THE BACHELOR GIRL

Evening Star, Issue 23298, 21 June 1939, Page 15

THE BACHELOR GIRL

CHOICE OF A HOME Choice of a home for tho woman who lives alone is becoming more varied. There are complete Hats containing separate bed and sitting rooms, kitchen, and bathroom, one-room alcove Hats in specially-designed blocks, and one-room service fiats. For the busy woman of limited meqns the bed-sitting room with bathroom and kitchenette is the best choice. For in one room can be gathered all tho furniture necessary for comfortable living to-day at a lower cost than would furnish a separate bedroom and sitting room. There is no question but that plain surfaces are best for a background. Plain ceiling, plain walls without picture rails or mouldings, and flush doors —all these can he secured with the help of plywood, which can be used for box-ing-in unwanted ornamentation. A light-coloured distemper or good paint is best for walls and ceiling, and the woodwork should be painted to match, for tho aim of the one-room tenant must be to make her home appear as large and light as possible. The carpet, too, should be plain and fitted to the skirting. Nor should, it introduce a colour contrasting vividly -with walls and -woodwork. -A • divan bed, with a well-tailored cover, will solve the question of sleeping accommodation, and covered with cushions will be a useful seat during the day. Builtin cupboards or whitewood cupboards painted to accord with the rest of the woodwork will accommodate clothes and linen, and a dressing table can masquerade as a desk, with a mirror fitted to the inside lid of a centre compartment. . .

Furniture must be kept to a minimum in such a home, as an overcrowded room is anything but restful. Ornaments and accessories must be ruthlessly ruled out. Except for those who own really lovely period furniture, simple pieces designed for present-day living arc the best choice. As regards loose covers, one of the excellent cloths made of jute, or a mixture of jute and cotton or jute and linen, is hard-wear-ing vet pleasant to live with. Silks and art.'satins will not stand up so well to the hard wear of a dual-purpose room. ' , Design can be introduced by way ot curtains and cushions. Jsavy, now coming to, the fore as a decorating colour, could be introduced with good effect. Against walls and woodwork painted stone colour the upholstery could be of a rough stoue-colourod material striped iu navy,.and tho cuitains of linen matching tho walls, with a deskm in red and navy. The cushions could combine the three colours, and a stone-coloured carpet hold the room in a harmonious whole.