14 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
Fine woods, used in highly finished cabinet work, are more 
easily combined with gilded, painted and lacquer surfaces. 
This is because of the relation of textures. Into the most 
beautiful Louis XV rooms, with painted paneled walls and 
painted furniture, were brought tables and cabinets of delicate 
inlaid wood. The delicate and refined textures of the woods 
of this period are a consistent contrast. 
English Paneled Rooms 
The historic use of related contrasts may be illustrated by 
the late Seventeenth Century rooms of England. These rooms 
were paneled in the most finely finished woods of large panels 
that extended from the chair rail or wainscoting to the richly 
carved cornices. Other enrichments of skilfully executed 
carvings, having consistent textural feeling with gilded and 
lacquer furniture, were brought into these rooms as a note of 
richness. 
Consider, also, the earlier types of English paneled rooms, 
with their sincere, but sometimes crude construction and more 
naturally finished woods. How inconsistent a gilded or 
lacquered piece would be in the design! But, on the other 
hand, the textures of the tapestries and needle points of the 
period made a consistent enrichment. 
Another interesting example is the use of the sometimes 
elaborately carved stone chimney pieces in these early rooms, 
while in the late Seventeenth Century rooms of Sir Christopher 
Wren highly finished marbles of a variety of colors and fine 
quality and texture were used in the scheme. 
These are illustrations of contrasts in the same periods, and 
in the English rooms of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Cen¬ 
turies actual Italian furniture and decorations were introduced. 
It was common to introduce French furniture into the English 
rooms of late Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. 
But it is the modern room, with a background that is neutral 
as to style, that is the chief problem to-day. We may have a 
dominating idea evident in the room. It may express the light, 
refined atmosphere of the Eighteenth Century, or it may have 
the quality of the dignified early Italian style and still be 
strictly a modern room, with no attempt at the architectural 
style of the historic interior. The size, environment and 
function of the room will, of course, affect the choice, as will 
the personality of the possessor also. 
There are many beautiful modern living-rooms with simple 
walls and ceilings that have no claim whatever to a period de¬ 
sign. In these have been introduced beautiful old Italian 
chimney pieces of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. 
This is enough alone, because of their scale and the prominence 
of their placing, to give a decided Italian atmosphere to the 
room. If desirable, this may be further emphasized by old 
doorways and ceilings of Italian design. An Italian table of 
generous proportions would be the best type if the dominant 
idea is to be Italian. The smaller articles, such as small tables 
and chairs, may be of the designs of the later French and 
English styles. 
Mixing Periods 
The general tendency in mixing periods, especially if the 
background is one of a period design, is to bring the design 
up to something lighter and more modern. It is far easier to 
work into a room, with a foundation of an early style, furni¬ 
ture of a later style, than it is to introduce early, crude fur¬ 
niture into a room of the late styles. For example, furniture 
of Adam design could be worked into a Sixteenth Century 
room, but it would be very difficult to bring a piece of Jacobean 
furniture into a delicate Eighteenth Century room. This is 
more or less logical. Architecture is the more permanent 
of the arts, and the old historic rooms have quite often been 
refurnished or have had additions of furniture of the style 
of the day introduced. 
The line and scale of a piece of furniture suggest its arrange¬ 
ment. Italian furniture of the best Renaissance design de¬ 
mands a formal architectural arrangement because of its scale 
and its architectural design. The typical Italian chair of the 
Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, with its high back, rec¬ 
tangular form and dignified scale, should never be carelessly 
(Continued on page 62) 
Howard Major, Architect. 
A beautiful reproduction of an English background of the days of Sir Christopher Wren. Here the different English periods have been ex¬ 
cellently combined, creating the charming atmosphere of the old English rooms that have gradually evolved. The room expresses an 
excellent combination of comfort, variety and balance 
