Decoration of the Home

Evening Star, Issue 22308, 7 April 1936, Page 2

Decoration of the Home

Planning the Soft Furnishings

After walls and ceilings come curtains, carpets, and coverings in the planning of the harmonious home. Pour typical rooms are here analysed by Maurice Yates.

The foundation of all decorative schemes, the walls and ceilings, wore discussed in an article a few months ago. The soft furnishings, beginning with the carpet, which forms the base of the room as a whole, are now dealt with. . . There are three ways in which the floor may be covered —by a fitted carpet of plain design, by one large carpet leaving a margin round the walls, or by rugs only, the last method depending upon the condition of the floor. In an old house in which the floors are not in very good repair, a fitted carpet is to be recommended, as the possibly unsightly boards are then completely .concealed. Lucky owners of Oriental rugs can use them on-a poor floor if it is first covered with a fitted felt or an inexpensive plain carpet, the latter being preferable to a better quality, ns it has a shorter pile, which' tends to hold the rugs in position and to prevent any nicking.' THE DRAWING ROOM.

For the settee and chair coverings for this room, choose the same material as the curtains. If something more substantial is preferred, a plain material in a deep green could be chosen, and piped or fringed with the red of the curtains, but a pattern which is very different from that of the curtain material should certainly be avoided. The cushions, of course, can be of any colour which harmonises with the whole scheme. An alternative to this arrangement would be to use a printed or handblocked linen which are obtainable with designs ranging from the Elizabethan to the.ultra-modern. Select both curtains and covers of the same material, and trimmings, if any, should be in a contrasting colour. Instead of pelmets, fairly deep pleated or gathered frills could be used, a simpler treatment which looks well. For the linen or heavy cretonne, choose one with a buff or fawn background, or one of ft colour which agrees witli the green walls, such as brown or wine colour. THE DINING ROfrM. Graining has been suggested for the dining room walls, and therefore brown is the- predominating colour in this room. In order to give it life, choose green curtains and a green carpet, loose rug being unsuitable for a dining room. If for superstitious reasons green is not popular, then a warm tone of blue could be used instead.

The drawing room discussed in the previous article had green walls and ceiling. To go with these, a plain, fitted carpet 4 in a pleasant tobaccobrown shade is suggested—one which has a lot of light in it and is yet not too pale in colour, to form a good base for the room. Such a carpet would serve either as a complete floor covering by itself or as a suitable background for rugs. Curtains of an old wine colour would be of great advantage to this room, or they could be of deep red. There are nfliny good designs carried out in damask or even brocatelle, which look very well and are reasonably priced. The pattern should not bb too - large, and not, bn the .other, smallone which, .ih,repe,sedjeve^ ’ twenty-four inches will ' b^' found ; suitable for most rooms. Interlining gives a richer appearance to curtains, and also adds to their life. The use of pelmets in some form is advocated, for they increase the decorative appearance of a room by almost 50 per cent. They can be installed at very small cost, and are easy to make at home. A pelmet in nii average room should have a depth of about 12 inches, and if the selected design has drops at the ends, these flrops should increase the depth slightly at these points. ■ Once the shape has been decided bn it can be cut out of buckram, lined, covered _ with the material, and pos- • sibly finished off with, braid. For fixing the pelmet all that is necessary is a large lath, running horizontally and supported on two brackets, so fixed that the lath projects about four inches from the window frame. A rod with rings or an. efficient curtain nmner or “ railway ” is also needed. To-day these fittmgs cost very little, and are available ’ ™ different weights to suit light and heavy curtains.

The material for the curtains could again be either brocatelle, damask, or one of the many excellent fancy weaves of artificial silks in self-colour which can be purchased economically to-day. If a plain colour is used the trimmings should be of a contrasting colour, and red would give a..very warm touch to the room, and could be used for chair■c6vferings' ’ - also, while gold trimmings would be very effective. Damasks are produced in patterns which lend themselves very well to chair coverings, and there are many Italian designs from which one motif may be picked out for the seat of each chair. THE PRINCIPAL BEDROOM. Here the walls were to bo covered with chintz, although a chintzpatterned wallpaper would produce a similar effect. If the pattern chosen was light and airy a soft shade of rose would be attractive for the carpet. The prettiest way of dealing with the curtains would be to have them' made of the same chintz as that which covers the walls, lined and edged with a plain colour which predominates in the chintz. For the bedspreads and chair coverings choose a plain material, so that it will not detract from the chintz-covered Walls and curtains. Moire—which can be bought quite reasonably now—in the same colour which was used for edging the curtains, would bo most attractive. The bed should have a bed-

spread and bed base covering to the floor, which can be either box pleated or treated as if they were a pelmet, with just enough shaping to give interest. Piping or fringe used lo finish the bed and chair coverings should bp of the same shade as the carpet. For cushion covers use some of the curtain material or plain glazed linen in one of the outstanding colours in the chintz. If this scheme is followed the room will bo very charming and extravagant looking at a very reasonable cost, and will be a pleasant place in which to spend any resting hours. An alternative suggestion which will reduce the amount of patterned fabric in the room, would he to have the curtains of striped material, or the pelmet and the curtains might contrast, the colour of the one being used for any trimmings on the other. Another way of making a change in a colour scheme is to choose materials in two or three colours that tone with the room, and join them together in broad stripes almost like a barker’s pole, making covers, curtains, and bedspread from the resulting material. The effect is definitely .gay. THE SMALL BEDROOM OR GUEST ROOM. If a new carpet has to be bought for this room, it should be a perfectly plain one to match the colour of the wall-

pamper background. The material selected for the curtains should also bo used for the bed coverings and a design to match the wallpaper would be most effective; chintz with spots or a fleur-de-lis _ design, similar to wallpaper, is not difficult to obtain. Failing this, it is better to have some perfectly plain material of interesting texture in the same colour as the rest of the x-oom. An alternative material for curtains and bedspreads would be one of the rather heavier muslins, some of which, with, designs worked on them, can be bought very cheaply. The curtains should be somewhat full, with a frilled pelmet, and tied up with large rosettes —rather in tho fashion of our grandmothers’ day If a blind is required to keep out the light, it could be made either of chintz or in some pale colour to harmonise with the room. The muslin for the bed coverings should be lined with a plain material, the bed base cover being flounced and the bedspread trimmed with frills. This forms an inexpensive and very delightful way of treating an occasional room or a bedroom for a young girl.