98 
House & Garden 
The Touch of Elegance 
O AK has always been recognized as the hand¬ 
somest and most durable flooring. The rich 
luster of a fine, dustless oaken surface lifts even the 
simplest room arrangement out of the commonplace. 
Oak responds beautifully to care. Its charm in¬ 
creases with age. After a hundred years oak floors 
are still in use in many old-time mansions. Mellowed 
by time and polished by the tread of departed 
generations, they have the rare color of old mahogany. 
We have prepared two interesting books on Oak 
Flooring. They explain why people often have an 
erroneous impression that oak flooring is expensive. 
They also tell how to lay oak over old floors, and 
contain much valuable information for those planning 
to build or remodel. 
Write for these books today. They are free. 
OAK FLOORING MS&isWT 
1047 Ashland Block, Chicago, 111. 
ARE THESE YOUR PROBLEMS? 
Questions Which Have Been Answered by 
the House & Garden Information Service. 
Questions pertaining to house building, interior decoration and 
gardening will be answered through the Information Service 
by personal letter. A fee of 25 cents is asked for each 
question, which should be inclosed with the original inquiry. 
Inquiry —I am sending with this let¬ 
ter the rough plans of a house we have 
just bought. It is about thirty-five 
years old. The floors of hardwood are 
in good condition, but the inside wood¬ 
work needs repainting. What color 
would you advise for the woodwork 
throughout? 
I would also be very glad of some 
help on the wallpaper question. The 
house faces directly west and all the 
downstairs rooms are on the south side 
of the house. I am fond of warm col¬ 
orings, something cheerful. No putty 
or gray papers appeal to me. Will you 
please suggest color scheme that would 
be attractive for both floors. Also 
whether figured or plain papers should 
be used. 
Do you advise the use of over¬ 
draperies in all the rooms? If so, please 
suggest material and colors. 
At present the bathroom is most un¬ 
attractive. It is plastered in white from 
the baseboard up and is cracked in sev¬ 
eral places. The room is small and 
narrow and has a north window. What 
would you advise for wall treatment? 
In every case I would appreciate it 
if you would make your suggestions 
suited to a very modest pocketbook. 
With many thanks in advance for 
your kindness, I am, -. 
Answer —Your letter asking for sug¬ 
gestions for color schemes for your 
house has just come to me. I think 
there are great possibilities there and 
feel sure you can make it most attrac¬ 
tive. 
In the first place I should have all 
the woodwork cream white. This is 
the most effective and satisfactory in the 
end. 
I should also have the walls down¬ 
stairs alike. These can be either painted 
or papered and I would suggest that 
they be a warm, deep cream. This 
color makes an excellent background for 
whatever color scheme you choose and 
by having all the walls the same, a 
sense of space is created. 
In the living room, a color scheme of 
tan, green and mulberry would be at¬ 
tractive and restful. Let the hangings 
be of cretonne in which mulberry and 
green on a tan ground are the colors 
and the rugs of plain mulberry or deep 
tan would carry out the same scheme. 
In the library the same coloring can 
be followed. Here the cretonne can be 
used on one or two chairs and the hang¬ 
ings, of plain color mulberry pongee, 
will carry out the color idea. In the 
dining room a cretonne of vivid blue, 
orange and black would be most ef¬ 
fective. The glass curtains could be of 
pale orange silk and if the furniture 
were painted orange with a blue line 
running through it, and the rug, plain, 
deep blue, the effect would be both 
unusual and charming. 
In the bedrooms I should use both 
figured and plain papers. In one room 
a pink and white flowered paper with 
hangings of pink taffeta, a taffeta bed¬ 
spread and plain, deep pink rug would 
make a most effective room. Another 
could be furnished in Yellow and white 
checked gingham with a wall paper of 
cream white with bunches of yellow 
flowers in it. Still another might have 
a lavender and white striped paper with 
lavender taffeta or linen hangings and 
a bright yellow pottery jar used as a 
lamp. Or the paper could be a pale 
yellow and the hangings blue and white 
checked gingham. In all the windows 
I should have ruffled dotted Swiss mus¬ 
lin curtains. 
The bathroom should be plastered and 
then painted with a water-proof paint. 
This should be cream white and is most 
satisfactory as it can be washed con¬ 
stantly. The curtains here should be 
of dotted Swiss muslin, too. 
If at any other time we can be of 
assistance to you, please do not hesi¬ 
tate to let us know. 
Inquiry —My home is in the country 
and as it is somewhat run down, I am 
anxious to improve the appearance of 
the place, I am writing to ask you to 
help me to plan the shrubbery for it. 
It is an old-fashioned, square white 
house with green shutters, in a yard 
about 150' square, set about 100' from 
the road. In the yard are two big 
elms, a hard maple and an ash tree. 
I am enclosing a rough sketch showing 
the position of the trees. 
East of the yard is the barn lot, with 
almost no shrubbery to conceal it, ex¬ 
cept a row of hollyhocks which I started 
this year. I would like to plant some¬ 
thing there for a screen which will grow 
quickly and hide the barn lot. 
The fence along the front is a picket 
one and is rather unsightly. West of 
the yard is the garden and beyond that 
the fields. Just outside of the back 
fence I have planted elderberry bushes 
which are growing nicely and will make 
a good screen next year. 
I would like your suggestions as to 
planting as I am at a loss to know just 
what is best and how to arrange it. 
I have no shrubbery for foundation 
planting either. I live in the country, 
the level prairie land of central Illinois. 
I shall be most grateful for any sug¬ 
gestions you can give me. 
Answer —I have been much interested 
in your letter asking about the planting 
around your house in the country. Here 
are a few suggestions, which I trust 
will be of some assistance to you. 
In order to screen the barn lot on 
the west of the property I should plant 
a hedging of California privet. This 
grows very rapidly and is sufficiently 
high to serve the purpose admirably. 
If the fence along Ihe front Jine is in 
good enough condition to retain, you 
might plant climbing honeysuckle along 
it to improve its appearance. Other¬ 
wise I would suggest your putting in 
a good quality, heavy, woven wire 
fence, such as is used for fencing live 
stock fields. Of course, this type of 
fence is not decorative, but in conjunc¬ 
tion with the honeysuckle it becomes 
quite presentable and durable. 
Good shrubs for foundation planting 
would be spiraea van Houttei, forsythia 
and deutzia. Without knowing a little 
more about the exact size and ground 
plan of the house, I cannot tell you 
just how many of these bushes you will 
need or exactly how they should be 
placed. 
It would add somewhat to the ap¬ 
pearance of the place if you planted 
lilac bushes on either side of the en¬ 
trance gate, which I presume is on the 
south property line. Also you might 
naturalize here and there in odd cor¬ 
ners a variety of narcissus bulbs, in¬ 
cluding poet narcissus, the Emperor, 
and the Barii Conspicuus. 
None of these suggestions involves the 
outlay of very much money, but I 
think that they may satisfy the con¬ 
ditions that you describe. 
