Distinction in Dining- 
Rooms 
THE PERIODS THAT CAN BE MIXED—GENERAL 
RULES FOR MAKING THE ROOM A CHEERY PLACE 
—WHAT TO AVOID—AND A NOTE ON BREAKFAST- 
ROOMS 
Mary H. Livingston 
Photographs by Jessie Tarbox Beals 
I N planning a dining-room of distinction there are three points 
to be considered : tradition ; demanding and impressing one’s 
personality through this tradition; and suiting one’s means to 
one's choice. It cannot be the composite of various unrelated 
styles, nor of the unorthodox nouveau art — futurist and what¬ 
not new invention. We must feel conscious of a certain co-ordi¬ 
nation in planning. Without co-ordination such a dining-room, 
although it be wonderfully clever and pleasing, may still lack dis¬ 
tinction. 
In a traditional room is immediately created an air, a spirit, 
something that responds to the background of our own expe¬ 
rience — be this experience in a New England home, a Southern 
mansion, villas and cottages abroad, or be it merely a result of 
visits to our shops. People may protest against a period room, 
saying: “Why should I limit my choice of furnishings to de¬ 
signs produced between such and such a year? It hampers my 
selection.” Such a person does not understand what the periods 
are. There is not standard of scale or universality of spirit 
running through the periods, and hence they cannot be mingled 
successfully. You cannot put American Colonial with French 
furniture of Louis XIII, because one is light in scale and domestic 
in spirit: the other heavy in scale and majestically ponderous in 
spirit. It is not a matter of dates, this incongruity. By the con¬ 
sistent use of a period style, formality and restfulness, plus 
cheeriness, create the desirable dining-room. 
To many of us, and particularly to men, dining is the high spot 
of the waking hours. A good dinner works the daily miracle of 
a man's existence. Let the dining-room have restful spaces, com¬ 
fortable chairs, adequate table-room and the elimination of an 
over-loaded sideboard and ostentatious china closet. Let the 
walls be light in tone. Let there be enough light to eat by. 
Women are apt to light a table insufficiently—a soft, becoming 
glow from shaded candles. Men, with little or no concern for 
their wrinkles and graying hair, have a less impelling esthetic 
sense. So, if possible, have side wall fixtures, which, with the 
candles, will give sufficient light. If side fixtures are not feasible, 
In summer, the dining-room can be made an adjunct to the porch if there are French windows. As here, the spirit of Colonial days should be carried out in mantel, 
hangings and furniture 
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