The Rooms As The Expression Of Personality

The room should be the outward expression of the spiritual and mental attributes of its occupant, and this expression may often be given in the most simple ways, by a bowl of favorite flowers, by a few pieces of treasured pottery, or even by a bird cage hanging in the sunlit window. Anything which is a part of the daily life may be made to fit into the whole scheme of decoration, and these necessary articles should be used to gain desired effects instead of many useless ornaments. With the exception of a very few pieces of real beauty, all bric-a-brac should be placed upon a high shelf out of sight. In fact, a general rule might be formulated to eliminate almost all beautiful things, which are not distinctly useful in their environment, for an object which is not useful is somewhat out of place and is therefore lacking in that proportion which is one of the elements of beauty.

The Same Material Is Used for the Chair Coverings and the Side Hangings at the Windows to Give Touches of Intense Color.

A Charming Guest Room in a Country Home Which Is Sufficiently Impersonal to Suit Change of Guests. The Furniture Is of the William and Mary Design.

(Courtesy of Mrs.. Henry Dunlop).

Comfort

Each room in a house should express comfort. The colors in the bedrooms should be of just the right hue and value, to permit rest and sleep, the desks and tables for writing should be of a convenient height and placed in a good light, and the various chairs should be of a shape and size adapted to the people who are to use them and should be absolutely comfortable. If the furniture is at first not well arranged for convenient use, the laws of structural arrangement will be found to be elastic enough for a shifting about until each article is in the right place to do its own work in the most efficient manner. In this way a homelike effect is gained which is instantly felt by any one who enters the room. It then seems at first glance to be a place which is lived in, an environment which is conducive to mental and spiritual growth and physical comfort.

Sincerity

Since no two people and no two family groups are ever alike, no two real homes can have the same atmosphere or can give the same impressions to the people who come into them from without. Ideally each home should be the manifestation of the owners' interpretation of the worth-while things of life and should express his attitude toward the world by his sincerity in the use of details in his scheme of interior decoration which shows his true personality.

Chronological Table

Showing the Order of Period Styles from the Beginning of the Renaissance to the 19th Century.

Reprinted from How to Know Period Styles in Furniture by W. L. Kimerly, by permission of The Grand Rapids Furniture Record Co.