February, 1918 
15 
Rush rugs for the floor, a cottage table and chairs, a piece or two 
of Italian pottery, perhaps peasant china—and the porch break¬ 
fast room is created. This is in the residence of H. P. Vaughan, 
Esq., Sherborn, Mass. G. P. Fernald, architect 
Privacy can be given the breakfast corner by dropping the shades, 
or better, by curtaining the windows with some pretty cretonne or 
a sunfast. The well designed wicker furniture is adaptable for 
all-day use on such an enclosed porch 
doors had red panels, the window frames were 
black, and with creamy madras curtains un¬ 
der side draperies of the striped linen, and 
painted window boxes overflowing with green¬ 
ery, it was the cosiest retreat imaginable. 
Breakfast Room Windows 
That the breakfast room windows should be 
ample in size and number, goes without say¬ 
ing. If there be an enchanting view, one 
never can have too much of it; and if there be 
none, the windows must be draped heavily 
enough to conceal the lack, and a more ex¬ 
tensive lighting area must therefore be pro¬ 
vided. Unless one chooses to develop a period 
room, which will have its own arbitrary re¬ 
quirements in the 
matter of draperies, 
elaborate window 
hangings are best 
avoided. In rooms 
of the sun parlor 
type, simple draw- 
curtains or even 
gathered shades of 
casement cloth or 
other semi-trans¬ 
parent fabrics may 
prove adequate. In 
numerous cases, 
happy results are 
achieved by the use 
of two pairs of 
short, thin curtains, 
one for each sash, 
with side draperies 
of some patterned 
material select¬ 
ed solely for its 
decorative value, 
such as colored 
madras, awning 
cloth, terry cloth, 
chintz, cretonne, 
printed linen, or 
printed India cot¬ 
ton. The study of 
hangings is absorb¬ 
ingly fascinating 
owing to the infinite 
variations made 
possible by the enormous range of drapery 
fabrics and the diversity in the size, shape, 
character and grouping of windows. 
In a unique breakfast room designed by an 
artist for his own summer home in a warm 
climate, the front and one end were built of 
copper screening, and on sunny days the glare 
was softened by drawing tinted shades which 
flooded the interior with a pale blue-green light 
and suggested a refreshing plunge into cool 
sea-water, a suggestion which received a touch 
of realism from the liquid murmur of a foun¬ 
tain in a green marble basin filled with water 
plants. The plain flax carpet was the color 
of beach sand, a few tones darker than the 
gray-white walls of rough plaster against which 
leaned delicate green trellises clothed with the 
deeper green of trailing vines. The furniture 
matched the shades and the chair cushions 
were of green and mauve, hand woven. Paint¬ 
ed furniture, as was demonstrated in this 
instance, is extremely well adapted to the 
breakfast room. It is highly decorative and 
lends itself admirably to the development of 
atmosphere or the expression of a mood. In¬ 
cidentally it affords a grateful change from 
the more somber and substantial beauty of 
mahogany, oak, or walnut, which finds its 
logical setting in the formal dining room. 
Rush or cane seated chairs produce an effect 
of coolness, and those of the familiar Wind¬ 
sor type, stained or painted in various colors, 
are deservedly popu¬ 
lar. In a summer 
bungalow, in whose 
furnishings a spirit 
of rusticity prevailed, 
the breakfast room 
had walls of slabs 
with bark on, and 
hickory furniture of 
the sort commonly 
used on porches. At 
the opposite extreme 
was an elaborate 
breakfast room in a 
city mansion, whose 
walls were hung with 
pale blue moire silk 
and gilt-framed mir¬ 
rors as a background 
for a priceless set of 
Louis XV furniture 
finished in old ivory 
and gold. 
The Essential Pieces 
Owing to the small 
size of the average 
breakfast room, its 
furniture frequently 
is limited to the es¬ 
sential table and 
chairs with the addi- 
(Continued on page 
54) 
Only the essential furniture should be placed in the breakfast room, and it should be 
informal. The walls can be painted a light shade and color notes found in the curtains 
and rug. Glass curtains of net or scrim will help soften the light 
