Novel Decorative Touches

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21758, 24 March 1934, Page 6 (Supplement)

Novel Decorative Touches

In the modern room a single painted panel or plaque set into the wall above the fireplace is very attractive. A piece of tapestry, or a panel of bright embroidery carried out in gay wools to match your scheme, would also be very effective. Posters bought from the railway companies are often just, the right thing to hang over a mantelpiece. They can either be hung as they are, or given a simple frame of dark wood. Silhouettes, too, if you are lucky

enough to possess any, look outstanding hung over a fireplace. In- a white or off-white room they are particularly impressive. In these! days of small flats and houses and consequent lack of cupboard space, the mantelpiece ■ suggests a place where everyday npcessities may be conveniently stored. In a maidless home, for example, a small tea caddy—quits' decorative, of course —cot:Jd be kept on the bedroom mantelpiece. A pottery jar, provided it were airtight, could also be used. With a small spirit Tamp, electric heater or gas ring it would be. a simple matter to make

IDEAS FOR THE FIREPLACE j

early morning tea, especially if the sugar were kept on the mantelpiece also. This idea might well be adopted by those who occupy a very small flat. "Books are always a splendid ally in making a house look home-like, but their arrangement is sometimes a problem. For a few shillings you can get a local carpenter to fix some shelves over your mantelpiece, and paint or stain them to correspond with the rest of the woodwork in the room. Your

hooks can look very well in such a setting, and will take up no valuable floor space. The simplest scheme is in many cases the best, though it is not always the easiest to achieve. A brass bowl filled with copper beech leaves balanced with a vase or another bowl looks far better than a shelf crowded with ornaments, however valuable they may be, or for whatever reasons you may wish them to bo displayed. If you possess several vases or figurines, make up your mind to show only a few at a time. This is an old maxim, but it will lift your mantelpiece to notice.