J u n e , I p I / 35 
THE SLEEPING PORCH BY DAY AND NIGHT 
Some Suggestions 
the House Look 
for Making that Part of 
Less Like a Sanitarium 
BIRDALINE BOWDOIN 
N OW, I want it distinctly understood 
that if you two girls are going to 
take down your bed and sleep in two droopy 
hammocks out on the upper piazza, I am 
not to be routed out of my comfortable 
bed, in a decently warm room, no matter 
what happens. So don’t get colds or any 
other ailment, for I mean what I say, and 
shall not lend my room.” 
“Not going to be sick ever, because 
sleeping in the open air is the greatest 
thing for the health, and hammocks 1- 
there is nothing so relaxing or so restful, 
swaying as they do to every motion or every 
breeze. Why, they’re just-” 
By sewing the sheets, blankets, counter¬ 
panes and canvas covering into sleeping 
bags, they were kept in place. To insure 
safety, each occupant of the hammock laced 
herself into its meshes, so that the result 
was suggestive of two mummies in boudoir 
caps of water-proof canvas, the which was 
viewed mirthfully by callers of maturer 
ages. But the two didn’t care. 
A Flight Into Egypt 
The mummy idea, coupled with the fact 
of school studies in Ancient Art, suggested 
the decorative scheme for the sleeping- 
porch. They had the wall of the house 
painted a warm stone color, and a cpiarter- 
A combination blind and atoning is 
shown to the right. It can be held 
at any desired position. The slats 
are wood and the supports phosphor 
bronze, strongly construeted 
throughout. Courtesy of the J. G. 
Wilson Corporation 
inch line in Egyptian red framed the win¬ 
dows, giving a panelled effect to the side 
wall. The railing bounding the piazza was 
stone color, with red line running down 
each spindle. The floor was painted dark 
red and divided into eight inch squares 
by lines of the brownish-black of the Egyp¬ 
tian style. A cream-white awning, whose 
heavy roller kept it back out of the way 
on starry nights, and rolled it down over 
the pergola-like open roof beams and 
dropped it to the railing or floor in times 
of storm, was adorned with bands of lotus 
flowers, framing a panel of stern Egyptian 
figures in the characteristic reds, dull yel¬ 
lows, blue greens and brownish blacks. 
Nor were the canvas sleeping bags without 
their lotus decorations. 
When the porch is of sufficient size, beds 
are far better than hammocks to sleep in. 
There are iron cots which cost as little, if 
not less than hammocks, and whose well- 
stretched springs, with a good hair or felt 
mattress, offer greater comfort to most peo¬ 
ple. The ends are no higher than the mat¬ 
tress, so that in daytime the bed gives the 
appearance of an inviting divan. Eor cold 
weather warm things must be under as well 
as over the sleeper, and a waterproof cov¬ 
ering must be made to protect the entire 
bed and hang well down over the sides, 
arranged with an opening large enough to 
slip the head through. Then the head must 
be covered with a cap or helmet, also water¬ 
proof, as a protection against colds. 
To be sure it is not always winter on a 
sleeping porch, and many people enjoy 
reading or writing in bed. Therefore be¬ 
side the bed stands a convenient table to 
hold the lamp and books and other acces¬ 
sories, while over the lap rests an invalid’s 
bed-table—a wonderful attribute for an in¬ 
dustrious “lounger.” 
That Sanitarium Bareness 
IMany regard a sleeping-porch as merely 
a sort of medicinal sleeping place used only 
for the “misery” of night time. Nothing 
{Continued on page 68) 
The day bed below is wicker, 6' 2" 
long, 30" wide. Fitted with remov¬ 
able box and cushion covered in 
denim. The chair, stained or natural, 
can be had with or without eretonne 
cushion seat. Cotirtesy of Minnet 
i(- Company 
