March, 1920 
33 
MAKING THE LIVING ROOM LIVABLE 
By a Proper Arrangement of Furniture and the Judicious Use of Color and Desigii in Other 
Decorations It Becomes a Friendly Place for the Family and Its Guests 
T he living room is a friendly part of the 
house. Usually on the first floor, in 
close proximity to the hall or reception 
room, it is a place where hospitality is first ex¬ 
tended and the family gathers together. Con¬ 
sequently, its decoration and furnishing should 
serve this double puqjose—slightly formal to 
meet the guest, and sufficiently informal to suit 
the comforts of the family. 
These definitions have to be understood if 
one wishes the rooms of her house to hav'? the 
distinction of individuality, b'or, as each room 
in the house serves a different purpose, so 
should each be furnished with that in mind. 
The living room is usually a repetition in¬ 
side the house of the exterior architecture. As 
the saying goes, “the architecture comes 
through the walls.” The living room of a Colo¬ 
nial type of house had best be furnished in 
Colonial spirit, a Georgian house can have a 
living room in the style of this later period. 
One expects English oak in the living room of 
a house that has an English half-timber ex¬ 
terior. The same is true of Italian and French. 
The architecture sets the keynote for the living 
room. Coming from the outside into this room, 
one finds the harmony pleasant and livable. 
But for all its touches of formality, the liv¬ 
ing room should be livable. That is a first 
requisite. And livableness is not so much a 
matter of the furniture used as the manner in 
which it is used. Livableness depends on 
grouping furniture properly so that it is com¬ 
fortable and convenient. It can be further 
assisted by the judicious use of such acces¬ 
sories as lamps, pictures, book, etc. 
I N the average living room the fireplace is 
the first center of attraction. Furniture 
should be grouped 
about it naturally— 
the way men natu¬ 
rally sit around an 
open fire, and have 
sat for generations. 
A couch may be 
placed directly in 
front of the hearth 
with a table behind 
it holding lamps 
that give plenty of 
light for reading, 
books, magazines, 
and smoking things. 
Couch-end tables or 
stools will complete 
the group. Or one 
may have couches 
either side the 
hearth with couch- 
end tables to hold 
the lamps, or a floor 
lamp. Small stools 
or tables will be 
convenient adjuncts. 
Or again, the group 
may consist of two 
big upholstered 
chairs, or a chair on 
one side and a couch 
on the other. The 
main things re¬ 
quired for the fire¬ 
place group are a comfortable chair to sit in, a 
comfortable couch to lie down on, good light to 
read by, small taljles handy with things for the 
men to smoke and books for them to read. The 
formality or informality of this center will de- 
j)end entirely upon the way the furniture is 
])laced. Its occupants will soon find if it is 
livable. If not, change it about until it is 
This advice applies to the placing of fur¬ 
niture in any room of the house. IMove it 
around until you find the most pleasing, com¬ 
fortable and useful positions. The occasional 
changes will give the room a new air, espe¬ 
cially if the changes are made with the seasons. 
It is best to keep the middle floor space of 
the living room open. The old center table, 
with its reading lamp by which no one could 
read, has happily been relegated to the mis¬ 
takes of the past. By keeping this space free 
of furniture the room is given an added sense 
of size and one can move around in it more 
freely. IMoreover, by placing the furniture 
against the wall it is given a silhouette back¬ 
ground which will greatly enrich it. 
T here may be two other centers of inter¬ 
est in the living room—a group lyv one of 
the windows that gives a pleasant outlook onto 
the garden, and an informal corner where one 
may write. The window group will have its 
upholstered chair or chairs or long bench or, 
if a row of casements set in a bay, its uphol¬ 
stered window seat. The writing corner will 
have its desk and chair. 
Still another group may be used in the liv¬ 
ing room, and this will be its formal token; a 
console set against the wall with mirror above 
and small chairs on either side. A piece of 
statuary, lamps, bibelots or any decorative 
objet d’art can be placed on this to give a touch 
of color and interest. 
These are the fundamental groups in the 
living room, whether it be large or small. 
C URT.A.INS, rugs and lamps constitute the 
remainder of the decorations. Each has 
a definite purpose and, when used with that 
purpose in mind, most effectively contributes 
to the harmony of the room. 
Curtains serve several ends: glass curtains 
filter the light so that an even glow is cast over 
the room; over-curtains and their attendant 
valances frame the picture beyond the window 
and give enlivening color to the room; at night, 
when drawn, curtains afford privacy. Color 
schemes for curtains are so varied that sug¬ 
gestion would Ije of little value in an article 
restricted to definitions. The one rule to re¬ 
member is that no window should be swathed 
in curtains. Simjflicity is a safe guide. There 
are some windows—such as leaded casements 
—that require no over-curtains at all, a filmy 
glass curtain sufficing. 
The choice of j)attern in curtain fabrics will 
depend upon the size of the room (one does 
not put a large pattern fabric in a small room 
and vice versa), and upon the design in the rug 
and the general character of the other furnish¬ 
ings. If the rug has a pronounced design the 
curtains should be of plain fabric or one in 
which the design is not i)ronounced. Should 
the rug be plain, the design in the room can be 
carried by the curtains. Further, choice of 
plain or patterned curtains will depend upon 
the fabric used for upholstery. 
Since the rug or carpet fonns the foundation 
of the room, it should be flat. Too pronounced 
a pattern makes it appear to spring up. It is 
best to have the pat¬ 
tern in a room on the 
level of the eye. 
Of the other ac¬ 
cessories — lamp 
bowls and shades, 
vases, objets d’art — 
they serve to intro¬ 
duce spots of color 
in the room, strong 
or intriguing colors, 
as one may wish, to 
enrich a corner or 
enliven a grouping. 
Lights should be 
placed where they 
best serve the re¬ 
quirements of the oc¬ 
cupants. A living 
room flooded with 
light is inartistic, 
hard on the eyes and 
unfair to the fur¬ 
nishings. In most 
living rooms the cen¬ 
ter chandelier can 
be dispensed with 
altogether. Sufficient 
light will be afford¬ 
ed by side brackets 
and lamps placed 
where needed and 
burning oil or elec¬ 
tricity. 
Formality and informality are pleasantly mingled in this living room in the home of Mr. William 
E. Clow at Lake Forest, III. Rough beams break through the plaster over casement bay and door 
Walls are rough cast. The fireplace is marble and brick. Howard Shaw, architect 
