WINDOW DECORATION

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 136, 5 March 1929, Page 17

WINDOW DECORATION

RETURN TO OLDER WAYS A new and fascinating tendency is creeping into our decorative schemes, just as it is definitely reappearing in women’s dress (writes L. Chaloner in the “Ideal Home”). This fashion is for “femininity.” It is difficult to express it by any other word. If few of us would wish to return to the Victorian tradition of antimacassars and bric-a-brac, as a reaction we went too far in the direction of bare austerity and chill hygiene, from which p such labour-saving devices as the vacuum cleaner and the home electric washing machine are gradually leading us. It | is a collection of these factors that has brought us the welcome vogue for net and lace curtains. There is, of course, nothing new in the idea of lace or net for curtains. Lace curtains first came into fashion about the same time as wallpaper, in 1843, and what was known as down net” soon followed. But the recent introduction of artificial silk in alliance with cotton, admitting of a veritable rainbow glory of colouring, has revoi lutionised the original conception of net for window curtains. • The great thing to remember is that net lends itself to an, enormous variety of treatments and furnishing styles. We may hang it as sashy curtains halfway up' the window to prevpnt the room from being overlooked, or we may hang it from the top of the window to modify an ugly outlook. It may be arranged in couples, parted in the centre and tied with a cash, or it may be used singly across the entire window. Where plain cotton is used, particularly in colour, butterflies or little posies are sometimes appliqued to the corner in wool or silk. We may choose them deliberately in a light golden colour, to give a subtle illusion of sunshine in a room that can never boast any. ... A window that refuses such treatment may yet be made successful by an old-world waterfall curtain, three-cornered in shape, offering an intriguingly framed peep through the glass—which it half screens. A delicious way of arranging this, if a complete waterfall curtain ,is not purchased, is to use the charming spotted net with a tiny lace frill, as that gives a pleasant old-world appearance. . Net curtains may be hung with or without pelmet and with or . without a sash. They may be even given a straightdown treatment .devoid of gathers, lhe really important thing is to choose a net that harmonises with the decorative scheme. We may have an alliance of silk on a cotton net, or we may have cotton net in a silk floral design, or we may have shot or contrasting shades of silk in either stripes or a design of one colour, and a ground work of another. A pleasant example of this latter type of net was of a rich tobacco brown, with a floral design, in a golden yellow closely resembling metal threads, although with; out the tendency of these to tarnish. The colour is known as Paris. Whether we are thinking in terms of net or Iflce curtains, a problem that wants careful watching, is the washing. Nothing looks worse than a net or lace curtain that has lost its shape. The home electric washers are very kind to materials of this sort, and better in many cases than hand rubbing, for the swirling of the water soon extracts the dirt from the loose mesh Choose a sunny day for hanging curtains, and be. quite sure that the line itself is irreproachably clean. If apt place paper beneath the curtains. If they show any tendency to sag or lose their shape (they should be carefully drawn into shape be-, fore hanging) it is'a good plan to dry them in a sheet or else to run a runner sound the outside edges, and it can easily be removed when the curtains are almost dry. Of course, if- there is a good lawn the curtains may be spread out flat on the grass on a sheet of paper or on a sheet. Long lace curtains require very careful choosing or we produce at once a curious and almost Georgian atmosphere that consorts ill with modern furnishing ideas. They are particularly happy treated as inside curtains to long curtains of heavier material, in a formal room, or for drawing-room or boudoir they may be used independently; rose and ribbon design, or the traditional filet rose patterns being among the most dainty. Yet even into the realm of these fulllength curtains artificial silk has made its way, and exquisite designs are carried put in rose and gold, havana and gold, rose, or blue or mauve, to harmonise With almost any scheme. It would be hard to discover a more effective curtain. than one in havana and gold with a design of vines, or a more delicate colour scheme than a boudoir curtain in mauve and tussore artificial silk. But in choosing such items for a bedroom, remember that not only should curtains be considered, but bedspreads in keeping and dressing-table sets, which are placed between the protecting plate-glass and the wood, and so maintain their delicious freshness for a very long period. The bedspreads, it should be added, are made, like the curtains., both in cotton and silk. Ecru is first favourite in cotton, and to look its best requires a coloured underslip; it suggests at once a scheme of painted furniture or oak left in the white. The silken bedspreads are mostly made in a filet net, the design of one colour and the background in contrast.

Utter designs in cotton bedspreads are made,up of squares of filet lape, which can be changed and interchanged jn an endless variety of ways. With the help of these squares a spread can be made to fit any size of bed; they can be used in conjunction with a plain coloured material to produce a chequered effect, or the centre of the bedspread can be of lace, with a runner of the plain material between it and the lace border. This idea ean be repeated in the long curtains, tie material being used as a border, but great care must be taken that it does not overwhelm the lace and kill the effect of lightness at which we are aiming. It should simply be used as a foil, and the delicate colouring will, show up the mesh to greater advantage. The bold designs of filet lace are also very suitable for cash curtains or “brisebises,” and it has the merit of being one of the strongest members of the lace family, keeping its shape well and coming up fresh after countless launderings. • . Embroidered screening curtains of the same type of lace in a slightly tinted shade are also popular and lend themselves to bold embroidery. These are curtains with just that subtle difference which' makes for individuality. They should be hung from the top of the window with no fullness to hamper the embroidery, which is usually a bold design of flowers or birds in brilliant colourings. Here again one can have the bedspread and dressing-table mats to match. The • bedspread, Ike those of more delicate laces, is all the better for being backed up by some blending colour to emphasise the qetwork.of the lace.

Red lead, when mixed with linseed oil nnd thinner, should be allowed to stand exposed to the fair for at least two or three hours before it is applied to a surface. This procedure greatly improves the working qualities of the paint, and furthermore, if it is not done, the homogeneity of the applied paint film is likely to be poor, due to possible separation ot the pigment and oil with consequent running and sagging. That this fact is not generally realised is evident from some of the specifications which make their appearance from time to time.