and the other hangings 
pushed well back with a formal, simple 
valance across the top is generally safe; 
clumsy, overtrimmed curtains and fancy 
lace ones shutting out light and air ought 
to be avoided. 
The walls ordinarily should be plain 
and low in tone, with very few pictures, 
for seldom are there pictures that are 
good enough to lend beauty and distinc¬ 
tion to a room ! Paneled walls, which are 
in themselves decorative, simple and re¬ 
poseful, really need no pictures at all. 
The structure of the room, the main 
There are few things that can lend such an air of charm, and can make instead of mar a room, as the lighting idea, as it Were should be of SOlUe One 
arrangements. Devices used here are admirable — good reading lights and wall brackets shaded period which Call be adjusted and 
The drawing-room must be formal and yet not so stiff and unnatural as to make the guest uneasy. 
Here again the lights should be well shaded and an air of general repose created 
and fresb flowers. On the other hand, the 
living-room—the very words suggest informal¬ 
ity—is the place for family and friends to 
gather on any and all occasions—a room to live 
in. And for this very reason it is often abused 
by being made too personal, too expressive of 
the details of a family’s life, the details which 
ought correctly to belong to the individual's own 
apartment. It has too often the tendency to 
contain a collection of everything, rather than 
to be a unified whole. It should, of course, ex¬ 
press the person or persons who are to use it, 
being thoroughly suited to their tastes and per¬ 
sonalities ; and it must be made essentially com¬ 
fortable ; but, on the other hand, it should not 
fail in dignity and repose. There must be a 
sense of harmony in form and color and ar¬ 
rangement. Above all, there should be plenty 
of space so that there may be no feeling of 
overcrowding. Most pleasing is that freedom 
from too many things. As very often there is 
no other suitable place for the purpose, the 
living-room must be made for entertaining, as 
well as for everyday life, and then the necessity 
for plenty of space is appreciated. 
For daily use, a room that can be entirely 
closed so that privacy is secured when the occa¬ 
sion demands it, is most satisfactory. It never 
should be a passage, nor, if possible, should stairs or front doors 
be in the living-room, for then it is open to strangers and ser¬ 
vants, and there is often a time when that is not desirable. 
Two, or even three different centers in the living-room are ad¬ 
visable : the fireplace, primarily, with its long davenport and easy 
chairs; and also the window with seats and desk, bookcases close 
by, and a pleasant view of the outside world. These two centers 
for different times of day and year are almost essentials. 
There are few things that lend such an air of charm, and can 
changed to meet the modern requirements of the family. When 
carried out too strictly, the room becomes stiff and unnatural, as 
if made to order by outside means; yet with the general feeling of 
a period seen in the paneling, the main pieces of furniture, the 
fabric and design of the curtains and upholstery, there is a strong 
framework to build on. This will hold in place the individual ex¬ 
pression of the owner shown in all the minor details. 
The Jacobean—possibly the most popular period now used for 
an English living-room—can be made altogether delightful for 
