October, 1909 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
M3 
correct used with this furniture? The living- 
room will be furnished in mahogany, so we 
thought the mahogany mantel would look 
well. Should there be a cabinet top and 
mirror to this? 
It would be most unwise to place 
the golden oak mantel in your dining¬ 
room with white woodwork. The man¬ 
tels for both rooms described should be 
painted white like the standing wood¬ 
work. 
Simple, artistic, C o 1 o n i a 1 mantels 
treated with white undercoating and 
ready for the final coat of paint are 
made by several manufacturers, and a 
design suited to the architectural detail 
of your rooms can be readily secured. 
You will find that this treatment will 
make for greater harmony in the com¬ 
pleted room. The brown oak furniture 
for your dining-room will look well with 
this standing woodwork. 
In England both architect and deco¬ 
rator are much given to the combination 
of dark oak and ivory white enamel. 
Our own Colonial architecture has estab¬ 
lished the accepted combination of ma¬ 
hogany and white, and therefore, this 
is most frequently seen in American 
homes. The cabinet mantel is not so desirable as the simple 
mantel shelf supported by columns. This may be topped by 
a mirror of design appropriate to the room in which it is used. 
The type of mantel that 
not 
WALL COVERING 
Is there any fabric which House and Garden 
will recommend for covering walls, other than 
burlap or wall paper? We wish something very durable, and wish to 
avoid a surface which will roughen readily. 
distinguishes the genuine Colonial architecture. A mirror of this kind is 
easily improved upon for the over-mantel decoration 
We are glad to send you samples of materials which we can 
heartily recommend for your purpose, also the addresses of 
firms from whom these goods may be obtained. These are made 
in a varied selection of colors, and artistic and pleasing combi¬ 
nations for the different rooms may be secured from them. 
The materials are very durable; walls so covered may be 
painted in oils, or washed with water color tints if at any time 
it seems desirable to change the decoration of the room. 
Modern Colonial mantels are obtainable, patterned after the good old types like this Salem example 
A New Wood 
Finish 
T HE revival of gilded wood 
in interior decoration is very 
general. The soft brown gold 
tones of the finish which is most 
favored harmonize well with 
almost any scheme of color. 
Lamps, sconces, lighting fixtures, 
mirror frames, desk sets, book 
ends, and quaintly carved boxes 
are among the articles which 
readily find places in a decorative 
plan. Two very beautiful lamps 
for a library table have recently 
been used in a modified Colonial 
room. Corinthian columns of 
carved wood, standing about 24 
inches in height from a heavily 
weighted base, hold the brass 
fount of the lamp, which is 
small, though arranged to hold 
sufficient oil to burn for eight 
hours. Half-barrel shades of 
golden-brown fluted silk com¬ 
pleted these attractive lamps. 
