26 
House & Garden 
USING 
THE 
NOTE 
O F 
RED 
If We Used that Color in Decoration as Nature Uses It in a Landscape Our 
Rooms Would Be More Satisfactory 
ETHEL DAVIS SEAL 
T HE frosty mornings of early fall soon 
gray the fields of gorgeous purple and 
gold, gray the deep green line of woods edging 
the hill; and here and there, popping into sud¬ 
den splendor, flare the brilliant notes of flame 
color that burn and glow against their subtly 
neutral background. Overnight the oak in 
the pasture turns to a dusky crimson, a flam¬ 
ing sentinel on the path to the dun woods be¬ 
yond; the Virginia creeper on the old plaster 
house audaciously flings a 
scarlet arm to late October; 
the dogwood twinkles with 
bright vermilion berries; the 
hedges glow with scarlet- 
hearted bittersweet; a n 
against the blue-brown of 
quiescent trees the red roof 
of a distant home sings out 
with unexpected brilliance 
that spells pure luscious 
warmth of color and makes 
glad the heart of man. 
These joyful touches set 
in dull places are what you 
should require of the color 
red. Used thus it gives a 
fillip to the imagination, a 
tonic to the weary mind, a 
cheer that cries, ‘‘How good 
is man’s life, the mere liv¬ 
ing!” ... as one is spurred 
to the fine thought, the fine 
doing that a properly in¬ 
vigorating setting can truly 
provide. 
The Misused Red 
However this may be, on 
the other hand, red is really 
a maligned color in our 
houses. Instead of being 
handled with care as the 
fire in its heart would war¬ 
rant, it is lathered over 
everything by those hardy 
folk who supposedly are 
fond of it. In one room 
flaming red walls may 
stretch in fiendish expanses 
to j ar already ragged nerves, 
chairs burn with it, carpets 
glow hotly under the feet, 
curtains smolder in smoth¬ 
ering lengths at the win¬ 
dows and doors, until all the possible strength 
and beauty of red is lost in the awesome con¬ 
flagration. Yet for years this has been the 
approved method of handling this color, and 
many houses still boast their red rooms. 
But think again how restrainedly Nature 
exploits her scarlet brush: bright apples peep¬ 
ing out from thick-set boughs, flaming leaves 
blown in swirls before the wind, here and there 
glowing red trees shining out in the golden 
valley, and against the blue distance and the 
golden haze of sky here a red tree glowing, 
there a scarlet blush of wood. And whenever 
she splashes the flame red tone right lavishly, 
over the whole face of a wooded cliff breasting 
the river, over the dense thickness of a vine- 
clad porch, over the west in the burning glow 
of the sunset, it quickly fades into a memory, 
an invigorating thought that also cheers. . . . 
Just so in our rooms may we use this wise 
restraint when we place our bits of red, not 
steering clear entirely of this gorgeous color 
as something altogether too heathenish for cul¬ 
tured folk to tolerate, but recognizing it more 
as a cheering leaven that will fitly bring out the 
point and strength of many carefully-planned 
and executed schemes of modern decoration. 
When I meditate upon the suitability of 
red there are certain objects that I naturally 
think of first as being gloriously clothed in 
this color: books in rows on shelves warmly 
catching the glint of the sun on their backs 
of scarlet and gold, bright red books mixing 
in ones and twos and threes among their more 
somber fellows, or in groups on table or desk, 
dusky magenta books in sets in the bookcase 
. . . these may warm the haughty room to 
friendliness. And flowers: dahlias, huge 
orange-red tawny ones, dark blurry garnet ones 
with pointed cactus petals that throw quaint 
Japanesy shadows on the wall; stiff little 
zinnias, no two alike, blending their many 
reds into a flaming glow in the old blue pot; 
full hanging clusters of bittersweet picked in 
the fall to last the winter through, glowing 
cheerfully from mantel and table in earthen¬ 
ware crock and flame-red bowl; the white 
crackleware jar of deep red roses; nasturtiums 
in a copper pot. 
Red in Figured Fabrics 
I adore red properly used in cretonne and 
fine printed linen: the ce¬ 
rise notes on black with 
yellow and blue; the orange, 
black and rose red on white; 
the soft red, green, brown 
and blue on the light col¬ 
ored ground; the red-rose 
and green on the ground of 
black . . . and the red al¬ 
ways in fine accents rather 
than in garish tawdry 
masses. Then there are 
those glorious chances for 
red in lampshades,—not 
that rich crimson, but a 
more subtle rose red, slight¬ 
ly lighter and grayer, that 
fits so marvelously into so 
many color schemes. This 
tone can be easily found in 
silk, with fringe to match, 
and in making the shade 
the silk should be self lined. 
Rose red may also be used 
decoratively with other col¬ 
ors in the popular black or 
ecru vellum shades, and in 
the vellum shield shades for 
candles and sconces. 
Then I meditate upon the 
suitability of red boxes: a 
gorgeous affair of red lac¬ 
quer in which mine host 
may keep his cigars; an¬ 
other middle-sized one for 
milady’s beads, from which 
we always hope she will let 
her peacock string escape 
and trail as now; tiny 
round lacquered boxes,—all 
of that delightful Chinese 
red with figures in black 
and gold. And the suit¬ 
ability of red bowls and 
vases,—the lacquered ones 
in that same nice orange red, or the Japanese 
kochi in its own inimitable bright light red 
lined with lemon. I thing with joy of the 
proper sort of a red picture in the spot where 
it is needed, a Velasquez or a Rembrandt, 
where the sun or the fire will bring out the 
warmth of the subtle tones of crimson; or a 
bit of startlingly brilliant hand illumination 
in scarlet and gold framed in Chinese lacquer 
or gilded wood. 
Chinese Red 
Many rooms may welcome this same Chinese 
red lacquer in a piece or two of small furni¬ 
ture: a teacart, a tiny table, a straight chair. 
Some rooms, such as a breakfast or sun room, 
