ALL-WHITE ROOM

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 4, 29 September 1933, Page 4

ALL-WHITE ROOM

Growing Popularity in English Homes

HOW TO ACHIEVE ONE

(Special to “The Dominion.”)

London, August 5.

The “all-white” scheme of furnishing, for some time the favourite of the exclusive interior decorator, is becoming popular with every woman. This is partly because the manufacturers have recently brought out many beautiful fabrics in off-white shades, and partly because people are realising that the natural unstained woods which many of them have in their homes are seen to great advantage in white settings. In the strictly all-white room the furniture should be of bleached wood. But for general use weathered oak and unpolished walnut are most successful; for “all-white” does not mean the chilly severity one associates with bathrooms and dairies. The whole success of the scheme depends on the blending of various shades—string-colour, oyster, deep cream, palest biscuit —and on the choice of fabrics with an interesting weave of texture. Light, but Serviceable. “Up to now one of the chief difficulties has been to find carpets light enough in colour and yet serviceable,” writes Dodie Smith, author of the play “Autumn Crocus”—and an expert on interior decoration. “But some very beautiful ones are now available. Some are handtufted, and I saw recently a rug of natural sheepskin in

which deep cream and pale fawn skins had heen combined in a shield pattern, so perfectly joined that it looked like one skin. The surface was deep and soft, and never since childhood have I had such a desire to roll! “The Polar bear has also staged a come-back, preferably as a rug—and without the mask, over' which, sooner or later, someone with a tray of cocktails would take a,header. t “Anyone with ail empty room and a free hand can have the time of her life with an all-white scheme. But it is perfectly practicable to adapt it to existing possessions, provided, the wooden furniture is of some suitable blonde shade. “New curtains and loose covers will alter the whole room. And loose covers should be the reverse of loose I Goiie are days of frilled cretonnes, so sloppy that one could hardly see the outline of the chair beneath. Modern loose covers might almost be described as “man-tailored,” and any piece of furniture can be fitted. Even a grand piano can make a summer appearance faultlessly attired in white linen. Happiest of All Tones. “Let anyone who thinks that an ailwhite room sounds chilly or depressing remember that women and children look loveliest in white frocks, and that it is the happiest of all tones. “But do not let any friend persuade you that one "splash of colour’’ will improve things. It will not. The essence of the scheme is its restful neutrality, of which one ,does not tire. It is one of the few ways of making a room cheerful and completely restful at the same time. ■ “I have this year been extremely interested in the developments of steel furniture, which is no longer limited to the tubular kind, practical and popular as that remains. Metal is now being applied in bands and strips to wood. The designers seem to have a gift for thinking of small pieces of furniture which till long-felt wants. A perfect tea-table, low, oblong, has a lower shelf for cakes. The legs are oval, chromium-plated, and the whole effect is most graceful."