BRIGHTER HUES IN FURNISHING

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 278, 19 August 1932, Page 6

BRIGHTER HUES IN FURNISHING

How Colour Can Transform Drab Interiors : A TONIC EFFECT OF CHEERFULNESS ■ ? . ’ Modern furnishing schemes demand colour, fresh it not vivid, gay though not necessarily riotous. A bright colour scheme not only alters completely the atmosphere of a room but has. a i tonic effect on its occupants—an effect greatly to be desired in 1 depressed times. . . Spring, with its longer, warmer days is not far ahead and the .time 1 is at hand to plan interior renovations. When carried • out in conjunction with spring cleaning they result in a transformation that is worth the extra trouble and more than repays for the added outlay.

B' 1 T is a pity invariably to go on living with one's mistakes in colouring after they have been recognised. The effect, if not actually depressing, tends to produce a sense of dissatisfaction with one’s home and the many excellent things it may contain. Often choice materials and admirable pieces of furniture lose value in the eyes of their owners because they are poorly displayed or dressed. For example, a rug placed against an unsuitable background of flooring may appear dowdy, and, in time, be relegated to a room of lesser importance. Had it been placed originally in Its right setting with a richly contrasting border, it might have reigned for a decade as one of the show pieces of the home. The importance, usefulness, and

moderate cost of soft furnishings for use in toning-up or transforming a room cannot be over-estimated. Discussing the latest materials and their prices an English decorator says:— Too Costly to Change. ’“Furniture is too costly to keep chopping and changing. But things like cushions that one can re-cover oneself, when the materials can be so reasonably bought? I think artificial silk has done more to bring brightness within the reach of every home than any one other invention. It is obtainable in such marvellous colours — and they are fast, too. “The thing to remember when embarking on a colour scheme is that even the smallest touches help, particularly at the start. When you have your deep rose, or apple-green, or corn-col-oured curtains and chair covers, it doesn’t so much' matter about one small sofa cushion. But when you haven’t accomplished your curtains and chair-covers it matters very much. “The great thing is to pick up remnants of costly brocades (or of far less costly artificial silks) greatly reduced because, from an upholsterer’s point of view, they are too small to do anything with. Never bo afraid of buying an odd length provided it fits in with your general colour tone. If you have enough of the material, cover two or three cushions with it entirely. If you haven’t enough, cover them on one side

with it, and on the other with something entirely different, but harmonising. Then you have two sets of cushions simply by turning them over. Good Colour and Material. “Coming to the question of curtains, I always think that not only a good colour, but a good material pays. Curtains are the most conspicuous things in many a room. Often it takes its whole tone and atmosphere from them. And yet people will spend a lot on furniture and then try to fob their windows oft with any old thing. Good or bad, though, a warm bright colour does wonders for the darkest, ugliest room. And the uglier it is, obviously the more trouble one should take to make a room beautiful —instead of the less as usually happens. “Rugs, of course, must be with care. People are so apt'to treat

their floors casually, and yet they are as important to the ensemble of a room as shoes to a man or woman. “Here Is something I learned about keeping your easy chairs fresh, even when, you have thejn upholstered in light colours, even when you have them slip-covered in a black shadow cloth with an all-over design in rose, violet, blue, and gold. It may serve to overcome the economical objections of the most earnest devotee of green velvet. It is to have a hood made for the back of yoiir easy chair out of the same material it is covered in. And a little pair of what.one might call ‘elbow sleeves’ for the arms. These three places get most wear and most soiled in any chair. Your hood and sleeves protect them from both, and they slip off and go cheaply to the cleaners by themselves, whenever the cleaner’s attentions are necessary. Other Hoods and Sleeves. “Of course; if you don’t have them made when the covering of the chairs is fairly new, they show too badly to add later. But there is a way of dealing with the old worn chair that falls under my brightening-by-smalD touches scheme. . . It is to make the hood and sleeves of coarse linen—ecru colour—and embroider them in vivid contrasting shades. Good patterns for embroideries, from the simplest to the most complicated, are always obtainable.'