HINTS AND IDEAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 264, 7 November 1931, Page 4 (Supplement)

HINTS AND IDEAS.

ABOUT THE HOUSE,

HOME-MADE FURNISHINGS.

Nothing looks more charming than a modern chintz bedroom, with flowered curtains and bedspread and a little valance-finished dressing-table which is an up-to-date version of the dressing-

table that characterised every bedroom in grandmother's day.

This modern piece is perfectly in accordance with present-day hygiene and common sense.

Brushes, combs, and other toilet articles roust no longer be allowed to clutter up the top of the dressing-table, exposed to dust and germs.

The table top, glass-covered for cleanliness, is swept clear of useless ornaments —unless, perhaps, one excepts a well-covered powder bowl, a glass pintray, and one or two highly ornamental cut glass scent sprays. Candlesticks, Vtoo, are sometimes permissible, though Ihe practical person usually prefers a well-placed overhead electric light.

The table has no fixed mirror, a triplemirror, which can be moved from place to place and rearranged according to light being infinitely more useful.

Actually, therefore, the article condenses itself down to an ordinary plain table, as you see in the accompanying sketch. It has a shelf to take brushes, etc., and underneath this are rails on which shoes may be placed. The whole table is surrounded by a full valance, the front portion of which fits on to> a couple of hinged battens that close over, doorfashion. Inside these two "doom" are a couple of capacious pockets to take various odds and ends.

MODERN OUTLOOK. The difference between modern furniture and that used in early Victorian days was stressed by Mr. Eric Miller, of Dunedin, speaking before the University Club. The outlook of that period demanded a graceful quiescence in the drawing room, and the romantic and poetical Victorian mind demanded a profusion of ornaments. Other times, other modes. In this age. of machines and money and speed,, new forms in architecture and furnishings were being developed in sympathy with the spirit of the epoch. Those dust-collecting museums of the Victorian era, the drawing rooms, were fast passing away, together with the suites of furniture and' the wardrobes. The overcrowding of rooms with spectacular incongruities and opportunities for retaining dust were condemned alike on hygienic and aesthetic grounds. The eye had begun to appreciate bare spaces, which gave greater promise of repose. The essence of modern furnishing was to introduce nothing into rooms for which one could not claim a reasonable and legitimate purpose. Fittings, such as sideboards, bookcases and wardrobes were, wherever possible, placed in recesses specially erected to contain them. China was stowed in cabinets. Cornices and picture moulds disappearing, and pictures were arranged as 'part of the decorative scheme. Chairs were low set to provide the maximum of ease, and occasional tables were conveniently low. Books were largely used for colourful effect, and gay curtains and carpets were a help to relieve the austerity of the plain surfaces of walls and doors. Windows were larger, and frequently occupied the whole of one wall from near the floor to the ceiling. The development of central heating permitted of the temporary division of a whole floor into compartments by folding partitions or curtains, so that on occasions four rooms were thrown into one. Many ingenious mechanical and labour-saving devices had been invented within recent years, plainly utilitarian in design, no effort being made to hide the mechanical methods of operation.'

DOUBLE BOILER. As a temporary arrangement for a double boiler, take three or more empty sewing-silk spools, place in pan, set pan or dish of food to be heated on top of the spools Pour water in under pan | or dish ana heat in thq usual way. \ TO PREVENT SMELLS. When a room is newly papered the smell is often very disagreeable. To remove this it has been advised to place a handful of hay i n a bucket of water and stand m the room.