Awnings and Screens that Decorate 
AN EXTERIOR SUMMER DETAIL UPON WHICH DEPENDS MUCH OF THE APPEAR¬ 
ANCE OF THE HOUSE—LABOR-SAVING DEVICES IN AWNINGS—VENETIAN BLINDS 
AND THEIR POSITION—CURTAINS FOR SLEEPING PORCHES 
The awnings on this city house are the result of an effort to attain the right shade and 
shape for the type of the house, which is stucco with Spanish grills at each window. 
Comparing it with the other two houses, one can appreciate the extent to which 
awnings decorate 
covering. There should be 
evidenced, in their choice, a 
sense of fitness to the style of 
architecture they are to adorn, 
a sincere regard for color and 
design, and a fine appropriate¬ 
ness that result from a gracious 
adaptation of the design to the 
subject. 
Simplicity should be the key¬ 
note from which to work. The 
tendency of the past few years 
has been to introduce ornate 
-plain materials with 
emphasis. Broadly speaking, 
awnings should sound the 
same note as any other deco¬ 
rative detail; they should be 
applied as exterior trimmings 
and yet should keep their 
place and become a part of 
the larger surfaces of the 
house, but should not in any 
way transgress the bounds of 
propriety, flaunting crude 
colors and conspicuous de¬ 
signs that have nothing to do 
with the general color-scheme 
of the house. 
Environment also has much 
to do in shaping the selection 
of awnings. Against the bril¬ 
liant blue skies, sparkling 
water and vivid green that are 
part of the charm of a sea¬ 
side resort, awnings may as¬ 
sume the gay hues that har¬ 
monize with so happy a back¬ 
ground. In such surround¬ 
ings concrete and stone houses 
with red tiled roofs may have 
their color repeated in red 
and white striped awnings, 
provided the red of the one 
co-ordinates with the red of 
the other. Even yellow and 
vivid blue can be made to 
hold their own in such an 
atmosphere, though the latter 
will probably not last more 
than a season or two when 
burned by the pitiless rays of the sun. 
But in the more conservative surroundings of suburbs or rolling 
the 
awnings- 
skirts embroidered 
designs, stenciled 
pliqued patterns applied in con¬ 
trasting colors, but these ef¬ 
fects are rather dangerous 
when put into use, except in 
special cases, when a too 
somber surface needs an accent 
of color, or a line requires 
in intricate 
and ap- 
French awnings of white or oyster gray, with a narrow border and scalloped edges, 
are effective on certain types of houses 
T HE exterior of a house, 
unlike its interior, is 
not a purely personal thing. 
It is free to all who care to 
see; its charm may be an in¬ 
spiration to every passer-by, 
and so we owe it not only to 
ourselves but to others as 
well to waive all personal 
eccentricities and to endeavor 
to make our homes express 
that rare sense of proportion 
and beauty of line, of har¬ 
mony and individual distinc¬ 
tion, that are the evidences of 
good taste. 
It is not of the general plan 
and style of a house that we 
have to do here, but of one 
of its minor decorative fea¬ 
tures which, though seem¬ 
ingly insignificant, yet, if not 
carefully treated, is capable of 
playing havoc with all at¬ 
tempts at creating a harmoni¬ 
ous whole. In treating se¬ 
riously the external decora¬ 
tion of a house, the selection 
of awnings should not he a 
casual affair, one to be ac¬ 
complished with as much des¬ 
patch and as little effort as 
possible, but it should be done 
as painstakingly and thought¬ 
fully as one would choose the 
size and color of a rug or the 
color and texture of a wall 
Where the walls are not decorative, 
awnings can relieve the sameness 
