156 
Drix Duryea 
.4 console group might consist of vases and a comporte 
of amethyst Venetian glass with a flower picture above 
and wrought iron brackets of ivy. From Darnley, Inc. 
Incidentally Incidentals 
(Continued from page 97) 
The shower bath saves mother’s time 
— and the children enjoy it, too 
Mother’s hands still find plenty to do in a 
house today even though she has the aid of 
many modern conveniences. 
And one of these duties, pleasant enough 
perhaps, but how time consuming, is the 
children’s daily bath. 
Here is where the shower saves time, for two minutes 
are enough for a bath. Then there is the cleanli¬ 
ness and the delight of bathing in running water. 
Children soon learn to take their own showers. 
Of course all the members of the family will enjoy 
the shower. 
We will send anyone really interested, a book on 
shower bathing—styles and types of showers best 
adapted to various kinds of bathrooms are shown. 
The title is, “Once-Used Water.” 
SPEAKMAN COMPANY 
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 
Chinese vase filled with laurel balanced 
by a candlestick, placed on a bit of Chi¬ 
nese brocade or fragment of old Paisley? 
When one enters a living room it is 
much the same story, with the inevita¬ 
ble table backing the sofa, and gener¬ 
ally only one good location for the 
reader. How vastly different the room 
can be made with small tables and 
arrangements that invite reading or 
conversation, with interesting lamps of 
pottery or wrought iron, and the little 
things for smokers or the desk? These 
bits, suggestive of other days, other 
ways and other peoples, can be made 
into interesting and inviting arrange¬ 
ments rather than just so much 
furniture. 
Peasant potteries now can be ob¬ 
tained in shapes and colors that make 
flower arrangements actual still-life 
groupings. These at once give the 
lived-in touch to a room. In the more 
formal interiors, small objects, such as 
figurines, snuff boxes, miniatures, not 
in profusion but selected with care, give 
interest and individuality to a room, 
but even these cannot equal the im¬ 
portance of books and flowers. They 
are the real life of an interior. Should 
one have an aversion to knick-knacks 
or think this article a plea for the 
“what-not” of Victorian days, let her 
learn for herself that the proper dis¬ 
position of books and flowers and these 
small decorative bibelots can be de¬ 
pended to give a room all the charm 
desired. 
An important revival is the use of 
chintz, the gay flower patterns in con¬ 
trast with plain walls, giving a charm¬ 
ing sense of informality to a room 
otherwise formal as to furniture. With 
the introduction of a chair covered to 
match or a lamp with a shade of the 
pleated chintz, an interior quickly 
assumes the appearance of having been 
lived in, the goal we all aspire to in 
our homes. Shades with old French 
engravings are much in use just now 
and have the advantage of being deco¬ 
rative both day and night, besides 
bringing the picture note into the room, 
which has been eliminated of late owing 
to general preference for plain paneled 
walls. Sometimes a room needs a warm 
color note, and here Chinese red lac¬ 
quer can be introduced successfully. A 
small table in this color, large enough 
to hold a lamp, books and magazines, 
or small nests of tables with glass tops, 
tea tables with decorated tip tops, and 
low tray-shaped tables, of a height 
convenient for serving tea, all make 
possible a more intimate look to the 
otherwise well-furnished room. Screens 
can also be had in brilliant Chinese 
wall papers, antiqued and lacquered, 
which break up difficult spaces or en¬ 
liven and create an intimate corner in 
a room of large proportions. 
Wrought iron has also come greatly 
to the fore as an important accessory, 
and interesting wall brackets filled with 
ivy or garden flowers, bring in the 
outdoors and make decorative an other¬ 
wise empty wall space. 
If one has only one rooftree, two 
things should be avoided. Sets of any¬ 
thing or strict adherence to periods. 
Just as we are the sum total of all the 
ideas gone before, so should our homes 
reflect in subtle ways our lives or 
thoughts. Xenophon’s rule still applies, 
possibly today more than ever, “What¬ 
ever is beautiful is, for the same reason, 
good, when suited for the purpose for 
which it was intended.” 
