May, 192 3 
61 
The mahogany pieces 
in this bedroom were 
acquired one at a 
time. In this way a 
charming and har¬ 
monious room resulted 
FURNISHING IN RELAYS 
Instead of Merely Space Filling , Start With a Few Beautiful 
Pieces of Furniture and Gradually Build up a Room From Them 
ETHEL DAVIS SEAL 
T HE majority of people have a horror 
of an empty room. That is the rea¬ 
son why when they start to furnish 
a house with a given sum of money they try 
to fill the spaces and they buy “sets” of 
furniture that, after a few years, will be 
discarded for a few new and really beauti¬ 
ful pieces. How much better it is to furnish 
in relays, to be content to start with a few 
good things and wait until one can afford 
the other pieces. 
Recently, I talked with two unusually 
intelligent women on this subject who had 
just finished decorating their houses. 
The first living room I saw belonged to 
a friend who was embarking on her fifth 
year of housekeeping. I glanced appreci¬ 
atively at the gray, blue and gold color 
scheme, the paneled walls, the deep-piled 
rug, the graceful sofa and comfortable 
chairs, that were as much an abiding part 
of the room as the pale gray and blue walls. 
I suddenly realized that there was nothing 
{Continued on page 96) 
Ov er stuff e d 
chairs covered 
i n h a n d- 
blocked linen 
were the be¬ 
ginning o j 
this room 
which owes its 
effect to the 
fact it was fur¬ 
nished slowly 
