HOUSE AND GARDEN 
March, i 
910 
121 
heavy and the lines of the room demand 
the Craftsman furnishing the mirror may 
be set over the mantel and framed with 
a perfectly flat border of wood finished 
like the standing woodwork of the room. 
Mirrors are only permissible in rooms of 
this type when framed in some such 
manner. 
In the December number of House 
& Garden is a very comprehensive 
article on “Old Looking-glasses” which 
is fully illustrated and will be found of 
interest in this connection. 
A hall mirror should be simple and so 
placed as to receive the direct light if 
possible, so that it will be decorative as 
well as useful. 
There is in New York a wholesale 
manufactory of mirrors, frames, lamps 
and shades, sconces, etc., some made of 
carved wood or composition treated with 
gold leaf burnished dull. Here one can 
find the most bewilderingly beautiful 
reproductions and original designs. This 
place is unusual not only in the wholly 
artistic standard it preserves in its repro¬ 
ductions, but also in the opportunity 
offered the retail purchaser to make 
selections from the wholesale stock, after 
which an order for the piece selected may 
be placed through some firm carrying 
the goods. 
The Dining-room Fireplace and 
Mantel 
W OULD House & Garden advise me 
about the dining-room of a house I am 
now building? I wish to furnish this with some 
good Chippendale (reproductions) furniture 
I now have, but I do not wish the wood finish 
to be white enamel as the standing woodwork 
is of selected birch. I want to make a feature 
of the beamed ceiling, and also to have a good 
simple mantel. The room is not high-ceiled, 
being but little over 9 feet. I have, however, 
seen attractive and correct rooms with low 
beamed ceilings. 
One of the accompanying illustrations 
shows a very attractive dining-room 
which seems to hold the necessary sug¬ 
gestions for you. The mantel shown here 
is extremely good and you would do well 
to keep to it, in its entirety. The panel¬ 
ing above the mantel shelf and the plain 
brick, laid in the white mortar, are con¬ 
vincing and good. Also, if you desire a 
beamed ceiling you may find helpful sug¬ 
gestions in the one shown here. 
A Picture Over a Mantel 
HAVE a very beautiful painting which I 
would like to use in my dining-room. It 
has been suggested to me that it would be 
practical to have this set in the wall over the 
mantel now in course of construction. I am 
not quite clear in my mind about how this 
would look. Would House & Garden 
kindly advise me in the matter? The subject 
of the picture is a suitable one to a dining-room 
and the woodwork in the room is oak. I thank 
you in advance for any attention you will give 
my question. 
An over-mantel picture is effective, but the 
woodwork frame should be made for it 
The photograph of the dining-room 
here reproduced shows a picture set over 
a mantel. While a better example could 
doubtless be provided, this will convey 
to you an idea of the effect. If the pic¬ 
ture were wider it would be better. There 
is no more decorative treatment for an 
over-mantel in a dining-room than the 
one you suggest, if the picture is a suitable 
one and the tones are harmonious. We 
will be glad to serve you further in this 
matter and if you will send a self-ad¬ 
dressed envelope we will write you per¬ 
sonally. 
Concerning Inexpensive Rugs 
T HERE are so many really beautiful 
domestic rugs now made that it 
is not at all difficult to find suitable ones 
for the cottage or bungalow, which, 
together with excellent wearing qualities, 
will supply the needed color note to the 
scheme of furnishing. 
For the seaside cottage there is 
scarcely a more satisfactory rug than one 
of Chinese matting. These are made of 
twisted straw and 
in color and design 
are very pleasing. 
The queer Oriental 
figures they show 
are widely spaced 
and green, yellow, 
red, and rich dull 
blue are each to 
be found a single 
color on the yel¬ 
low-white back¬ 
ground of the mat¬ 
ting; these cost 
about $12.00, 9 x 
12 size. The fibre 
matting rugs are 
also durable, and 
may sometimes be 
found in good col¬ 
ors, although these 
are best suited to 
porches or to camp 
use. They may 
be bought dn" size 9x12 as iuw as $7.50 
each. 
Then there is a rug called the “ bunga¬ 
low” rug, hand-woven, of wool, and the 
line of colors from which one may select 
is large. In these the two-tone effects 
are especially good. 
Another domestic rug of rich soft pile, 
good weave, and remarkable wearing 
quality is made in reproductions of many 
Oriental designs. Some of these are 
very beautiful, while those showing 
stronger colors than the design will carry, 
should be avoided, but by careful selec¬ 
tion in purchasing one of these rugs the 
result in point of artistic beauty and also 
in the life of the rug is all that one could 
ask. 
Tiles lor the Fireplace 
W E are particularly interested in getting 
some information about tiles for the 
fireplaces in our new home. I have read what 
this department had to say about selecting 
these with due regard to the color scheme of 
the room. Now for my library I am undeter¬ 
mined about the color. The room is of north¬ 
ern exposure and the woodwork is brown. 
I may wish to make the walls red, although 
this is not decided. For the living-room ma¬ 
hogany woodwork is used and I shall probably 
put a tapestry fabric on the walls. The recep¬ 
tion-room has ivory white enamel and paneled 
walls. These walls may have the panels cov¬ 
ered with silk damask, or may be tinted like 
the woodwork. I would like the den something 
very unusual, with a tile which would show a 
completed picture when in place. 
We are glad to know that you are 
giving this consideration to the color of 
tiles. This is a question of great im¬ 
portance and one which has not been 
treated with sufficient seriousness in the 
past. 
For the library we would suggest a 
dull-finish ecru tile. This will accord 
with the tint you will in any case use in 
(Continued on page xvi) 
When in doubt what to do over your mantel-shelf, panel it 
