Refinement, not Costliness - Well-chosen Colour Schemes - Treatment of the Walls - Use of Canvas Panels - Possibilities of Brown Paper - Ingle Nooks - Old Furniture - Reproduction of Old

Furniture

When setting off on the quest of a house it is well to get rid of the word house, and to think only of the word home.

A place which possesses such a magic appellation should demand one's best and highest ideal of restfulness and beauty. In the search for such an abode, the first consideration must be light, air, and sanitation. Light rooms and sunshine mean health and increased vitality, even if the rent be a pound or two higher. It may be the cheapest in the end. A northern aspect is at all times to be avoided. Only one who has resided in a dwelling with such an outlook can fully realise the depression of sunless rooms. In the choice of a house, another point which demands the attention of the chatelaine of the establishment should be cupboards, and especially linen cupboards, which are all the more useful if they can be warmed from the hot-water system.

Costliness is not Comfort

Having chosen the house and thoroughly considered all its points, good and bad, all one's attention can be concentrated upon the fascinating subject of furniture. Because a villa is a villa, as judged by its exterior, there is no reason why it should be " suburban " when once one has passed through the portals. An Englishman's home is his castle ! Even the most ordinary room with a little care and consideration may be transformed into a delightful and original abode. It is the greatest mistake in the world to imagine that money alone will purchase beautiful surroundings. There are people who buy a thing not because it is beautiful, but because it "cost" a certain sum. To them a picture or a chair or a piece of china has no worth unless it cost a more or less fancy price. A house furnished on these lines can only show one result in the end - it will bear the hall-mark of vulgarity. A wealthy man may have a gorgeous residence, but if his pictures and furniture and china and carpets are only bought by the purse, and not selected by the brain, the impression of such a dwelling gives the idea of an il]-arranged museum. One is afraid of sitting on the elaborate " satin coverings " of the furniture, fully realising the terrible price which has been paid for them. In one palatial residence even certain ornaments have cunningly arranged electric wires, so that the startled guest is suddenly called upon to admire every detail of the work when the host switches on the light.

A person with taste and understanding may create a dwelling to which a king might come - simple, refined and artistic - a true home ; whilst a millionaire without discrimination might only offend with his ostentatious display. So for the keynote of furnishing an artistic home choose the word " simplicity," and eschew all furniture that is not required for practical purposes. Much money in small sums may be wasted by what one may term "nick-nacks," many of which have no artistic beauty, and simply overcrowd or destroy the beauty of an otherwise pleasing scheme. Alas! kindly friends wishing to show their affection often bestow on many a luckless bride and bridegroom a truly terrible assortment of " nick-nacks," which remain white elephants until the end of the chapter.

A Suggestion

Furniture in the shape of fittings may transform a commonplace room into one that is absolutely unique. If the house is owned by the occupant, these fittings may be permanent ones, but if the house is only leased, they should be removable, at any rate, wherever it is possible. In these days of outdoor life there is a growing tendency even in small houses to transform the hail into a living-room. The wall between the hall and dining-room is removed, and the passage or narrow hall, with the dining-room, is converted into one fine room, which can be most picturesque. On the other hand, the door which leads into the dining-room may be taken down, the doorway widened and beautified by an arch of white wood or stained wood. In the summer such an arrangement looks beautifully cool and airy - it greatly increases the impression of the size of a room - whilst in the winter heavy curtains of an artistic shade of serge or velvet may be drawn across, which give a feeling of cosiness.

The walls of the dining-room require special consideration. Walls panelled with deal and stained an artistic shade of green look admirable. There should be a wide frieze of white all around the top. Another idea is to have a wide frieze of canvas, and panels of canvas let into laths of wood for the walls. The frieze is painted white, also the laths of wood. A conventional floral stencilled design is placed on the panels - a wreath with a trailing spray is effective. This is used as the stencilling, and the panel is painted a soft shade of Wedgwood blue. When the stencil is removed the design is simply the natural canvas, which is most charming on the blue which surrounds it. Such wall decorations can be washed. The ceiling is white, and from it a quaintly fashioned lamp looks well suspended. This may be obtained in copper or bent iron either for incandescent or electric light, and a vivid rose silk shade on such a lamp will shed a pleasant glow over the room. For a small room brown wallpaper looks quite charming with a white frieze. Pictures framed in dull black have an irresistible charm in such a room. Dull black frames accentuate the beauty of many a vivid landscape or seascape, and the uniformity of the frames in a room certainly has a decorative value.

The Fireplace Problem

If the fireplace is ugly, very charming and artistic grates can be obtained for from £2 to £3, and certainly the fireside is a most important item in the success of a room. A grate set in dull green tiles with touches of copper is ideal. If green is chosen instead of Wedgwood blue for the panels of the walls, then the tiles should be of the same colour. Either of these colours will look charming with brown paper.

The Unnecessary Suite

Instead of buying a "suite" of furniture, which recalls terrible horrors of the Victorian period, spend money on the permanent fittings. Ingle seats each side of the fireplace are not only beautiful, but delightfully comfortable. They can be arranged with an archway and overmantel; or, better still, with bookcases which close in and are finished off with copper fittings. The seats should be wide and low, and well cushioned in copper-coloured velvet or silk. For this ingle nook one must be prepared to put aside the sum of £10. The cushions could be made at home, and it would not be difficult for a good joiner and an ingenious chatelaine to arrange this decorative adornment to the dining-room.

The windows should have a wide, open seat, which must also be made by the local joiner. In a living-room it is best for these not to have frills. The woodwork should match the green ingle seats, and the cushions should be 01 copper colour. . A dresser of quaint design, stained to correspond with the ingle seats, is another artistic feature worthy of note.

The floors may be painted green all around to match the ingle. It is an excellent idea, as the paint washes so well, and a golden brown square will look charming with this colour scheme. The casement curtains could be of a soft shade of yellow.

A design of oak leaves and acorns would look very charming embroidered upon these curtains. Green casement cloth curtains, which are at all times delightfully cool-looking and restful, would be equally charming, if not quite so original.

New Furniture Or Old?

We must now come to the actual furniture-how wise are they who wait and buy their tables and chairs in out of the way places ! Bits of old oak absolutely make a dining-room. At a sale of furniture not so long ago, six chairs and two armchairs in oak with dull golden brown seats were sold for £12. Two days after this a dealer offered the buyer £50 for the set, and the offer was refused. It is well, at any rate before buying furniture first-hand to see what can be bought at auction sales, or at out of the way curiosity shops.

If this method is impossible, then we must do the next best thing, procure some of the beautiful and inexpensive reproductions - a Jacobean dresser and a gate-leg table. But as an example of the bargains to be found in out of the way second-hand shops, 10s. recently bought a good round oak table. Six single chairs. With the ingle seats it will be hardly necessary to have " easy-chairs," and this economy will permit of more money for the ingle. A small table is useful, a kerb to the fire, fire-irons, and coal cauldron. On one side of the fire removable shelves for books are very charming, painted the colour of the floor, ingle, and window seat. A three-tier dinner waggon is another useful commodity.

Ornaments

Now comes the question of ornaments. We turn to the Japanese for a lesson. Do not overcrowd with useless bric-a-brac. One or two good pieces of china will cost little more than a crowd of meaningless china ornaments. A clock is a necessity for the " mantelpiece." Beautiful and artistic clocks are now set in a quaint frame of stained wood to represent an old gate or windmill; their faces are of copper, and they can be bought from £1 1s., or even less, with a white face and black figures. Each side a pair of copper candlesticks look well. They may be fitted with electric light, and shaded with rose shades to match the lamp which hangs over the dining-table in the centre of the room, and they will be found delightfully convenient when you are enjoying a quiet read in the ingle seat.

A Japanese bowl looks well each side of the candlesticks, or, better still, two lustre jugs, or old English punch-bowls. On the sideboard may be two or three pots of old pewter. A hearthrug to match the carpet finishes off the fireside. Naturally, white paint may be used instead of the green or blue ; but the green has a distinction when added to touches of copper and of copper colour.

Here is an estimate of the cost of a room such as we have described :

£ s. d.

Lamp (with shade) ...... 2 2 o

Square ............2 10 0

Hearthrug .......... 11 6

Dresser (walnut stained) .. .. 7 18 6 Gate-leg table, or round table

(walnut stained) ...... 2 19 6

Six chairs (Jacobean ; walnut stained) ........ . . 6 12 0

Kerb .......... . . . 7 6

Fire-irons .......... 4 6

Coal cauldron . ....... 3 9

Curtains............ 1 10 0

Ingle ............10 0 0

Removable bookshelves . . . . 15 0

Window seat.......... 1 0 0

Clock ............ 1 1 0

Ornaments .......... I 15 0