HOUSE AND GARDEN 
January, 1910 
difficulty in having an order satisfac¬ 
torily filled. 
Arranging Colonial Furniture 
S EEING your generous offer in House & 
Garden, I have come to you for advice. 
I am building a six-room cottage with a kitchen, 
dining-room and living-room on the first floor. 
The dining-room and living-room have a sliding 
door between them, and the kitchen is back of the 
dining-room. 
I have an old Sheraton sideboard, a Grand¬ 
father’s tall clock, an old sofa, long and narrow 
with beading on the frame, an old-fashioned 
round table and several chairs — one chair that 
has curved legs, square back with one straight 
piece half way from top piece to the seat; this 
has an upholstered seat; then a fancy shape 
chair with spindle legs and rush bottom and a 
Gothic chair with twisted back and legs and 
upholstered seat. This last looks something 
like chairs you see in church chancels sometimes. 
All of the furniture mentioned is mahogany 
and I have a long looking-glass, with mahogany 
frame. Would you put this over the mantel in 
the living-room? Kindly advise curtain and 
upholstery materials and say what kind of rugs 
should be used upon the floors. 
I have two brass candelabra, with three 
candles each, and the long glass pendants. Must 
I put these on the sideboard in the dining-room ? 
I also have two small brass candlesticks. Should 
these go on the mantel in the living-room ? 
Now about the chimney. It is exposed in the 
living-room and the bricks show up to the wooden 
shelf. Would you have these bricks painted 
brick color and laid off with white to show them 
as bricks, or must I get rough ugly brick and 
leave it rough looking? 
Would you wainscot the dining-room? If 
so, how deep, and would you have it plain or 
paneled? Would you have walls tinted, and 
smooth or rough effect? 
Your house as described seems very 
attractive, and your ideas of placing the 
various pieces of furniture mentioned are 
good. The Gothic chair would look well 
placed near the entrance of your living- 
room, as this is more formal in character 
than the other pieces described. The 
mirror would be effective used over the 
mantel, as your letter indicates. The 
brass candlesticks should be used on the 
mantel of the living-room. 
It is not necessary to leave the brick 
facing for the mantel in the rough. If 
you prefer the painted brick, we would 
suggest that you be influenced in the 
choice of color by the color used upon the 
walls. If—as we would advise — you 
cover these walls in a two-toned yellow 
tan paper, the brick should be painted 
in the same shade of yellow and given a 
perfectly flat finish by adding a great 
deal of turpentine to the last coat of paint. 
'• We send you samples of the various 
materials which we recommend, but if 
you decide upon tinting your walls we 
heartily advise the rough-finished plaster 
in preference to the smooth. In your 
living-room, at least, the effect would be 
more satisfactory if you paper the walls. 
Use Oriental rugs if possible. 
The wainscot in your dining-room 
could be made by using three-inch str ps 
of wood like the standing woodwork, 
placed at eighteen-inch intervals about 
the room, extending from the floor line 
and capped by the plate-rail. The rough 
plaster between the strips should be 
tinted in a shade of dull blue like the 
sample sent. The plate-rail should be 
set in line with the tops of doors and 
windows. The ceiling tint advised is a 
shade of cafe-au-lait, and this should drop 
to the plate-rail. 
We send you a rough diagram showing 
the best assembling of the various pieces 
of furniture you describe, and some 
additions which we would advise. 
Wall Papers 
A S we have long been subscribers to House 
& Garden I wish to ask if you will 
kindly suggest papers for my parlor and dining¬ 
room. The house is a cottage and both of the 
mentioned rooms are about 15 x 15 in dimen¬ 
sions. They run north and south and each has 
a window looking west, and in the dining-room 
a large one looking north, while in the parlor are 
two with a southern exposure. The hall is 
papered in a green and tan figured paper, and the 
woodwork here as in the rooms is white enameled 
paint. The furniture in the parlor is all mahog¬ 
any and in dining-room golden oak. The rooms 
open together with two doorways at which I 
use plain green curtains. The rug in the parlor 
is in shades of green, while a new one will have 
to be purchased for the dining-room. Will you 
suggest colors for this rug, and also material 
and colors for the curtains in dining-room, as 
well as papers for both rooms? 
We are glad to send you the requested 
information together with samples of wall 
papers and drapery materials, d < * 
The two-tone tan paper is suggested 
for the parlor; the price of this is but 
70 cents for 8 yards, and you will find 
it will make a delightful background for 
pictures while according well with the 
white enamel of your woodwork. For 
the over-draperies at the windows of this 
room we are sending a crinkled dull green 
silk which is 90 cents a yard, 30 in. in 
width. 
For the adjoining dining-room the 
tapestry paper is submitted. This shows 
tones of dull blue, olive green, and tan 
in effective mingling; the price is $1.50 
for 8 yards. The ceiling should be 
tinted to the picture rail a soft shade of 
tan. I send you a small clipping showing 
the correct color for the ceiling. You 
may have your painter mix his tint to 
match this. He should dry out the 
sample and submit it to you to compare 
with this before he applies it to the ceiling, 
as the tint used for the ceiling is a very 
important part of any color scheme. 
For the window curtains we send two 
samples, either one of which will be 
attractive. As the room is of northern 
exposure the tan silk, which has a de¬ 
cidedly yellow tone, will perhaps be better 
this is 50 in. in width and cost $2 ajyard. 
4i 
Small, dull hand-made tiles make a charming 
facing for the fireplace and may be set in 
cement over unattractive brickwork 
The blue silk is an excellent color if the 
room is bright enough to carry it. This 
is the same kind in quality as the dull 
green submitted. For the door curtains 
we would suggest the brown velour of 
which we send a sample. For the floor 
covering in this room a domestic rug is 
recommended. There is a good repro¬ 
duction of an Oriental pattern in dull 
blue, green and tan tones; in size 9 by 
12 a rug of this kind will cost you $50, 
but it has really a very long life. 
White wainscoting seems particularly well 
adapted to the dining-room 
