26 
House & Garden 
SUCCESSFUL SMALL 
WINIFRED FALES and 
M. H. NORTHEND 
creation of the elusive quality we term the 
“atmosphere” of a room, that they hardly 
can be considered apart. 
The walls of the small living room sup¬ 
ply the keynote of the decorative scheme. 
Strong colors, deep tones,'and bold patterns 
which contribute stability and richness to 
the large room, are overwhelming in the 
small one. Here the prevailing tone should 
be light rather than dark, because light 
colors—especially grays, blues and greens— 
have the effect of pushing back the walls and 
thus making the room seem larger. The 
horizontal division of the walls by means of 
a dado or wainscot is another aid in produc¬ 
ing an illusion of spaciousness, and if the 
surfaces are not too much broken up by 
doors and windows, paneling may be intro¬ 
duced with equally happy results. 
Smooth-textured walls recede, whereas 
very rough ones advance. Hence flat paint 
makes a desirable finish for the small living- 
room, especially since the wall area is so 
limited as to prevent monotony. Newer and 
more decorative, however, are the 
blended effects produced by dotting 
small irregular patches of different 
colored paints over a neutral ground, 
and wiping or patting the surface 
with bunches of rags until all definite 
outlines are merged into the back¬ 
ground. In the finished wall, the 
ground color predominates, but is shot 
The color scheme of the room to the left 
includes black carpet and hangings, light 
silver gray walls with panels outlined by 
narroio black moldings, wrought iron fix¬ 
tures and black framed prints 
GILLIES 
Light, plain wall surfaces give the small 
living room the semblance of size. This 
can be further augmented by using only 
the necessary furniture and grouping it 
in centers. The radiator seat in the cor¬ 
ner and the window group are interesting 
Color is logically the first and most im¬ 
portant of the four, since a bad color scheme 
will ruin the effect of even the costliest and 
most intrinsically beautiful furnishings; and 
illumination is so closely related to color, 
and the two combine so intimately in the 
Paneling is always effective. It can be 
done with wood, wallboard and molding or 
just molding laid on the wall and stained 
or painted. The fireplace grouping is sim¬ 
ple and comfortable. A few well-chosen 
objects are placed to good advantage. 
Kenneth Murchison, architect 
T HE problem of decorating and 
furnishing the small living room 
is a fascinating but not an easy one. 
There is no kindly distance to lend 
enchantment in the room of limited 
dimensions. The single discordant 
chair cushion, the one picture too 
many, the gimcrack ornamentation of 
the mirror frame—all of which might 
pass unnoticed in a larger room— 
stand out as glaring and unforgivable 
offenses. Add the fact that in the 
little house the functions of living room, re¬ 
ception room and library are not infrequent¬ 
ly combined in a single apartment whose 
size, perhaps, does not exceed 18' by 20', and 
the difficulty of the problem is multiplied by 
the obligation to assemble within this re¬ 
stricted area the furnishings characteristic 
of three separate rooms, while yet maintain¬ 
ing an illusion of spaciousness where most 
emphatically spaciousness is not. 
Paradoxical, truly, is the situation, but not 
impossible of achievement; for there exist 
within reach of all, four magic talismans 
which supply a means of surmounting every 
obstacle. Their names are color, illumina¬ 
tion, scale and elimination of the superfluous. 
The Spacious Colors 
GILLIES 
