Read Ebook: The Library of Work and Play: Home Decoration by Warner Charles Franklin

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Thou shalt not permit any false note to mar the harmony of thy decorations.

Thou shalt not imitate thy neighbour's house or anything that is thy neighbour's, for it is the glory of the good decorator to show originality but at the same time to acknowledge his dependence upon those who have preceded him.

THE FURNITURE

In designing the furniture for the model house the questions that constantly suggested themselves were: What is this piece of furniture under consideration to be used for? What form, construction, and finish will enable it to give the best service? What features of design are needed to render it suited to its surroundings? In considering the furniture for the model house it was most natural to apply these tests to the various rooms in order.

The frequent combination of the library with the living room requires a suitable adjustment of the furniture to this use. A plain, serviceable magazine rack, which may be easily made, will relieve the tables of an accumulation of weeklies and monthlies. Moderately low bookcases, with or without doors, are to be preferred to the more ordinary high ones because this form harmonizes better with the lines of a room, which are generally longer horizontally than vertically. If doors are used, it is well to break up the glare of the glass by heavy sash, the spacing of which may be arranged in a very pleasing manner. Good design in library tables calls for ample size. Firmness and convenience as well as satisfactory proportions should control the choice of a writing desk.

As comfort is the chief result to be obtained in furnishing a living room, so richness, within one's means, is an appropriate aim in furnishing a dining-room. The history of sideboard design might be cited in proof of this statement, if proof were needed. Probably no single article of furniture has been subjected to greater elaboration; but the desirable suggestion of plenty with convenience may be secured without overdoing it. The unique purpose of the sideboard makes it an interesting study for one who wishes to design and construct his own in conformity with the architecture of his dining-room. The buffet or serving table furnishes an equally interesting, though simpler, problem.

For the care of the china, the built-in cabinet as a feature of the architecture of the room is to be preferred to the movable cabinet designed for this purpose, because of its richer decorative possibilities. Large, glazed doors are desirable in either case, not for the full display of china and glassware but to give a suggestive glimpse of it. As this cabinet is for decoration and not for show, it is well to avoid plain glass doors unbroken by sash. Leaded panes are frequently employed with good effect. The decorative effect of old and odd pieces of china--not too many of them--is most appropriately employed by the use of the plate rail; but it is better to leave the plate rail bare than to load it with commonplace crockery and inappropriate ornaments.

Many of these suggestions on furniture design are being carried out in fitting up the model house described in our introductory chapter. A small house like this, limited to one story, does not permit great variety in its furnishings. Certain standard conditions, however, were to be met here, as everywhere else, and the young designers found much pleasure and great profit in working out the furniture problems. Some of the construction details will be given in the later chapters.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE FURNITURE

PICTURES

The decoration of a room is generally not complete without pictures. There is, of course, great value in good pictures entirely aside from their decorative effect; and too great care cannot be exercised in their selection. But our present purpose is to consider them as decorative features; for, though a decoration is not a picture, pictures themselves are properly regarded as important elements in the general scheme of decoration. And this is especially true as regards matting and framing, the distribution of pictures upon the wall spaces, and the method of hanging them.

FRAMING AN OLD-TIME INTERIOR, DRAWN IN COLOURS

The conditions which had to be met in this problem are plainly shown in the framed picture as it hangs on the wall. The picture itself is a small one, 8 inches wide and 13 inches long. It is interesting because of its representation of a sewing room in one of the high-class homes of the colonial period. The mistress and her two young daughters are engaged in sewing and embroidery. Patterns are displayed upon the wall; the furniture is appropriate and evidently an example of the best of the period. All these details are suggestive of the delightful home life of our grandmothers.

Such a picture needs a mat to give it depth and to properly emphasize its details; and it requires a simple, narrow frame. The mat was accordingly made 2-1/2 inches wide and the frame 1 inch wide. The tone of the mat selected was a light bluish gray, forming a good connecting link between the bright colours of the picture and the gray of the wall against which it was to be placed. Since it was to hang directly over a fine old mahogany table, it was thought fitting to give the frame a mahogany finish, connecting the furniture shown in the picture with that of the room.

The frame was made with mitred corners of perfectly plain, square-edged birch, which readily takes a mahogany finish. The stain was first applied with a brush, rubbed in, and allowed to dry. A surfacing coat of shellac, coloured to match the stain, was next put on, allowed to dry, and then carefully sand-papered, special care being taken to guard against rounding the edges and corners. A coat of varnish was next applied, which, after hardening for one week, was rubbed first with pumice stone and oil and finally with rotten stone and oil. A final coat of thin finishing varnish was then put on, which was lightly rubbed with rotten stone and water to give the half dull effect required to match the antique mahogany table.

FRAMING A CARBON PHOTOGRAPH OF A MASTERPIECE

The picture is a copy in sepia tones of Murillo's Saint Anthony, 16 inches in height by 20 inches horizontally. The frame is made of quartered oak 3 inches wide, slightly convex but smooth; and it is well joined with mitred corners. A picture of this character needs no mat. Indeed, it would have been the height of presumption to strive to accentuate a masterpiece of such highly idealistic meaning and treatment. It must be left to itself as much as possible. The dimensions of the frame are therefore determined by the size of the picture itself.

The picture hangs against a light gray wall in good light, somewhat apart from other pictures. It was a happy thought thus to recognize its dignity. It was given further distinction by finishing the oak frame so that it should not associate itself with the other woodwork in the room. Since the room in which the picture was to hang has a light ash trim and most of the furniture a mahogany finish, this requirement was easily met.

But there are many ways of finishing a frame to avoid too close association with the commonplace that would have been anything but appropriate to such a picture as this. A gilt surface, a silver-gray tone, or a highly polished golden oak are possible blunders. Nothing should be done to call attention to the frame of any picture, least of all to one of such spiritual feeling as this one. The frame should seem to be a part of the picture, repeating its prevailing tones with a richness in keeping with the composition of the picture itself. The colour should be a rich, dark brown, but not so dark as to obscure the figure of the wood. The finish should be dull, but soft and smooth.

There are several brown stains which, properly applied, would give the desired effect. For the colour it was thought best to rely upon Van Dyke brown, which may be used either with alcohol or turpentine. It is not desirable to use a water stain in a case like this because it would raise the grain, necessitating sand-papering, which should be avoided as much as possible on picture frames in order to keep the edges and corners intact. Ammonia fuming preserves the figure of the wood better than any other form of staining, but it was thought that the oak might not take on a tone dark enough to meet the requirements. It was decided, however, to try the fuming method and to tone up with a thin coat of stain if the effect proved to be not sufficiently dark. The ammonia process resulted in a rich, soft surface, but in a colour too light. A thin Van Dyke brown alcohol stain was therefore applied and when dry this was followed by a very thin coat of shellac--mostly alcohol--coloured to match the stain. This was to fill partially the grain of the wood. Finally, it was thoroughly coated with wax finish and well rubbed to restore the soft, satin-like surface.

PASSE-PARTOUTS

Framing pictures in passe-partout binding is one of the little arts of home decoration, though it is by no means an unimportant one. It is easy to learn and it involves small expense in time and money, but it furnishes a means of preserving many pictures of real worth in themselves or of value to their owners because of pleasant associations; and it is in itself a delightful occupation. It offers the same chances for artistic effects in colour harmony and contrasts, in spacing, and in the arrangements for hanging that the more difficult methods of framing do, with the added advantage that one need not be deterred by the question of expense from discarding an unsuccessful result and trying again.

The picture is now mounted on the second piece of pasteboard by fastening it at the upper corners with a little paste. It is desirable to use as little paste as possible. The two pieces of pasteboard are then brought together, care being taken that the rings are on the outside, and the glass laid over the picture. These parts are now ready to be bound together. The sides are bound first. This is done by cutting two pieces of the binding 1/4 of an inch longer than the short edges of the picture, wetting the gummed side and laying it along the edge of the glass so that it will lap 1/4 of an inch over the face of the glass. Each end of this binding will extend 1/8 of an inch beyond the glass. The rest of the binding is now folded over upon the pasteboard back, taking pains to draw it down close to the edge of the glass and pasteboard before it is permanently fastened. The 1/8 of an inch that projects at each end is then folded over the corner and pressed down as close as possible to the edge of the glass and pasteboard. The upper and lower edges are bound in the same way, excepting that the pieces of binding are first cut the same length as the edges over which they are to be pasted, and, before they are pasted on, the two corners on the side to be pasted to the glass are cut off 1/4 of an inch back at an angle of 45 degrees, and the other corners are also trimmed back to about 1/8 of an inch. The accompanying drawing shows more clearly how these binding strips are trimmed. The purpose of it is evident; for when the strips are pasted over the top and bottom edges of the glass, it is seen that they have been cut to give the appearance of mitred corners, and that when folded over the edges upon the back of the pasteboard no rough edges of binding are left exposed at the corners.

One of the lessons of experience in this work is that it is well to take great pains in centring the binding strips accurately before pasting them on, as they do not stick well if the attempt is made to correct a mistake by removing the binding and pasting it on again. The more elaborate passe-partouts, requiring mats, borders, and double bindings, are scarcely more difficult than the simple example just described, though they will require more time. It is well to begin with the easier problems. When borders and double bindings are used the narrow passe-partout strips are pasted on first, with proper care to cut the mitres correctly and to centre the strips accurately before pasting them down upon the glass. The edges are bound last. This partly covers the brighter-coloured strips previously pasted along the edge of the glass, and leaves a narrow line of colour exposed as a border just inside the binding.

HANGING PICTURES

In determining the height of pictures it is only necessary to remember that they are placed upon the walls to be enjoyed. While monotony in height is to be avoided, the average eye level should not be disregarded. The frontispiece illustrates an effective placing of a picture in the dining-room of the model house.

THE ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS

"I know not which I love the most, Nor which the comeliest shows; The timid, bashful violet, Or the royal-hearted rose;

"The pansy in her purple dress, The pink with cheek of red, Or the faint, fair heliotrope who hangs, Like a bashful maid, her head."

Formerly when the furniture, pictures, and draperies had been arranged in our rooms, with perhaps a few pieces of bric-?-brac, we considered their decoration quite complete. But we have learned how much cheerfulness a few simple flowers, properly arranged, impart to the same rooms; and so flowers have come to be considered as almost essential to the complete decoration of the home.

COLOUR ARRANGEMENT

We have just considered the grouping of flowers by themselves. There is another element to be considered before we can have artistic results, and that is arrangement as to colour.

Another arrangement calls for shades and tints of the same colour. With many flowers it is possible to get exquisite effects by following this scheme. For instance, pansies ranging from a pale lavender to deep purple are lovely arranged in a low basket of damp moss. Sweet peas have beautiful shades of pink that can be combined, as well as shades of red and of lavender. Nasturtiums are never so effective as when the various shades of yellow, orange and brown are used together. The garden aster of to-day is another flower that affords much pleasure in colour arrangement; for it has lavenders and purples, a variety of pink tones, beautiful reds, and perfect white ones.

And the white ones! What shall we do with these? Three or four pure white asters of the same variety may be used together; or two or three white ones may be grouped with a few lavender ones, or pink ones. White may be combined with any colour with good results. Nature is a good teacher here for she gives us both the coloured and the white in almost every variety of flower. For example there are crimson cosmos and white cosmos, scarlet geraniums and white geraniums, blue violets and white violets, and so on through a great many varieties.

THE FLOWER HOLDERS

The fish globe is very effective when nasturtiums and their leaves are loosely arranged in it. The stems show through the water and glass and form a part of the composition. Short stemmed roses may be most artistically grouped in it. I have seen a very charming combination of mignonette and bachelor's buttons in the same bowl, as well as a harmonious picture in yellow, composed of the various shades of California poppies and their foliage.

The tall glass sets off two or three long stemmed roses: and a few yellow daffodils or the narcissus with their leaves look equally well in it. Poppies for a day, in the same vase, have given pleasure to the beholder. At Easter it has joyously borne a stalk of two perfect lilies, and in the autumn tall spikes of salvia have been equally at home in it.

Our tall Japanese jar is suited to larger arrangements, for we need to remember that in tall or vertical compositions the vase should be about one third the height of the whole combination; so this is adapted to holding branches of apple blossoms or mountain laurel; or, if one is fortunate enough to find tall lilac bushes, about three branches from these are effective in it. Tall-growing golden-rod looks equally well placed here. It furnishes a modest setting for dahlias and chrysanthemums, and one of its most decorative compositions has been two or three branches of pine bearing their brown cones.

The possibilities of the smaller green jar are numerous, and only a few are given as suggestions. A loose arrangement of jonquils and their leaves, or of white narcissus, is effective. The shorter stemmed lilacs, either the purple ones or the white ones, may be placed in it. An arrangement of white field daisies, and one of yellow roses, have been found equally successful. One soon discovers the harmony and balance that exist between the flower and holder.

THE BACKGROUND

At a luncheon served by the girls in the model house the floral decoration for the table was a half dozen single, yellow jonquils with their foliage, placed in a creamy brown vase made by one of the girls. Their dishes being in white with a gold edge and the walls and furniture in browns, nothing could have been more harmonious than these few simple flowers.

In the early spring nothing can be more appropriate than an arrangement of pussy willows or branches of the alder with its tassels, while the red maple when in flower gives a touch of colour that will brighten any room. A clump of blood root in a small jardiniere is as decorative as the expensive plants one may see in the home of some friend. The flowers of the field and the garden offer so many possibilities for decorative results that no one's home need lack the cheery touch which they can give.

WHAT THE FLOWERS SAY ABOUT IT

Don't mix us; we are exclusive and prefer our own kind.

Don't make a confusion of colour with us.

Don't arrange us in snug, solid masses.

Don't neglect to use our stems and foliage as a part of the decoration.

Don't tie us with ribbons, nor put paper-lace frills around us.

Don't crowd us in with an assortment of household goods; we need space and a background.

Don't arrange us in tall, stiff forms for the dining table.

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