BUILDING AND HOMES

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 104, 27 January 1931, Page 13

BUILDING AND HOMES

(by

JACK PLANE)

WOODEN PELMETS

Aid in Window Decoration PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS Plywood is one of the most useful materials at the disposal of the interior decorator desirous of creating original effects at small expense, an overseas writer states. Its uses are many and varied, but one of the most attractive is to use it as material for the making of pelmets, from simple shapes to more elaborate ones. The ease with which it can be cut out and fixed in position brings it within the reach of the home craftsman, for very little is needed in the way of tools , beyond a carpenter’s pencil for marking out the shape, a fretsaw for cutting it out, some stencil paper and brushes, .and any reliable paints and varnish. The actual pelmets when made can be attached to an ordinary pelmet board in the same way as would be employed to fix a pelmet made of material. For this pelmet board it will be found best to have as small a return on it as possible, three inches being ample space to allow for the curtain rod or runners. This, because a wooden pelmet is essentially modern in its outlook on life and the modern room needs to have a pelmet, when used, as nearly flush to the wall as possible. Three Advantages.

There are three great advantages in wooden pelmets; firstly, because of their attractive appearance; secondly, because it is possible to bring them into line with the room’s general decorations much better than can be done with a pelmet made of fabric; and, lastly, because of the ease with which they can be kept clean. A pelmet of material is very apt to sag or stretch after a visit to the cleaners, which is also a fairly costly business, and entails Jill the bother of getting dowrt and putting up again. A wooden pelmet remains where it is put, and can be cleaned with a duster or even a damp cloth without having to be removed. If the pelmet is of wood it is much easier to make it. suit the type of room, for it can be treated more as a quasi-architectural feature, owing to its stiffness, than is ever the case when a textile is employed; and, being so treated, variety can be-introduced into the room by the use of several sets of curtains to one pelmet, which can be easily changed for summer or winter use without having to alter or take down the pelmet itself.

Shape and Colour.

Wooden pelmets can rely entirely on their shape and colour for their effect or be decorated in a variety of ways. If a fanciful edge is cut, then this design can be further developed by means of paiutingjso that the shape continues over the entire surface, or a design either floral or conventional, according to the room’s decorations, can be painted on. Applique also enters into the decorative effects that are possible, and all sorts of amusing designs can be carried out by cutting out bright-coloured or metal-papers into various shapes and applying them on to the previously painted surface, which should then be given one or two coats of varnish. This is a method particularly suitable to the decoration of nursery or'bedroom pelmets. Should the amateur decorator not feel equal to the cutting out of fanciful shapes in plain paper, very pretty results can be achieved by cuffing out motifs of either chintz, cretonne, or wallpaper, pasting them on, and varnishing in the same way. Then for the children there are all sorts of nursery wallpaper borders with old familiar “Mother Goose” and fairytale friends which could be applied to the edge of a pelmet without being cut out, or figures cut from old coloured prints or fashion plates can -be used to make decorative and pleasing groups. Use of Stencils. Stencils can also be used for the decoration of either the border or surface. Then, if plainer effects are wanted, simple bands of contrasting colours or of metal paint or two or three lines of varying width and colour can be used to outline the outer edge. Another very good idea is. to continue a narrow pelmet right around a window as a kind of frame. With this arrangement ordinary curtains should not be used, but instead a blind to draw up and down and fine net curtains on the window itself. This arrangement is a very good way of improving the looks and proportions of an ugly and undistinguished little window. This idea can be further developed arid the same sort of framework given to open cupboards or to frame in the recess on either side of the chimney breast in which shelves have been placed. This, continuing the idea of the window frame

to- other parts of the room, is valuable as a whole and making the window a part of its fitments instead of an isolated thing standing by itself. The actual shapes of the pelmets can be as varied as the skill of their maker will allow of, and certain shapes which would be very tricky indeed to carry out in a material will be found simplicity itself in plywood, owing to the fact that it keeps its shape exactly As It' is. cut and does not need, as does material, Interlining with stiffening. Two useful things to bear in mind when making wooden pelmets are that as far as possible too many or too thin projecting pieces are to be avoided owing to their fragility and that, a very simple shape can be given an air of great elaboration by the judicious use of paint or applique. Raised borders can Also be made by applying strips of picture-frame moulding, and held in place by the use of upholsterers’ tacks. ,

If a door rattles when there.is a wind, cure it in this way. .Cut a slice from a sound cork and fix to the door frame with a long tin tack. Place low down or high up where it will be unnoticed and colour to match ■ woodwork. The cork having a certain amount of resiliency is effective in stopping the rattle.

STRAY NOTES

The English Hearth The English hearth has always been the centre of the general life of the home. It has been the inspiration of poets and romantic writers, and to Englishmen the world over, from childhood days, it has possessed a certain sacred symbolism, says a writer in an ovreseas journal. Viewed historically, its development traces the growth of civilisation through several centuries.

The fireplace at first consisted of mere kindlings of wood that were flung down on a central stone slab, the smoke finding its way out through a hole in the roof. The smoked and blackened beams in many country mansions still tell of blazing fires once customary in the centre, of a large hall. Slits made in the external walls to facilitate the egress of. the smoke led to the fires being made adjacent to the wall, and later crude attempts at chimney flues seem to have been made. Soon the chimney built into the wall had its chimneypiece, just merely a simple hood built upon corbels, and it became the gathering place of the family. The recessed chimney-corner was the outcome of our ancestors’ desire to escape from the draughts, and for added privacy. These were huge openings in which several persons could sit before blazing logs placed horizontally, which cheerfully crackled and threw weirdly dancing shadows into the recesses of the room.

In the chimney opening there was often contrived a secret hiding-place, to be reached only by a ladder. Oldcoine and Garnet were concealed in one of these secret rooms after the Gunpowder Plot. It was one thing to inhale the not unpleasant fumes of burning wood, but quite another to inhale that of gases thrown, off by coal smoke; so about the middle of Charles I’s reign, when coal was in common use in seaboard towns, further modi? (Rations of the English’ fireplace were brought about. A narrow-flue and smaller chimney opening became necessary, and the old cresset and basket gradually gave place to the new shapes of the gratemaker.

The abolition of the chimney or hearth tax in 1689 led to chimueys being built in poorer houses, and with the chimuey came the mantelshelf.

From the Tudor period ownard the, decorative possibilities of the fireside were fully appreciated, and found expression in huge carved mantelpieces of lavish design and enormous height, sometimes reaching to 12ft. and 14ft. In modern homes, with the present taste for furnishing in the Jacobean style, much can be done to recapture the atmosphere and setting of the old fireplace. An oak panelled scheme to form a wallcovering at the side of the mantel, aijd from the mantelshelf to the picture-rail, will be effective. This one feature, easily made, or procured quite cheaply, is an immense stride in the transformation of a room. With this should be the raised hearth and the wrought iron firedogs. Copies of old models of these firedogs, and even back-irons, are quite inexpensive. The log fire heated by electricity is specially designed to capture.this spirit of past times, and is not less beautiful because it is modern and labour-saving. In a dining-room or living-room suitably furnished this panelled effect over the fireplace, in conjunction with the plain grey marbled mantels now so much in demand, will be found entirely successful.

» IS IT INSULATED?

Revolution in Building 1 Visitors from older countries have frequently declared that New Zealanders do not know how to build homes for comfort. Their complaint was that homes hi the Dominion were built for one season only, with the result that they were too cold in winter and too hot in summer. It will come as pleasing news, therefore, to hear that this defect is to be remedied, and that in future householders in the Dominion are to enjoy the advantages which the people of older countries have long been blessed with. In England, the Continent, America, Canada, and Australia for some time past, insulation has been used with excellent results in planning modern homes. Architects will tell you that approximately 60 per cent, of the heat generated within an insulated home is lost by conduction and radiation through the walls and roofs. Of this loss it is estimated that 65 per cent, passes through the roof, and the remaining 35 per cent, through the walls and other points of escape. The use of an efficient insulating medium largely prevents this heat loss, considerably reduces heating costs, and makes homes much more comfortable during the winter months. It is not at all surprising that insulation is now being given in New Zealand the attention which it deserves, as it makes for economy in building costs, substantial reduction in heating costs during the winter months, and the maintenance of a cool indoor temperature in summer. The insulating properties in any material are determined and calculated in terms of British thermal units, per hour, per square foot per degree Fahrenlieit, per inch of thickness, and it is on this basis that comparisons must be made in order to determine the most suitable insulating medium. The new system can be introduced in renovating and remodelling existing buildings, and it should not be long before houses in New Zealand possess that true comfort, which marks the dwelling-houses of older lands.

Colouring Brickwork Writing in the “Illustrated Carpenter and Builder,” Mr. W. P. Derby gives some useful hints on the colouring of brickwork : —The painting or distempering style of brick colouration is never a good job. It is too flat and looks too much like what it really is. To make a good job of brick colouring one requires to use stains, and before they are effective to produce decent variegated colours it is usually necessary to get some soluble lime into the brick. Dissolve some lime into acetic acid or strong vinegar, and when no more will dissolve spray or wash the solution on the old bricks, then when it has dried in follow with a solution, of copperas in water, about one part to thirty of water. In some hours, when it has all dried, it will be found that a red oxide of iron will have become fixed to the brick pores and surface, while it will be patchy or variegated because of the extra porosity of some parts as compared with others. The effect producable by this method is very much better than by the use of ochres, oxides, and paint vehicles, and, moreover, these are permanent stains. A range of yellows and reds can be had or made by the use of Ferric chloride and Ferric sulphate (or copperas) in various percentages of solution, and on surfaces that have been treated with varying strengths of the lime vinegar solution above mentioned.

SUMMARY OF TENDERS

CLOSING DURING THE PERIOD JAN. 27 TO FEB. 10.

Town Hall.—-Tenders erection memorial arch. Close 3.30 p in , February 2. Gummer and Ford, c/o 217 Lambton Quay.—Tenders demolition of old gaol building and erection of memorial carillon tower. Close 12 noon, February 2. P.W.D.—Tenders supply transformers and lightining arresters. Close 4 p.m. February 3. Masterton County Council. —Tenders construction of timber bridge. Close noon, February 5 . N.Z. Government Railways.—Tenders construction 117 ft. steel truss bridge. Close noon, February 9.