Sewing table and hatbox, illustrating the new use of 
cretonne 
Cushions in flowered satins that suggest 
fashions of last year 
the dr 
The New Cushions 
S TYLES in housefurnisnings have a 
most interesting way of following 
fashions in dress. Think how the Mod¬ 
ernist idea in decoration went along with 
Poiret’s brilliant dress conceptions! In 
the home you saw the same vivid colors 
that met your eye in the street. It was all 
very natural indeed. 
This season the shops are showing some 
cushions which have their inspiration in 
the Louis XVI styles of last spring. Do 
you remember those panier and puffed 
dresses of sprigged and flowered silks? 
The new cushions one sees are just as 
lovely. 
Like the dresses, they are made of 
flowered, printed satins combined with 
plain fabric. They are puffed very gen¬ 
erously, and some have the puffings sepa¬ 
rated by cordings of the satin. The col¬ 
ors are delicate, like the dainty French 
styles. Green, rose, old blue and gray 
are used mostly. Black is also much in 
evidence, as it is in most modern house¬ 
furnishing. 
The shapes are delightful; long, flat ob¬ 
longs, circular puffs or ellipses. In the 
illustration the upper cushion is elliptical 
in shape, of black satin, very much puffed, 
with three inserts or panels of the flowered 
printed satin. To the right is a charming, 
round pillow of the flowered satin in tints 
of blue and rose, with two circular puf¬ 
fings of the rose-colered satin. The ob¬ 
long cushion is a delicate green combined 
with satin in a large pompadour design. 
Other cushions are of printed shan¬ 
tung combined with black or gray satin. 
There is being shown the newest shape in 
cushions: the cylinder. This form is de¬ 
veloped not only in the dainty silk, how¬ 
ever. It may be had in more formal fab¬ 
rics like velvet, with appliques of gold 
braid and gold tassels at the ends. 
But there is nothing formal about the 
cushions. They are dainty and delight¬ 
ful and are made to be used. They are 
particularly good in rooms furnished in 
the French manner, but tbeir soft, agree¬ 
able colorings and pleasing form make 
them desirable in any simple room. 
A charming Christmas plate that would make an 
excellent gift 
Ideas for the Handy Man 
A MAN may be either economical 
around the house or uneconomical. 
This is considerable of a factor if the 
home be situated in the suburbs, for there 
are many small items of repair that a 
handy man can attend to and eliminate 
the cost of professional labor. 
If the man of the house will give his 
hardwood floors a thorough renovating 
once a year they will always look fresh 
and fail to show a worn appearance for 
many years. For the sum of fifty cents 
a pound of the best floor wax may be pur¬ 
chased, and this will be sufficient to cover 
the floors of an ordinary sized house. To 
treat the floor, first remove all previous 
finish and then apply two good coats of 
filler, forcing it well into the pores of the 
wood. After the filler has been on for 
twenty minutes the surface of the floor 
should be rubbed off with excelsior, and 
after that wiped clean with waste or a soft 
cloth. The filler is then allowed to harden 
over night, and the next day the floor is 
treated in the usual way with varnish and 
wax. Floors treated this way once a year, 
with an occasional waxing, will keep in 
perfect condition. 
The handy man will also replace all 
broken window glass, and when the hinges 
of a door squeak he can raise the pin which 
holds the parts together and put a few 
drops of oil on the pin and on the parts 
which bind together. 
If the door sticks after it is closed, and 
many times you almost lose all the patience 
you have had given you in trying to pull 
it open, call the handy man and have him 
remove the door and plane off a little of 
the bottom where it catches. If a piece of 
tallow candle is rubbed along the surface 
before the door is rehung it will work still 
more smoothly. Drawers or window sashes 
or screens that refuse to slide easily may 
be coaxed into good humor if a little lard 
is rubbed along the edges. 
The handy man can also prolong the 
life of your window screens if he will 
give them a coat of black paint each fall 
after they are taken down. And do cau¬ 
Handy devices for the kitchen—a string-box and a 
spice container 
He can also help you economize on 
your gas bill if you cook with a gas range, 
by cutting two pieces of galvanized sheet 
iron, one piece 6" by 6" and the other 
8 " by 8". Place these over the flame and 
set the pots or pans on it. It has the ad¬ 
vantage of holding the heat and requiring 
less gas, besides keeping the vessel from 
burning in the centre. 
If mice get into your sideboard, tack 
over the back and underneath it a large 
sheet of wire netting. 
If the inside lining of your refrigerator 
has become unsightly, give it two or three 
coats of white enamel paint, and when 
finished you will think that you have a 
new article. 
tion him not to put the storm-doors or 
storm-windows, or, in fact, any of the 
screens or screen doors, in a damp place 
where they will warp. 
From a small piece of copper mesh wire 
can be cut some small discs that will fit 
exactly into the waste pipes of the bath¬ 
room bowl, the bath-tub and the set- 
tubs. These will prevent lint and other 
foreign matter from getting down into the 
pipe and clogging it up so as to necessi¬ 
tate a visit from the plumber. 
379 
