Arts and Crafts Home Making 
Arts and Crafts Home Making 
BY MIRA BURR EDSON 
O CCASIONALLY in this prosaic world the dream—which in 
the dreaming seems too good to be true—finds its realiza¬ 
tion. The charming home described and pictured in this article is 
such a materialization. The man and woman who have designed 
the decoration and made much of the furniture used here have 
wrought in this interior an ideal of home. 
Both of these persons are skilful in the crafts and all that involves 
practical skill as well as taste. They have, therefore, been able 
to cover a wide range of art expression and everything in the 
house testifies to their ability. 
The first serious craft work that these interesting people at¬ 
tempted in common was a set of dining-room furniture. This 
consisted of a large table and four chairs. The “rushing” of these 
chairs forms a story in 
itself. The work was 
studied out by means of 
suggestions obtained from 
an old man who had 
learned chair seating in 
his youth, and by taking 
apart the old rush bottom 
of a chair. The success 
that attended his first 
effort encouraged them in 
the furnishing of the new 
house. The house is 
in a quiet street and 
enjoys at one side the 
garden of a neighbor, 
which permits plenty of 
light and space, and on 
this side most of the win¬ 
dows are placed. It is a 
plain, square little house 
with nothing distinctive 
about it. But it is sturd¬ 
ily built and offers great 
convenience in the ar¬ 
rangement of the rooms 
and best of all gave 
opportunity for the 
beauty which has been 
developed, 
One enters a square 
hall in which a table 
and mirror are placed. 
The mirror frame and 
table are carved, each 
bearing some form of the 
Celtic interlaced design. THE 
The Northern ancestry 
of the man of the family induced a warm interest in the old 
Sagas and their strange interlacing, symbolic patterns. 
I he reception-room, to the right of the hall, is remarkable 
for its charming color. A soft glow seems to envelop one 
upon entering and the color has served as a keynote in the 
furnishing. Its scheme lies in the contrast of rich blue with 
soft coppery red, now warming into rose color, then lightening into 
tones more buff. 1 hese colors predominate in the large Eastern 
rug which covers the floor, shades not unusual in rugs from the 
East. Upon the wall, burlap has been stretched. The ground 
tone is one of soft gray green and upon it a design has been stenciled 
with the rose as motif. The growth and leaves are shown in a 
bronze green while the flower appears in old rose, and there are 
touches of the warmer color in the stems. The whole effect is so 
satisfying that the walls require nothing more. A single picture 
hangs in the space over a broad couch. This couch and the Tur¬ 
kish stand near it are from the hands of the home makers. The 
former, cushioned in gray green, has pillows upon it in warm 
browns and green velvet and of a fabric with a glint of gold 
thread. A pleasant little touch of detail is the embroidered bit 
across the end of one of these. 
The amateur craftworker made also the lamp on the table and 
the copper hood of the fireplace. This latter shows upon it a rose 
unit, suggesting this as the nucleus of the room’s rose motif. The 
fireplace front is of rough cement, toned a soft color in harmony 
with the copper and the old rose. 
Beyond, and opening from this, is the dining-room. This 
differs greatly in color and style from the other and is almost a 
contrast yet it is brought into harmony by reflecting here and there 
the same notes of color, or of tone values. The dark furniture gives 
the requisite weight. This furniture will be recognized as that already 
described. Besides these 
the room contains a 
bookcase and a buffet 
home made. The touch 
of clear blue given by the 
plates of Deadham ware 
that stand upon the latter 
echo a tone from the 
other room, while the 
warm tint of the natural 
burlap carries a hint oi 
copper lightening into 
huffs, which here, runs 
into browns and greens in 
the pattern. In the broad 
window, a square bay, 
the greens reach a focus 
in growing plants. The 
ferns and vines are sup¬ 
ported by an interesting 
structure of woodwork 
holding pots and making 
possible the climbing 
ivy in one corner. 
I he stenciled design 
on the walls in this burlap 
covered room shows a 
motif of the horse-chest¬ 
nut. 1 he design is very 
hold and sweeping, yet 
falls in beautifully and 
subordinately with the 
requirements, the soft 
greens and browns keep¬ 
ing their place with the 
dull golden shade of the 
burlap. The curtains at 
the windows are quite 
green in tone and of the same open mesh as is used, in rose color, 
at the drawing-room windows. 
File table service is for the most part of Canton ware with 
plates, bowls and the like of the Deadham pottery with its charm¬ 
ing blue and gray crackle. Flowers are always present, of whatever 
kind the moment dictates or provides. Roses set loosely in a clear 
bowl are perhaps most often seen. When the door of the serving 
pantry is ajar a pleasing glimpse is caught of cheese-cloth curtains 
bearing the device of the willow-ware. 
Upon the r second floor are located studio and office. Above are 
workshops. The studio is very attractive. This is evidently a 
room much used. Books, papers and drawings are on all sides, 
scattered with evident freedom yet never disturbing the main plan, 
in which both material and esthetic comfort must be necessarily 
HOUSE 
65 
