HOUSE AND GARDEN 
June, 
I9G 
429 
countryside, where the air is not stimulating and where color is 
not so vibrant, we are more restrained in our use of decoration, 
attempting to secure a certain tempered atmosphere that brings 
comfort and peace. Green and white striped duck is perhaps 
the most popular and widely used material for the fashioning 
of awnings, for it is a combination that lends itself readily to 
both picturesque and classic forms of architecture and is suf¬ 
ficiently neutral in tone to be 
adaptable to almost any house. 
There is a soft grav-green that is 
indescribably cool looking, and is 
less crude in color than many of 
the brighter greens. It can be 
made to accord perfectly with the 
red brick or white plaster or clap¬ 
board of Colonial houses. 
For stucco and brown-trimmed 
structures brown and white 
striped duck is excellent, both in 
texture and wearing capacity. 
Khaki is wonderfully durable, and 
bears the heat of the sun without 
losing its color more successfully 
than perhaps any other material, 
but it cannot be used any more 
indiscriminately than any other 
fabric. It looks well with brown 
or natural-colored shingled dwell¬ 
ings or those of stucco, or against 
'neutral walls that are partly vine- 
covered. A successful way of se¬ 
curing unusual color combinations Xhe mechanism of inside screens and 
foi awnings is to sew strips of worked. This type of curtain can 
fast-colored duck together, for 
canvas that is painted to get certain desired tones does not wear 
well. A two-toned material, called Textol cloth, showing one 
color on one side with a different tone on the other (it can be 
had in all shades) is serviceable and often very effective, espe¬ 
cially when white awnings are to be used, when the under color 
is green, softening the white glare and imparting shade that is 
restful to the eyes. 
There are various ways of finishing the skirts of awnings. 
1 he different designs are simply bound in braid, or they may be 
scalloped and then bound ; but perhaps the most distinctive models 
A terrace may be shaded or left open to the stars if its awning is arranged 
on an iron piping frame 
are those which are finished with heavy fringes. They are par¬ 
ticularly decorative, and awnings need no other ornamentation 
than this effective trimming. 
Very few city houses, unless they are individual in conception, 
are improved in appearance bv awnings, and they are only 
adopted from necessity, so the simpler they are in design, and 
the less conspicuous in color, the better. Very often, for country 
houses, awnings can be made to 
have a distinct decorative value as 
well as to serve a practical use. 
Porches and windows need the 
accentuation that can he gotten by 
the use of bright color, or, again, 
they may be toned down and al¬ 
most hidden, making them keep 
their places in the general com¬ 
position. 
If you do not care to call upon 
the services of a decorator, but 
would rather solve the problem of 
awnings for yourself, try to study 
your house from a distance as 
well as close by, to get a proper 
perspective. From this vantage 
you can get a view of the house 
as a whole, can grasp its color 
relationship to the surrounding 
landscape, and can come to a bet¬ 
ter conclusion as to what is re¬ 
quired best to fulfill its needs. The 
ordinary department store will 
curtains should be simple and easily Send }OU a book of Samples tO 
serve both for summer and winter choose from, small slips that can 
give you no adequate idea of their 
designs. It is hardly possible to make a suitable selection in this 
way, so it is well to see how a larger quantity of material will 
look before making a final decision. 
The utility of awnings must be considered as well as their 
artistic possibilities, for it has been found that awnings are the 
most practical of all contrivances for keeping out rain as well 
as heat, when the windows are open. The simpler their mechan¬ 
ism, the better; a complicated system of pulleys and ropes always 
ends in disaster. There are 
various modifications that 
can be applied to different 
kinds of windows or can be 
adapted to difficult porch 
problems. For high, narrow 
windows there is a combina¬ 
tion awning and blind, the 
awning projecting over the 
lower part of the window, 
the upper sash being pro¬ 
tected by close-fitting blind; 
these work mechanically, 
and the latter can be lowered 
when not needed to allow 
thorough ventilation. There 
are also ventilating awnings, 
which are especially adapt¬ 
able for sleeping apartments, 
and they are fashioned in 
two or more sections, thus 
A corner of an unsheltered terrace is an 
excellent place for a large umbrella 
admitting the air into the 
room. 
