May, 19 21 
57 
It is not necessary that the fireplace be surrounded by couch, tables and chairs. Since it is the focal 
point of the room one often finds it advisable to have only an easy chair and a table beside the hearth 
THE NATURAL POSITIONS FOR FURNITURE 
Fewer Pieces Better Placed Would Make Our Interiors 
Look Less Like Showrooms 
EDWARD T. LARKINS 
I T HAS been said that of making books 
there is no end. This is equally true of 
the “placing of furniture,” but it is sur¬ 
prising, when we think in comparisons, how 
many rules that govern the writing of a good 
book, have similes in the arrangement of a 
home. The book is, in the 
first analysis, a collection 
of words, each formed of 
letters which have a se¬ 
quence and meaning. The 
words are arranged by pre¬ 
cise rules of grammar into 
sentences giving expression 
to the author’s thoughts 
which are conveyed to the 
readers in such form as to 
enable them to follow with 
perfect accuracy the com¬ 
pleted work. 
In the case of the home 
we find that it is, in the 
first instance, a collection 
of units — of furniture — 
each of which should have 
been chosen with due re¬ 
gard to its use; a chair, for 
instance, is only justified if 
it fulfills its primary mis¬ 
sion—that of being com¬ 
fortable to sit or recline in. 
Failing this, however ar¬ 
tistic it may appear, its presence in the 
home is as illogical as a misplaced adjective 
in literature. Following this line of reasoning 
our units must be arranged into groups or 
sentences—our groups into the finished rooms 
or chapters and so to the completed home. 
The hall is the first glimpse one generally 
has of the interior of the house, but it is the 
place that usually receives the least considera¬ 
tion. Even in the gorgeously decorated man¬ 
sion one often finds the furniture placed in 
stiff and uncompromising positions. In smaller 
homes its equipment con¬ 
sists generally of a more 
or less uncomfortable chair 
or two and perhaps a con¬ 
sole table. Could anything 
be less inviting? The hall 
should be looked upon as 
the opening chapter of a 
book and its furnishings and 
atmosphere be one of wel¬ 
come. Formality should be 
avoided in every way, more 
especially the geometrically 
exact balance of furniture. 
A small cabinet containing 
drawers such as one often 
finds reproduced from a 
good antique model will be 
(Continued on page 80) 
Beside permitting con¬ 
venient avenues of ap¬ 
proach to the fireplace, 
the furniture in this liv¬ 
ing room is so grouped 
as to give space for a 
desk set at right angles 
to the wall 
