Art and economy in home decoration

Preface

I have endeavored in this volume to assist my reader to solve some of the various prob¬ lems of house furnishing, and to induce the homemaker to think for herself as to what is to be avoided and what to be made use of.

It is really a difficult task to furnish a house properly. It requires serious thought, and a knowledge of color and harmony, and a cer¬ tain refinement and simplicity of taste which are not always easy to acquire; and therefore it is well worth while to go to a little trouble to learn the best way of doing this.

In my twelve years’ experience as an interiordecorator I have come across problems in house furnishing of almost every kind, and this book is the result of my experience.

Portions have already appeared in maga¬ zines, and I take this opportunity of thank-

Preface ing the editors of Country Life in America , American Homes and Gardens , House and Garden , The International Studio , Ameri¬

can Home Monthly, and The New York Herald for their courtesy in allowing me to republish them.

Part One Page

Preface 7

I. Introduction 11

II. Choosing a Color Scheme 19

HI. How to Treat Walls Successfully 28

IV. Concerning Halls 43

V. A Few Points to Remember when

Buying Carpets and Rugs 49

VI. Characteristics of Oriental Rugs 59

VII. Home-made Rugs 75

VIII. How to Stain Floors 86

IX. Furniture 91

X. The Right Use of Ornament on

Furniture 97

XI. Casement Windows and Their

Treatment. Fireplaces 105

XII. What to Use for Portieres and

Curtains in the Country House 115

Contents

XIII. Shelving, Pictures, and Bric-abrac I2^

XIV. Lamps and Candle Shades 138

XV. Needlework in the Hands of a

Craftsman x44

XVI. Finishing Touches 154

XVII. Ornamenting Fabrics by Means of Stencilling and Block Print¬ ing I(V

XVIII. Arranging Flowers Artistically 179

Part Two

XIX. What to Avoid in the Home 187

XX. Cottages by the Sea or Lake 192

XXL The Decoration of a Modern Sub¬ urban House 1 97

XXII. Describing some Interesting

Rooms 204

XXIII. How Some Craftworkers Fitted

up Their Home 211 art and economy in

CHAPTER I Introduction

This volume is intended as a practical assistance to those of moderate incomes. It is undeniable that there exists in almost every one a sense of color value. This may be subconscious, and yet it is so much a factor in our daily lives that I have chosen color as the groundwork of my effort to point the way toward the successful decoration of the home.

In looking back over the last fifteen or twenty years we can see for ourselves that the taste of the community has improved in a wonderful way. This may partially be ac¬ counted for by the fact that magazines and newspapers, realizing what people want, try to give practical help that will be of value in the home, not only in cooking and dress-

[ii]

making, but also in decoration. This they do by describing successful homes and giving illustrations of good interiors.

Perhaps nothing shows such an improve¬ ment as quality in color. At one time it was rare to find a house that was in perfect harmony throughout. Certain rooms might chance to have a good color sense, but this was more often accidental than carefully brought about. So many crude colors in draperies and carpetings were put on sale that it was difficult even for those gifted with knowledge of color to gain the best effects , but to-day we cannot make this excuse because there is such a large variety of shades of each color, and many of them are so beautiful in tone that practically any good color scheme can be evolved; so that there is encourage¬ ment to learn how to combine or oppose colors into compositions which appeal to the eye and satisfy our sense of color.

We have lived through the hand-painted craze, when nothing was safe from the would-be artist, whether in the form of a rolling-pin or a coal-scuttle. Having survived this stage, the drapery epidemic overtook us ; “ tidies on

Introduction

the chairs, “draperies” on the mantel, and “throws” on the furniture. Curtains of heavy texture, trimmed and looped, drained the pocket-book and were the torture of dis¬ criminating minds.

Next the bric-a-brac habit overcame us. Dreadful overmantels with cubby-holes were put on the market. They were naturally overladen with useless vases and imitation Dresden figures. There were many useful ornaments to choose as substitutes, such as beautiful jars with rich-shaded coloring, fitted with bronze vases to hold lamp oil, yet the knicknack was preferred. Such articles as clocks, lamps, inkwells, photograph frames, candle-sticks, and flower-holders can all be objects of beauty, and by being objects of beauty in themselves can take the place of so-called ornaments.

Yet we certainly have made progress in the last fifteen years. It is not so very long ago that the accepted decorations for dining¬ rooms were pictures of still life, in heavy gilt frames. We all remember those caricatures of fruit, of abnormal size, on dishes carefully

placed on a white table-cloth, with all the creases artfully depicted. Happily we have outgrown such decorations because our taste is better and people are beginning to think for themselves. Nevertheless, bad things do go on year after year, because people accept them. Why do most people buy highly polished furniture, which is not only inartistic, but very unserviceable ? Is it laziness or poor taste ? The manufacturer can just as easily make furniture with a dull finish. It is all a question of the public demand.

Again, the pillow epidemic is still in full sway. Fortunately, beautiful pillows, well-designed furniture, rugs of rich, good coloring, and artistic draperies are to be found by those who have the taste to select what is good.

Homes are apt to lack simplicity because the furnishings have been chosen without regard for one another. The pictures on the walls, the ornaments on shelves and tables, the carpets and rugs upon the floors, the draperies at windows and doors, contend, as it were, for preeminence, and defeat the effect of harmony. The accessories in a room should be subordinated to the colors so as to enhance

and not interfere with the general effect.

Introduction

Until this fact is understood it is impossible to get the desired results.

A law of composition persistently violated in our homes is the law of contrast. That plainness gives value to ornament in the same way that darkness adds brilliancy to light is a truth that few realize. A beautiful picture placed by itself on a plain wall surface will look infinitely better than if surrounded by a medley of insignificant pictures of a different style. Our common sense tells us not to put a heavy, rich oil painting on the same wall as a water color of soft, delicate tones.

The first step toward improving the home is, then, to do away with what is bad. There is more danger of destroying the appearance of a room by overcrowding than by bareness. We have all felt the futility of adding in order to improve. A clean sweep of all that is there, and calm, judicious consideration of what should be allowed to go back again is the only way toward reform. The questions carefully and faithfully answered should be: “Is this beautiful?” “Is this useful?” Have the strength of character not to put unnecessary

ornaments back again unless they come up to these requirements. It is a false art that takes

away from the convenience and homelike feeling of a room.

A cheerless look is engendered from a poor arrangement of the furniture. Time is well spent in placing it thoughtfully with the prin¬ ciples of comfort in mind. An easy chair should be where the best light will fall upon its occupant, whether by day or night. The sofa should be placed in the best position for resting and reading, and not so overloaded with pillows as to preclude comfort. We can¬ not, we must not, blunt our artistic sensibilities by allowing in our homes any decoration or piece of furniture which cannot prove its right to be there. The question naturally arises. How am I to know what is good or bad ? To some this knowledge is intuitive, and others have it not at all, but much can be gained from books on decoration. The spirit of art and the fundamental laws which govern it can be learned by reading the works of masters in art and by the application of their views to our individual needs. To those who are conscious of unsuitable and inartistic surroundings, the task is half-accomplished.

Introduction

American women are so quick in grasping opportunities and imbibing the best of what is around them that if they are really con¬ scious of a need of reform improvement will come quickly.

In Charles Wagner’s book, “The Simple Life,” he expresses exactly what I wish to con¬ vey. “ It is very certain,” he says, “ that the cul¬ ture of the fine arts has something moralizing, and that our thoughts and acts become impreg¬ nated at length by that which strikes our eyes. But the exercise of the arts and the contem¬ plation of their products are privileges reserved to a few. It is not given to every one to possess, to understand, or to create beautiful things. But there is a kind of human beauty which can penetrate everywhere: the beauty which is born in the hands of our wives and daughters. Without that beauty what is the most ornate home ? A cold habitation. With it the poorest home is animated and lighted. Among the forces capable of en¬ nobling and transforming wills, adding to happiness, there is perhaps not one with a more universal usage. It knows how to make

valuable by means of the poorest instruments, and amidst the worst difficulties. When the room is small and the family purse meagre, the table modest, a woman who has this gift finds the means of causing order, neatness, and decorum to reign there. She puts care and art into everything she undertakes. To do well what one has to do is not in her eyes the privilege of the rich, but the right of all. It is for that that she employs it, and that she knows how to endow her home with a dignity and a pleasantness which the more fortunate homes, where everything is left to mercena¬ ries, never attain.”

This “human beauty” Charles Wagner speaks of is innate in most of us, and only needs development and cultivation. “Nature has put a charming art in the fingers of women.” Can we not remember this and strive to make it felt in our daily lives and surroundings, by making our homes livable and appropriate to our needs ? Let us avoid ostentatious display, and cultivate the beauty of harmony and simplicity.

Chapter II

When we are ready to decide on the color scheme of our rooms we have a very hard problem to solve. We know the liability there is to make mistakes, and yet too often we find out the fault when it is too late to rem¬ edy it.

Color should be chosen with reference to the quantity and quality of light which enters the room. A north room, as it has little sunshine, needs bright, warm treatment — yellows, reds, and golden browns — while a room with a southern exposure requires cool, light colors — blues, greens, and cool gray tones. Some shades of green can be used with good results in a southern room, but olive greens are best suited to northern exposures. This shade is apt to be brownish at night, and so must be considered both by daylight and artificial light.

The amount of daylight that permeates a [ 19 J room will have an effect on the depth of color to be used, and so it will be necessary to con¬ sider all colors both in a strong light and in shadow. I need hardly add that by artificial light a room will usually be darker than one expects. Since, therefore, masses of color deepen with shadow, it is well not to have the walls too strong, but to have the strongest tone for floor coverings and furniture. The ceiling in all cases must be lighter in tone than the walls. When the tones are well balanced in this way the room is usually successful.

We need not be so hampered in our selec¬ tion of colors for rooms that face east and west, as practically any color can be used success¬ fully in them. We do not realize how all-important it is to have the wall treatment satisfactory. People will go into new houses and put up with the most abominable wall coverings rather than re-paper to suit their curtains, furniture, and rugs; and will cheer¬ fully spend three times the amount required for new paper in trying to pull the room to¬ gether. I need hardly say they rarely succeed in gaining the desired result.

The first impression of a room depends upon [ 20 ]

the walls, for they are the atmosphere, as it were, and make the room pleasant or other¬ wise. When selecting wall papers, violent, harsh coloring must be avoided. Two-toned papers are very desirable, for, if soft in color, they form nearly as good a background for pictures as plain papers. A narrow-striped paper gives the effect of height to a room, but a large design, having more width than depth, serves to make a room look smaller and lower. Mouldings and dado rails break up the wall spaces and are valuable factors in wall treatment. If the room is too high, the ceiling paper can be brought down a few inches on to the side wall. Never, however, use a wall paper on the ceiling and bring it down. It has a most crushing, overwhelming effect, very overpowering to sensitive persons.

Alas! There are many pitfalls for the un¬ wary. Sometimes I have watched people buy¬ ing paper and have noticed that they rarely have curtain material or furniture coverings with them to enable them to choose a paper that harmonizes with them. They do not appreciate that they must be considered with

reference to their future surroundings. People seldom think of the size of the room or the exposure, but choose rather the greatest num¬ ber of violent contrasts when trying to make their house attractive. How much better it would be to get tones of some colors that are harmonious — brown and yellow in a northern room, with brown and green in an adjoining room, and so on. I have seen a pink parlor leading out of a red hall, and a blue living-room leading out of a pink parlor. Each room was beautiful in itself, suitably furnished in every way, and no expense spared; yet this glaring mistake proclaimed itself the moment the threshold was crossed.

Ornamentation should produce a pleasing impression of artistic refinement, without call¬ ing attention to the beauty of a detail or the capability of the owners.

As a rule, it is the woman who is the home¬ maker, and those who have the ambition to make their homes attractive can gain no little help by reading up the subject and by closely observing the harmony of colors.

A woman of resource and ingenuity can work wonders with a very limited amount of

money by cultivating her taste so as to be able to discriminate as to what is worthless and what is good. She must teach herself to care for pure tones and good backgrounds She will soon learn that it is more restful and refreshing to go into a room with cool green walls, white paint, wrought-iron hardware a carefully chosen rug, than into one with loud walls, gold furniture, brass fixtures, onyx tables, and large-patterned carpet.

Few of us realize how color affects the spirit . Dark and gloomy colors cause depression, while bright sunshiny colors bring cheerfulness into the home. In starting out, therefore, to decorate a house, the color of the walls should be decided first, and then the division of the walls by mouldings or panels, lo egin with the hall, if it is narrow, red should no be selected, as it contracts the spaces and does

not light up well at night.

In a small house it is well to decide on colors and tones that blend with the color of the hall. If the hall is narrow and gloomy, yellow should he chosen. A plain yellow-felt paper above a burlap dado of deeper yellow or tobacco brown will harmonize with a dining-room o brown and copper. If it is at the extreme

[ 23 1 end of the hall, it will apparently increase the size of the hall.

If the dining-room is ten or eleven feet high, the plate-rail might be hung level with the top of the door, using a strong plain yellow car¬ tridge paper, or crinkled felt or burlap. A frieze of warm coppery tones of modern English design should be hung from the plate-rail to the picture moulding, on a level with the eye. Below the picture moulding, brown burlap, paint, or even a crinkled brown felt could be used. Another dado could be sub¬ stituted, by dividing the walls into sections with strips of wood four inches wide, nailed sixteen or eighteen inches apart. These strips could be placed over paint or burlap and be stained to match the rest of the woodwork of the dining-room. A dull brown would be es¬ pecially pretty with this scheme.

If the room has light-oak woodwork, it can be changed at a small cost by removing the varnish with ammonia and applying a brown stain; this could be waxed when dry. If there is a low ceiling, the same idea could be carried out by hanging the plate-rail about seven feet

from the floor, instead of on a level with the door.

The sitting-room on the first floor should be green and yellow, which would give a feeling of unity with the hall, whether it be used as a reception-room or as a drawing-room. A two-toned green paper could be used with yellow hangings. A soft yellowy cream tint on the ceiling would look well.

Probably the large room on the second floor will be used as a living- or morning-room, and, if so, should be made bright and pretty by the use of a flowered paper of old rose and green, with a plain base of grass cloth, jute, or denim hung below a photograph-rail. Following out this idea, all the woodwork, including the corner seat, must be treated with an ivory-white paint.

There are many pretty flowered papers for bedrooms. Softness of tone is hard to find, but may be secured by a little perseverance. English and French papers cost the most, but are much softer than those made in America. Some of the domestic have narrow colonial stripes, which may be found among the fifteenand twenty-cent papers. They are extremely pretty. They can be hung on the side walls

to the cornice; but if the room is very high, a frieze of plain color deeper than the tint of the ceiling would be preferable.

When a house is being built it is a great economy to have the scheme of color, and plans of detail, decided before the building is completed, as then everything could be worked together to produce good results. The hardware should be selected early: dull brass with green woodwork, bright brass with white; or if the woodwork is chestnut or oak, and the furniture strong in character and design, iron hardware would be suitable.

Instead of all the walls having a last coat of smooth plaster, one might be left rough and sanded. The hall would look well in this way, and could be colored or left the original gray of the plaster. A stencil decoration, if of strong tones and good design, would add to its appearance. The living-room might be de¬ cided upon as more suitable for gray walls which would form an admirable background for pictures.

It is a great improvement to a room to have a beamed ceiling, and this could be done without cost in some cases, by leaving the joists of the floor above uncovered. These could be finished off and stained brown. A ceiling paper or burlap should be placed be¬ tween the beams and run down to the top of the doors to join the picture moulding. A strong treatment is necessary for a room of this kind, and a careful selection of the fur¬ niture would be advisable.

It is the care with which we consider the aspects of various rooms that makes up the beauty of a house and tends to give us har¬ mony of the whole.

CHAPTER III How to Treat the Walls Successfully

It is always a difficult problem to choose the right kind of wall treatment for all rooms and all purposes. Plain solid colors are the best backgrounds for pictures; but if we do not possess many that are really good figured papers would be a better choice, as they furnish the walls without the aid of pictures.

In choosing a paper we must not only con¬ sider the furniture and hangings that are to go in the room, but we must bear in mind the uses to which the room will be put. Although this is so important, it is a point that is very often forgotten, and the neglect of it leads to endless confusion. There are several fun¬ damental truths that we should get well in our heads before undertaking the task of choosing wall coverings. If the ceiling is much too high it can be divided into three sections. The ceiling paper can be brought

DECORATIVE NURSERY PAPER A WELL DESIGNED PAPER WHICH COULD BE

USED ONLY WITH THE RIGHT SURROUNDINGS down one or two feet, level with the top of the door or windows, and should always carry out some architectural line already in the room.

A figured paper below this could cover the wall to within seven feet of the floor, when a burlap or wood panelling would make a suit¬ able base. It is not common, however, to find ceilings so high as a general rule, and unless the walls are over eleven feet, it would be unnecessary to bring the ceiling paper down. Sometimes a ceiling is so low it is depressing, and in that case a striped paper would make it appear higher, especially if the same paper was run from the ceiling to the skirting board.

Papers with very large figures are never quite suited to a small house. They dwarf the rooms, and the breaking up of the patterns by doors and windows is disagreeable and has an uncomfortable feeling for any one sen¬ sitive to his surroundings. What a good thing it would be if the wall-paper salesmen attended classes where they could be taught the effect of the various wall papers they are to sell. They would then be less daring in what they recommend to their customers. Far too fre¬ quently paper is advocated that was originally

[ 29 1 designed for a large hall or dining-room of magnificent proportions, with all the furniture and panelling in keeping with the design. Such papers are meaningless and assertive in a small house, and people cannot be too careful in avoiding them.

When going into a new house we must not be deceived by the quantity and quality of light which pervades the room. If the walls are bare, it is very difficult to get a correct im¬ pression of how light or dark the walls will be when papered. If the rooms are dark, sun¬ shiny yellows or warm rose tints are bright and cheerful, while olives and blues tend to make a room dark and dreary unless the walls are so well broken by windows that this need not be considered. Warm tones in north rooms, cool torfes in south rooms are points to be remembered.

Every season I make a point of seeing the new wall papers, and, looking at many hun¬ dreds, it is sad to think how few there are that would be restful to live with. Sometimes in going through a whole book, I do not find a single paper I could honestly recommend. Assertiveness is more often found among the domestic papers than the imported ones, the reason probably being that the English manu¬ facturers pay high prices to the best artists in the country for wall-paper designs. Such men as Walter Crane, Cecil Aldin, John Hassal, Lewis F. Day, Voisey, and Shann Kydd are employed to make designs for them. As large prices are paid for these designs, the manufacturers do not cease to make up a paper at the end of a season, but continue to bring it out for five or six years, if the design is good and continues to sell. Some of the original Morris papers can be bought to-day in London in the same colorings as when they were made over twenty-five years ago. A desire for novelty on the part of the public demoralizes American manufacturers, and we find that good designs we have grown accus¬ tomed to cannot be obtained at any price when they have run their allotted time. If the manufacturers paid the prices for designs that English and French makers do, this would not happen.

To treat the walls of our home successfully, we must first consider the hall, for it should be the key-note of the color scheme. It is

[ 31 1 well to have the walls broken by mouldings, because, as a rule, the paper on the upper wall will outlast the dado. If a light paper covers the walls that would quickly soil, it is best to have a burlap or a panelled dado to protect the parts exposed to hard wear. This is especially important when the staircase is narrow, as it is seldom they are wide enough to allow trunks to be carried up and down without knocking the walls.

Another way of treating the hall is to use a two-toned or fabric paper; a very undefined pattern can be used, giving a varied surface which is very pleasing. It will be found that the broken wall surface is much more ser¬ viceable than plain walls. If a frieze is used in the hall, it should stop at the foot of the stairs. Nothing looks worse than a frieze running on a slant above the staircase. A beautiful one could often be afforded in the lower hall when the expense would be un¬ called for on the second landing. If there is no place for the frieze to terminate at a mould¬ ing or arch near the staircase, place a little beading at the end of it, which will be all

that is necessary to finish it off.

In city homes the dining-room is very apt to be poorly lighted, and is often devoid of attractive characteristics, and therefore every¬ thing that is possible must be done to bring about a cheerful appearance. Yellow or corn color in a plain or two-toned effect is always good. Where there is plenty of good china, a plate-rail is advisable, and the display on this of decorative pottery is sufficient decoration for the walls, if the colors are right; but it is a great mistake to have a plate-rail with insipid china and inartistic pottery possessing no decorative qualities. Variety can be given by groups of copper or pewter, which are bright and add a gleam of brilliancy when the light catches them. If there are no suitable decorations on hand, some of the beautiful poster friezes designed by first-class English artists can be used instead. They are soft in coloring, and the repetitions of design so far between that there is no opportunity for getting tired of the pattern. Some of the convention¬ alized floral designs can also be used, the coloring being chosen to suit the walls.

A beautiful dining-room can be made, when the wall is panelled in wood to a height of

3 1 33 1 six or seven feet, by running above the high wainscot an old-time landscape frieze con¬ sisting of trees, fountains, and urns on a white ground. The tree-tops of this frieze should nearly reach to the ceiling, the groundwork of which must match that of the frieze. With mahogany furniture such a scheme would be very rich-looking.

Never before have so many beautiful fabric papers been shown as at this time. Some have a basket weave resembling burlap, while others have a variety of texture that is very charming. The silk-fibre papers are durable and artistic and come in beautiful colors. They are good for using below these poster friezes.

There are so many horrible tapestry papers on the market that I recommend these with fear and trembling ; but there are one or two beautiful designs that are always in good taste and that can be used successfully as ahighdado in a dining-room. They come in beautiful rich colors — some in tones of pale green with Venetian red roses and wood color introduced. These are suitable for covering the walls of country dining-rooms, and are excellent when used with white paint. I have in mind an

A FRIEZE OF NASTURTIUMS IN TONES OI BROWN AND COPPER

DECORATIVE FRIEZE IN DEEP ROSE AND SHADES OF GREEN imported tapestry paper costing only fifty cents; although it has been in the market some six or seven years, it still comes over in large quantities.

In preparing the walls of a room which will be furnished in mission furniture, some of the art-nouveau papers can be used, but as there are several flagrant monstrosities among the new papers, they must be chosen with care. Suitability, not novelty, is what we need; so do not be impressed by the salesman telling you the paper is a “good seller.” You may then rest assured it is a bad paper, for the majority of people have not good taste, and the manufacturers unfortunately cater to the majority.