NEW ROOMS FOR OLD

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 47, Issue 2664, 1 September 1937, Page 2

NEW ROOMS FOR OLD

HOUSEKEEPING HINTS CHEAP FURNISHING IDEAS. The idea of furnishing a new room in the house hangs rather’ heavily on many spirits, for even the cheapest furniture is rather an item. Yet a time often comes when, in the event of the eldest child needing a room of his or her own, or of some relation planning a trip to town, such a thing becomes necessary. As a matter of fact, declares Georgia Rivers in the August Australian Journal, a little planning and ingenuity will give you a charming room for next door to nothing.

Commencing with the floor, this can, if you wish, be painted in a shade to match the predominating colour in the cretonne furnishings, and almost’ any member of the family, except the tiny ones, can be pressed into this service, as growing children love painting and can manage such work quite well.

If you prefer a polish, sandpaper the floor first, then stain, then wax. Do not varnish, as this is a riskier experiment, and sometimes gives a very hard shine. Do not be worried if the first waxing does not have much effect. After a few weeks you will obtain a good, soft gloss. Plain wool reversible rugs, washable, and very serviceable, can be bought cheaply. Cotton rugs are much warmer than they sound, and a couple flung across the floor give it a gay and comfortable finish.

If you want to cover with feltex from wall to wall, this is not a very costly matter if the room is fairly small.

A charming little dressing table can be made with a piece of three-ply wood, which you can buy from any carpenter. Fasten this to the wall with two brackets, gather a skirt of cretonne, and attach round the edge with either brass or coloured drawingpins. The coloured pins cost about a penny the half-dozen. The recess formed by the cretonne serves as a shoe cupboard, and above the shelf can be hung a mirror. There is often a spare mirror in the house; if not, it can be purchased quite cheaply. In many cases the top of the shelf is covered with chintz stretched firmly across. If you want something more elaborate, ask the glazier to cut you a piece of glass to exactly fit the top of the table, and fasten this over the stretched cretonne with little brass clips, which can be bought at the ironmongers for very small cost.

If you have an old iron bedstead with one of those oval tops, you can get a very pretty Empire effect by making a cover for this top out of molleton cloth and cretonne. Cut two pieces of each material the shape of the top and stretch firmly over. Where the visible side is concerned, outline the flowers on the cretonne on the machine. This embossed effect will add greatly to the appearance. If the bed has iron rails at the top, have these sawn off flush with the mattress, and the same applies to iron

rails at the bottom. Cover the sawnoff ends with little caps of material tied on firmly to prevent rasped fingers when making the bed.

The latter process will give you a divan bed, which can be covered with cretonne to match that on the dressing table; a flat piece for the top, and a slight gather, allow, say, one and a half, to make the skirt. When attaching the skirt to the top make a little heading. The same applies to the quilt on the Empire bed, except that the gathering, of course, only goes round the three sides. Little cushion covers of the cretonne slipped over the pillows finish off the bed attractively.

If you prefer a large throw-over cover, which also covers the pillows for the Eihpire bed, you can make a very warm and pretty one by lining the cretonne with the same molleton cloth mentioned above. If this is a child’s room, why not make a little desk? Most children, even if not fond of study, love a table of their own set out with a blotter, pen, inkwell, and tiny tray of clips and pins, and it, also, costs little time or money.

There may be a small spare table in. the house; if not, buy another piece of three-ply and fasten it to the wall, covering it with cretonne to match the rest of the room. Skeleton corner wardrobes can be covered with the cretonne on two sides, the back and one side being formed by the angles of the wall. If it is a light room, make cretonne curtains; if not, run up some muslin ones, with a little cretonne valance. Very often there is a little old chair in the house —a left-over from a former suite —upholstered in faded tapestry. A quarter of a yard of cretonne and a few minutes time turns this into a new and handy article.