HOUSE AND GARDEN 
PRIL, 19IO 
141 
The rather unusual combination of mahogany furniture built on Mission 
lines is found in this spacious living-room 
A sample of the over-decorated gaudy “ parlor” of a decade ago, including 
the ubiquitous “what-not,” which, fortunately, we have left far behind 
foreign make, either the East India or the Hong Kong. Both 
of these styles show in form and color the clever workmanship 
and artistic ability of the Oriental craftsman. 
Houses modeled somewhat after the bungalow, and other 
small houses in which the elimination of all ornament is the key¬ 
note of the interior detail, will also be found to hold such furniture 
agreeably. This furniture is usually made from oak or ash, darkly 
stained and finished with a soft polish. Occasionally, however, 
mahogany is used, though not so successfully, as this wood is too 
closely associated in our minds with the more elegant lines of 
Colonial furniture. 
For the Colonial or semi-Colonial house, reproductions of the 
numerous furniture designs of that period find appropriate setting. 
However, to make a successful Colonial room one need not neces¬ 
sarily be a purist. The charge of stiff formality is sometimes 
brought against the careful Colonial treatment of rooms. This 
is by no means necessarily attendant upon correct Colonial decora¬ 
tion. While there can, of course, be no over-crowding of such 
rooms, we should bear in mind that no style of furnishing should 
be considered which does permit of this. 
In furnishing the Colonial house we are by no means restricted 
to the designs of Chippendale, Sheraton, Hepplewhite and others 
of their kind, but with perfect propriety pieces ante-dating the 
time of the Georges may be introduced, as the Colonial is the 
direct outcome of the Georgian and previous periods. 
Colonial furnishing is sometimes accused of being too austere for comfort, 
but this consistent living-room disproves it 
There is a distinct difference in the type of furniture which 
was used in the Colonial mansions of the South, and that of the 
New England houses of the same period. In the former one feels 
the French influence in the ornamentation and carvings of the 
rosewood frames of the more formal designs, while the New Eng¬ 
land type is austere and affected by the Puritan spirit of the time. 
Thus furnishing and decorating a house of Colonial suggestion can 
become a very real pleasure to the owner, as in fitting it with suit¬ 
able and congenial pieces of old furniture or some of the many 
excellent reproductions of good design which are to be had to-day, 
a beautiful and livable scheme may be worked out. After the 
wall decorations and hangings are in place the furniture should 
be added slowly and carefully, each new piece being thoroughly 
tried out before its final disposition is determined. 
There are many helpful books on Colonial furniture to be found 
in our libraries which should be read and digested by any one 
who purposes undertaking the fitting up of such a home. 
We have given special prominence to the consideration of 
Colonial furniture as in the treatment of houses of this beautiful 
and dignified style the amateur may readily meet with success. 
This is largely owing to the careful reproductions which are made 
of the furniture best suited to such interiors, and also the excellent 
examples of these houses which are now extant and which, through 
actual acquaintance, or pulished illustrations, are well known to 
the public. 
So many and such unspeakable mistakes are committed in the 
name of “French Period Decoration” that even the least experi¬ 
enced have come to fear it. It must be recognized that this 
treatment has no place in the home of modest pretensions. A 
house to be so decorated must be designed along lines character¬ 
istic of the period, the architectural detail of the interior making 
ready the way for the silk-paneled walls, framed in stucco garlands 
and overlaid with floating ribbons, swags of fruit and flowers, and 
the ornate cornice and chimney piece which will supply a proper 
setting for the carved gold leaf, tapestried furniture, and delicate 
brocades of that time. 
In the recent past, American manufacturers have flooded the 
markets with so-called Vernis-Martin cabinets and tables, as well 
as frankly gilded and machine-made chairs and couches labeled 
Louis XIV, XV, or XVI period, as the fancy of the dealer or the 
customer has dictated. It is furniture of this and kindred types 
which makes for the very bad decorative effects shown in many 
of the more elaborate of our homes! Fortunately, however, this 
condition is also passing and the building public is individually 
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