House and Garden 
The sitting-room had hangings of mahogany colored 
plush at doors and windows; handsome lace cur¬ 
tains draped the windows next the glass, and the 
plush which was festooned across the top in a 
lambrequin was edged about, as were the curtains 
themselves, with gimp and parti-colored ball 
fringe. The woodwork of the room was of walnut. 
1 he mantelpiece ol black marble wore also a 
lambrequin ol plush, trimmed with the fringe. 
The wall-paper showed baskets of brownish tan 
roses on a slate colored ground picked out in gold. 
The carpet was fortunately of inoffensive design 
and dark red brown color. The furniture of walnut 
was covered with crushed plush, in colors moss 
green and old gold, the chairs and divans dividing 
the colors equally. A glass enclosed cabinet held 
some terra-cotta statuettes, a few pieces of Parian 
marble, and many souvenirs from the Centennial 
Exhibition of 1876. An oval tablewith a white marble 
top stood in the center ol the room. There were vases 
set in every available spot on mantel and table; 
these were of the kind that showed decorations of 
highly colored flowers upon the porcelain and 
much burnished gold. As specimens of the deco¬ 
rative work ol a certain period they were interest¬ 
ing, but they were not becoming to roses and violets. 
The rooms had four great windows, but the heavy 
draperies and drooping lambrequins shut out much 
of the light. 
The drawing-room, dining-room and hall were 
equally hopeless and unattractive. 
When these rooms were taken in hand by the 
wife of one ol the younger generation of the family 
to whom this home belonged, the task seemed 
stupendous. “I did not want his mother to feel 
I was putting all of her things in the attic,” this 
politic young woman said when the rooms were 
finished, ‘‘so as far as I could, I have used them.” 
The old furniture was recovered, and the carpet 
was retained. The door curtains were of the dull 
mahogany velour, but the ball fringe was removed 
and the curtains hanging in straight folds and 
lengths, took on new lights and shades, together 
with dignity and unexpected beauty; they were 
remade without interlining, and run directly on a 
brass pole by a loose casing at the top; they toned 
perfectly with the carpet. A portion of the win¬ 
dow drapery was utilized in upholstering a corner 
seat. 
The exposure of the room was north and east, 
so she selected a wall-paper having a soft yellow 
ground, on which was a conventional design of 
tulips in a deeper shade, outlined in brown and 
gold. 1 he ceding tint, which dropped to the 
picture mold, was a clear, pale yellow. As the 
spring season was approaching, this clever woman 
said, “I selected a flowered linen taffeta for the 
window hangings and some of the furniture cov¬ 
ering, as we will be at home much of the time 
this summer, and we do not wish to go heavily 
into brown holland.” Tulips in shades of yellow 
and golden brown with green stems and leaves, 
showing on the yellow tan colored ground of the 
linen taffeta, accorded perfectly with the design 
on the wall-paper, and harmonized well with the 
coloring ol the room. 1 he impossible ornaments 
from the cabinet were banished, and the shelves 
filled with bits of Venetian glass, some quaint fans 
and miniatures. Glass vases, some low and wide¬ 
mouthed, and others tall and slender, were sub¬ 
stituted for most of the decorated porcelain ones, 
and many growing plants were set about. 
The black marble mantel was uncovered and a 
feature made of it; back of it was placed a long 
mirror, and at either end one of the vases was 
placed, together with other old-fashioned orna¬ 
ments. A new bronze lamp with a spreading 
shade of pastel green silk trimmed with a crystal 
fringe of the same color was on the table, under 
it was a square of old brocade edged about with 
gold galloon. 
The room with these changes is so attractive 
that all who enter it feel at once its charm. 
Great dusty bunches of pink stocks gave a charm¬ 
ing effect in decorating here. Two or three easy 
chairs and some soft-toned pillows for the corner 
seat were the only other things purchased beside 
the curtains and furniture covering. The rich 
coloring of the tulips on the curtains and chair 
covers brought out and accentuated the faintly 
colored ones on the wall. 
Where an apartment is to be ‘‘done over” and 
the expenditure must be small, the wise woman will 
set herself to carefully study the points one by one, 
of her familiar room. She can then see things 
as they are and decide definitely what it is impos¬ 
sible to retain, and what can be used. It may be 
that the wall-paper, if used with new window 
draperies, will take on unsuspected qualities of 
beauty, or the curtains which may be costly and 
therefore of necessity retained, may be made to 
suit the room by the substitution of a plain wall 
covering of proper tone, which will prove all 
that is required to show these for the handsome 
and decorative draperies that they are. It is quite 
probable that these curtains must be remade, 
as in the case of the woman described. Unfor¬ 
tunately, many beautiful fabrics are often quite 
spoiled by the manner in which they are handled. 
Simple narrow gimps or quarter inch moss edgings 
of silk can be made to order quite inexpensively 
and supplied in any color desired. Either of these 
gives an excellent finish to the edge of curtains and 
portieres. Where the fabric is heavy, no interlining 
should be used, as the beautiful soft folds of the 
material under this treatment would be quite lost. 
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