House and Garden 
The best quality should always be bought as it is 
much the cheaper in the end. This applies to wall 
covering, wood stain and finish, and floor finishes. 
Also, in choosing the exterior stain, or paint, for the 
house, the best in the market should be purchased. 
I believe all reliable firms making these products 
send with them a careful specification of application, 
thus insuring in the most out-of-the-way place, 
a satisfactory job, provided the workman is faithful 
and honest and carefully follows the directions. 
There are many wall stains and tints on the market 
ready mixed. Some of these I know to be satis¬ 
factory from the point of smoothness of surface and 
good wearing qualities ; 
the great trouble lies in 
the selection of colors 
offered. These are near¬ 
ly always of an unpleas¬ 
ant tone. Why this 
should be so I have 
never been able to un¬ 
derstand, as it would 
seem quite as easy to 
obtain a soft and at¬ 
tractive color as the 
ugly ones shown’on the 
color cards. 
From the variety of 
wall treatments to which 
I have referred, you 
will see that the selec¬ 
tion of the appropriate 
finish will be easily 
made for the walls of 
the simplest cottage or 
the most expensive resi¬ 
dence. The proportion 
and architectural detail 
of the room will natur¬ 
ally strike the key-note 
for the selection. 
My own method in 
deciding upon the color 
scheme for the interior 
of a house is, (after care¬ 
fully studying the plans, 
which give me exposure and the dimensions of 
the rooms and their relative positions,) to decide 
upon the finish (stain or enamel) for the woodwork. 
I then take sample panels of the wood, finished 
exactly as they will he in the completed house, 
and with these try various colors and designs in 
wall-paper, grass-cloth, fabric, or whatever I 
have determined to use as wall covering. Japan¬ 
ese grass-cloth, burlap and the decorative cloths 
are much used for plain wall covering. Both 
the burlap and decorative cloth are susceptible to 
restaining or painting, and when painted with oil, 
the last coat well flatted with turpentine, they 
present a very good wall surface. I would never 
advise a water-color wash as being desirable for 
either of these. 
I have brought with me to show you some color 
schemes which will serve to illustrate what I have 
said. One set of these shows a complete scheme 
for a small modern house of thoroughly artistic 
design. The architecture of this house is pro¬ 
nouncedly of the twentieth century. The wall¬ 
paper and wood finish selected for use throughout, 
show a slight suggestion of the modified F art nouveau, 
so modified indeed, as to have eliminated all that is 
objectionable in that 
much over-done style. 
The woodwork through¬ 
out the first floor is of 
oak and ash. This lat¬ 
ter wood is one which 
is becoming more and 
more used in houses of 
this character, and even 
in more expensive resi¬ 
dences, as it lends itself 
beautifully to the wood 
stains which are now 
favored. The German 
exhibit at the St. Louis 
Exposition which 
showed special effects 
in the fitting and fur¬ 
nish i n g o f rooms, 
aroused a wonderful in¬ 
terest and admiration in 
this special treatment of 
wood, most of the tones 
being neutral. 
It is possible to obtain 
furniture of ash, chest¬ 
nut, and oak in an unfin¬ 
ished state, and have 
this stained to match 
the woodwork of your 
room. Where this effect 
can be carried out in de¬ 
tail, it is, of course, most 
attractive. In the scheme suggested for walls 
and woodwork in this house, however, it would be 
possible to use furniture of any wood and finish, 
provided it is built on simple, substantial lines, 
as only that style would be suitable to this setting. 
Where the woodwork and walls are in complete 
harmony the woodwork becomes practically a 
part of the wall treatment, as for instance, in a 
yellow dining-room with the yellow and green upper 
third, the woodwork is stained to show a combina¬ 
tion of both colors. In this room, ash furniture 
would be best stained a darker shade of green, or a 
GUEST CHAMBER.—Side wall covering of paper showing dull soft blue, 
green and yellow on clear ivory ground. Ceiling to picture rail tinted in shade 
of ivory. Woodwork, ivory eggshel-white enamel. 
68 
