HOUSE AND GARDEN 
286 
November, 1910 
The night effect of the 
shades (when the source of 
illumination is inside the 
room) is economically as 
well as decoratively import¬ 
ant. Dark shades and shades 
rough of texture reflect lit¬ 
tle light, so that if the win¬ 
dows are many and the 
shades completely lowered, 
the necessary cost of gas or 
electricity may be half as 
much again as with light, 
smooth shades. To leave 
the shades up only aggra¬ 
vates the evil, for clear win¬ 
dow glass lets out practi¬ 
cally all of the illumination 
that strikes it, and the win¬ 
dows are then black boxes 
against lighted walls — the 
most unpleasant kind of 
contrast. 
Extreme contrast is also 
the most common fault in 
the exterior appearance of 
shades. From outside the 
house, light shades against 
dark walls, and dark shades 
against light walls, are 
equally distasteful. Un¬ 
shaded windows are black 
boxes when seen from the 
outside — too black even by 
contrast with a house that 
has been painted dark, and 
aggressively ugly against 
light paint, as may be seen in the illustration below. 
In hue the shades should harmonize with the exterior, red 
with red, green with green, and yellow with yellow, but as a 
rule, should be lighter in tone. Shades darker in tone look 
opaque and stand out against their background. 
Some attention 
should be paid to the 
environment of the 
building. The colors 
and tones that dominate 
in the landscape invite 
representation and re¬ 
flection in the shades, 
especially if their pres¬ 
ence has already been 
appreciated by the house 
painter. 
At this point some 
reader asks : “ How 
reconcile the decorative 
demands of the exterior 
with those of the interi¬ 
ors ? What shall be 
done when the exterior 
is dark red and the in¬ 
terior is light green?” 
There is the rub. Du¬ 
plex shades with red 
outside and green inside 
are sometimes suggested 
and used. This makes it 
possible to have shades 
that correspond on the in¬ 
side with the different col¬ 
ors of half a dozen dif¬ 
ferent rooms, and are all 
the same color on the out¬ 
side. But duplex shades 
are necessarily opaque, and 
usually offensive. They 
are an attempt to solve a 
difficulty that should never 
have been created. In other 
words, the contrasts be¬ 
tween interiors and exte¬ 
rior should never be so 
strong as to call for shades 
of double face. If these 
contrasts are gentle, it is 
easy to find shading of in¬ 
termediate color and tone. 
When in doubt, use gray, 
brown or light yellow. 
I have emphasized the 
disagreement between reds 
and greens because it is the 
one that most often trou¬ 
bles, yet it is one that is re¬ 
garded by many persons as 
harmony. However, reds 
and greens do not always 
disagree violently. They 
can be reconciled by toning 
them together. Light red 
against dark green is hide¬ 
ous, as is dark red against 
light green. Yet the con¬ 
trast between light red and light green is pleasing. For in both 
the hue has been softened and toned down by the addition of 
white or gray. The addition of red to the green or of green to 
the red, or of some third color to both, also brings them together. 
Of these facts the reader can assure himself by personal ob¬ 
servation— unless he is 
color-blind. It is not 
necessary to accept the 
dictum of the decora¬ 
tor or the epigram of 
the faddist. It is pos¬ 
sible by practice and 
experiment to acquire 
a working knowledge 
of light and color. 
The use of two sets 
of shades — the outer 
set opaque to shut out 
the light completely, 
the inner set translu¬ 
cent to tone the light 
agreeably — is the best 
solution of the whole 
problem. And if the 
light be also modified 
by leaded glass, or lat¬ 
ticed sashes, or by net 
curtains next the glass, 
glare and shadow will 
be entirely avoided. 
The French window is a problem in itself. Shades on the doors are awk¬ 
ward. The best solution perhaps is something like this, with over-cur- 
tains on a rod across the top. This rod should allow the curtains to be 
pushed far enough back so that they will not interfere with the doors 
Unshaded windows, or dark shades with white walls, make an unpleasing con¬ 
trast. The outside shades should harmonize with the general tone of the out¬ 
side walls 
