72 
House & Garden 
L PAr> E 
Without doubt the 
most beautiful wall 
papers are those to 
be found in the col¬ 
lection of Thibaut. 
T h i b a u t Wall 
Papers are selected 
by experts whose 
only thought is to 
give to the public, 
wall papers correct 
in every detail. 
Thibaut means 
quality. 
Send for our “Home 
Service Chart” and let 
our Interior Decorator 
submit samples suitable 
for every room in your 
home. Ask for edition 
1614. 
BRONX 
485 Willis Ave. 
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS 
(New York City) 3621 Broadway 
BROOKLYN 
Flatbush & DeKalb Aves. 
BOSTON NEWARK 
96-98 Federal St. 141 Halsey St. 
.. 
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Beams may be enriched with a painted beading and the 
intervening spaces painted a deep rich color. This was a 
favorite medieval treatment 
Do You Neglect the Ceiling? 
{Continued from page 70) 
naturally presupposes a room of some 
size and a certain degree of formality. 
Its execution, of course—and this is 
true of almost any scheme that could 
be suggested—can be made utterly pre¬ 
posterous and obtrusive or restrained 
'.nd replete with legitimate interest and 
harmonious with the entire composi¬ 
tion, according to the taste and ability 
of the person handling the work. The 
possibility is worth serious considera¬ 
tion. .As to the subject, let us not for¬ 
get that symbolism, the possession of 
all the ages, is at the very root of all 
decoration. 
Adam Designs 
In a different vein, but of equal 
interest is the treatment with ara¬ 
besques and medallions, for which 
Adam and Richardson designs furnish 
plenty of precedents and inspiration, to 
say nothing of the work of earlier mas¬ 
ters. Here there is opportunity for a 
judicious polychrome. Not a few 
simple arabesques can be executed al¬ 
most wholly with stencils. 
Neither arabesques nor stenciling 
need terrify the conservative; color and 
pattern alike can be subdued to any 
extent desired. In this connection it 
I is worth while to bear in mind some 
j of the designs, both conventionalized 
' and purely geometrical, and the color¬ 
ing, used during the Middle Ages, on 
wooden roofs or ceilings and also on 
plastered and stone walls. It should be 
added that any pattern partially cover¬ 
ing a surface is more conspicuous than 
an all-over pattern or a diapered re¬ 
peat both of which produce the effect 
of texture. 
(b) Besides securing texture, or an 
approximation to texture, in the way 
just mentioned, there are the methods 
previously alluded to—the use of paper 
or of textiles. Of the former some of 
the Chinese and Japanese varieties, 
with or without minute repeats, may be 
thoroughly recommended, and especially 
the plain silver and lead foil papers. 
One of the most agreeable small living 
rooms the writer knows has paneled 
and canvas-covered walls, painted a 
light oyster-gray, and the ceiling cov¬ 
ered with plain silver paper. The 
metallic surface not only creates a tex¬ 
ture of fascinating interest, but by its 
manifold reflections and high lights 
quite destroy any effect of heaviness 
to which some theorists might object 
on the score of the decorative dictum 
that the ceiling ought to be of lighter 
lone than the walls. 
Pleasing texture may also be pro¬ 
duced by covering the ceiling with dec¬ 
orator’s canvas and painting it. The 
play of light and shadow on the small 
irregularities of the surface produces a 
desirable tone. In applying canvas or 
any other textile be sure that the ceil¬ 
ing has been well sized so that the paste ! 
will hold. Avoid any textile that sug- ] 
gests the appearance of upholstery. 
(c) The application of paper or 
fabric upon which a design has already 1 
been executed is suggested because of j 
convenience in handling. A coat or ! 
several coats of dulled shellac may well > 
be added to the paper or fabric. 
With the aid of structure the scope j 
of ceiling embellishment is vastly 1 
broadened. For this reason it behooves 1 
those intending to build or to make j 
structural alterations to consider this | 
matter. A great degree of ceiling in- i 
terest can be secured by structural | 
treatment and in the effect produced, j 
if simplicity be desired. This interest | 
may be attained by (1) shape or con- 1 
tour; (2) by material; or (3) by sur- 1 
face decoration. 
Of the pleasure to be derived from 
agreeable contour alone one needs no 
more convincmg instance than that af- I 
forded by a Chinese or a Greek vase. | 
The same sort of enduring pleasure I 
may be derived from a well shaped i 
ceiling, though it be devoid of surface j 
decoration or even of color, and the . 
same sort of distinction is imparted. 1 
The difference in cost between con¬ 
structing a- flat plaster ceiling and a 
shaped plaster ceiling is fully justified ' 
by the lasting gratification the latter : 
will give. 
Such a ceiling may be of the “tray”' ; 
form already mentioned, or rounded 
into a wagon vault, or coved, or 
formed into a flattened arc, or vaulted - 
with the corbels at the spring of the 
arching jointed. The construction of 
shaped ceilings, such as these just men¬ 
tioned, is simplified by the use of ex- ' 
panded metal mesh under the plaster. 
The interest supplied by simple 
raftered ceilings and by beamed ceilings 
has already been noted, and it is only 1 
necessary to remind the reader that a 
good result is often produced by paint¬ 
ing or whitewashing the boards be- : 
tween the rafters, the latter being 
stained dark; also that in ceilings with 
rough-hewn beams an agreeable bit of 
diversity may be given by plastering : 
the space between with a somewhat 1 
crude and gouged-looking surface. The 
average artisan will not consider this 
a good job and he may have to he 
closely watched to make him do it. 
Wooden Ceilings 
When ceilings are wholly of wood, 1 
as in some of the early English and i 
Italian Renaissance rooms, there are 
almost endless possibilities to create 
consistent interest even where the walls, 
are severely plain. This interest may 1 
depend wholly on the color of the wood ] 
and the contour of the beams and cor¬ 
bels or the decoration may be carried ! 
to any degree of carved, polychrome j 
and gilt enrichment. 
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