Achieving Distinction in Summer Hangings 
THE NEED FOR SOFTENING THE LINES OF THE MODERN WINDOW OPENINGS, TOO OFTEN 
MERE HOLES IN THE WALL—METHODS OF HANGING AND THE AVAILABLE MATERIALS 
T HE modern win¬ 
dow, with its 
huge panes of glass and 
simple framework, 
makes an insistent de¬ 
ni a n d for curtains. 
Without curtains win¬ 
dows of this kind give 
a blank, staring appear¬ 
ance to the room and 
also a sense of insecur¬ 
ity in having so many 
holes in the walls. The 
beautiful windows of 
the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries in 
Italy, England and 
France, give no such 
feeling of incomplete¬ 
ness, for their w r ell- 
carved frames and 
over- windows, and 
their small panes of 
glass, were important 
parts of the decorative 
scheme. Windows and 
doors were more than mere openings m 
those days, but things have changed, and the 
hard lines of our perfectly useful windows 
get on our nerves if we do not soften them 
with drapery. In that hopeless time in the last century called 
“Early Victorian,” when black walnut reigned supreme, the cur¬ 
tains were as terrifying as the curves of the furniture and the 
colors of the carpets. Luckily most of us know only from pictures 
what that time was, but we all have seen enough remnants of its 
past glories to be thankful for modern ways and days. The over¬ 
draped, stuffy, upholstered nightmares have entirely disappeared, 
and in their place have come curtains of a high standard of beauty 
and practicality — simple, appropriate, and serving the ends they 
were intended for. 
The effect of curtains must be taken into account from both the 
outside and the inside of the house. The outside view should 
show a general similarity of appearance in the windows of each 
story, in the manner of hanging the curtains and also of material. 
The shades throughout the house should be of the same color, and 
if a different color is needed inside for the sake of the color 
scheme, either two shades should be used or they should be the 
double-faced kind. Shades should also be kept drawn down to the 
same line, or else be rolled up out of sight, for there is nothing that 
gives a more ill-kept look to a house than having the shades and 
curtains at any haphazard height or angle. 
And now to “return to our muttons.” The average window 
needs two sets of curtains and a shade. Sometimes a thin net or 
lace curtain, a “bonne femme,” is hung close to the glass, but this 
is usual only in cities where privacy has to be maintained by main 
force, or where the curtains of a floor differ greatly. Thin cur¬ 
tains in combination with side curtains of some thicker material 
are most often used. 
Curtains either make or mar a room, and they should be care¬ 
fully planned to make it a perfect whole. They must be so con¬ 
vincingly right that one only thinks at first how restful and pleas¬ 
ant and charming the 
whole room is; the de¬ 
tails come later. When 
curtains stand out and 
astound one, they are 
wrong. It is not up¬ 
holstery one is trying to 
display, but to make a 
perfect background for 
one’s furniture, one’s 
pictures and one’s 
friends. 
There are so many 
materials to choose 
from that all tastes and 
purses can be suited. 
Nets begin at about 
twenty cents a yard and 
go up to two or three 
dollars; scrims and ba¬ 
tistes also vary in price; 
then there are cotton 
and silk crepes, muslin 
or dotted Swiss, cheese¬ 
cloth, soleil cloth, mad¬ 
ras, and a host of other 
fascinating fabrics that may be used in any 
room of the house. The ready-made cur¬ 
tains are also most charming. There are 
muslin curtains with applique borders cut 
from flowered cretonne; sometimes the cretonne is applique on 
net which is let into the curtain with a four-inch hem at the bot¬ 
tom and sides. A simpler style has a band of flowered muslin 
sewed on the white muslin, or used as a ruffle. It is also added 
to the valance. There are many kinds of net and lace curtains 
ready for use that will harmonize with any kind of room. Some 
of the expensive ones are really beautiful examples of needle- 
craft, with lace medallions and insertions and embroidery stitches. 
When it comes to the question of side curtains the supply to 
choose from is almost unlimited, and this great supply forms the 
bog in which so many are lost. A thing may be beautiful in itself 
and yet cause woe and havoc in an otherwise charming room. 
There are linens of all prices, and cretonnes, both the inexpensive 
kind and the wonderful shadow ones; there are silks and velvets 
and velours, aurora cloth, cotton crepe and arras cloth, and a 
thousand other beautiful stuffs that are cheap or medium-priced 
or expensive, whose names <§flly the shopman knows, but which 
win our admiration from afar. The curtains for a summer house 
are usually of less valuable materials than those for a winter 
house, and this is as it should be, for winter life is usually more 
formal than summer life. Nothing can be prettier, however, for 
a country house than cretonne. It is fresh and dainty and gives 
a cool and delightful air to a room. Among the many designs 
there are some for every style of decoration. 
The height and size of a room must be taken into account in 
hanging curtains, for with their aid, and also that of wall paper, 
we can often change a room of bad proportions to one of seem¬ 
ingly good ones. If a room is very low, a stripe more or less 
marked in the design, and the curtains straight to the floor, will 
make it seem higher. A high room can have the curtains reach 
only to the sills with a valance across the top. This style may be 
When sash curtains are used in this way the upper one should cover the rod of 
the lower 
by Lucy Abbot Tiiroop 
Photographs by Jessie Tarbox Beals 
and Others 
( 440 ) 
