ARTISTIC HOMES

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 28 May 1932, Page 13

ARTISTIC HOMES

BRIGHT COLOURS POPULAR. - DISREGARD FOR CONVENTION. Because you do not happen to bo well off there is not tne slightest reason why your homes should not be artistic. Asa rule the results which are the outcome of this work do not cost so very much, and it is by no means, synonymous with expense. Tho artistic . eye will be able to plan out delightful little colour schemes, and clover lingers will put them into execution. There is not the slightest reason to be conventional, and just now, as there is a range fo,r colour, you can substitute all kinds of things for the usual materials, such as having your window curtains made of cotton dress fabrics, or using rather stiff cretonne for your window shades instead of the usual blind linen. I have seen these shades, and must admit that they looked remarkably pretty. Y-ou must, however, take into consideration the kind of shutters which you have to your various windows, because, in the absence of ithem it is usually necessary to hang dark green or dark blue to endeavour to exclude some of the glare of the sun. Where you have long doors of the Riverside order, opening on a verandah or balcony, you are often exercised concerning tho curtain arrangement, the continual opening of the door generally spoiling .the top of the material. Now you can obviate this by buying swing-out-and-in-rods—the kind of things which arc usually to be seen in shop windows for the display of goods, and which aro generally purchasable from those firms which make a speciality of shop fittings. Instead of the rod being solid and rigid across the top of the doors, you must imagine the rod cut in halves, and finished at the centre with little knobs, the other ends being bent over at right angles, and slipped into sockets screwed on for the purpose. Make a double hem at the top of the curtain, slip over the rod from the opposite end to t-fie knob, and then place into position As the door opens tho rod will swing with it outwards, and you will not have to complain any more about torn curtain tops. When you shut the door all you will have to do will be to swing tho curtains back into position, and everything is complete. I have been into several homes lately where there were no pictures on the living-room walls, and they seemed to mo to be a little bare and unfurnished. But a.t tho same time it is' the greatest mistake to crowd in too' much, and a few medium-sized pictures here and there, or a few smaller ones grouped together, are generally considered an improvement. But I really think it best to eliminate all family portraits from the living-room, and to confine these strictly to the more intimate apartments. After a little while portraits become terribly old-fashioned, and they are, as a rule, of not the slightest interest to anyone hut the owner. If they are unfjramed the mounts soon become soiled, no matter how careful you are, and on hot days they curl up at the edges and so spoil. Have you ever thought of the idea of using passe-partout binding? This is most effective, and is not at all expensive.

The passe-partout (which literally means pass over everything) may be had in all colours, and is inch-wide strong paper gummed on one side. It usually costs from sixpence a roll, and a roll will go a long way. For each picture you will need a piece of glass to fit (and it is best not to attempt anything on the very large size), a piece of cardboard the same size for the back, and some kind of ring if you intend to hang the picture Photographs and small landscapes all look best without any mount at all, and framed close up. Attach the ring into position at the back of the piece of cardboard, then place the picture on top, and the -glass on the top of this, and hold into position with some clips. Unfasten the end of the binding, and unwinding to the length of about three-quarters of a yard, double the twm edges towards each other, and crease firmly so that the strip forms a double binding with the gummed portion inside. Then, having arranged everything in. its proper order, proceed to bind the picture, commencing at the right-hand bottom corner. Measure the binding against the side of the picture, and moisten the part of it which has to be attached to the glass side for a distance of an inch or two beyond the first corner to be turned. Press this length in place evenly against the surface of the glass about one-third of an inch in, so that it makes a straight bordering. Fold it with great care into a neat mitre at the corner, and then run the front part of the binding along the top, dowm the left-hand side, and finally across the bottom, removing the clips as you proceed. Scissors will be needed to cut the end of the binding slantwise where the Binding finishes off. Now turn the picture'on its face, and moistening the other half of the passepartout, press into position.