CHANGES AT NO. 10

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23504, 19 May 1938, Page 19

CHANGES AT NO. 10

MRS CHAMBERLAIN'S ART HER NEW DECORATIONS (From Our Own Correspondent) (By Air Mail) LONDON, Apl. 20. Visitors to No. 10 Downing street who knew the house in the days of former Prime Ministers will hardly recognise it when they see the alterations and improvements effected by Mrs Neville Chamberlain in recent months. Mr and Mrs Chamberlain have been living next door at No. 11, but shortly before leaving for her Easter vacation at Chequers, Mrs Chamberlain toured the whole of No.

10 with her secretary to" give instructions for the final moving-in, so the Prime Minister's official residence should be quite ready for them when they return to London. Mrs Chamberlain is very fond of gay colours and modernistic schemes, and has taken a personal and active interest in the redecoration, which has been in progress ever since Lord' and Lady Baldwin moved to Eaton Square. The famous staircase with the fine "leaf" ironwork balustrade has been cleaned and the walls repainted, but the portraits of the many dead Prime Ministers (and two living ones) have been replaced. The staircase has been widened and a lift installed. The reception rooms have not been drastically changed, although they now occupy a little more space on the .first floor. THE PRIME MINISTER'S DRAWING ROOM In Mr Chamberlain's private draw-ing-room there is a three-piece suite covered in plain beige material, and ranged round the walls are ■* four straight chairs with seats covered in

the same stuff. There are small tables with white china rose-decorated cigarette boxes (containing Turkish cigarettes). Under one window stands a glass-topped writing desk.

The carpet is dark green, and the hanging light has three pink glass shades. -A corner oak standard lamp has a yellow shade with green leaves. The room is heated by new cream radiators and a chromium-plated electric stove let into the fireplace. The new wallpaper here is like the one they have chosen for the Cabinet Room on the ground floor, cream embossed with an acorn and oak leaf design Mr Chamberlain has picked the same oak leaf and acorn wallpaper for his study. One wall is covered by a new bookcase of light, unpolished wood. Between the windows stands a writingdesk in the same wood. There is a small table to match the two upright chairs with cream leather seats A

china coffee set is arranged in a glassfronted corner cupboard. The room is lit by a hanging glass bowl with three lamps inside it, and there is a lamp on the desk.

Here again are a chromium-plated electric stove and cream radiators. The floor is covered with a beige carpet. (Everything is designed to be very light and clean-looking. The bedroom story has been changed by rearrangement of partitions, some of which have been taken down to make the Prime Minister's suit selfcontained. A note of interest is that No. 10's brass bedsteads have survived all Mrs Chamberlain's replanning, so the Premier will continue to sleep in a brass-knobbed bed.

Concealed mirrors are a striking feature of Mr Chamberlain's bedroom, which overlooks Horse Guards' Parade. The walls are covered with a whitish paper criss-crossed with silver. Double doors, about five feet by six feet, are covered 1 with the paper, too. Mr Chamberlain has only to pull them open by two small white glass # knobs and three plate-glass mirrors light up automatically. Two of these mirrors are inside the doors he has opened. The other faces him in the wall. ■ On a little cream-painted table at the bedside he has a green telephone, a lamp with a yellow silk shade, and a silver cigarette box. He has a green' all-over carpet. The furniture is cream painted and includes dressing table (with dark wood-backed brushes upon it), desk and wardrobe. • The woodwork of doors and ; windows is painted cream. A chromium-plated electic stove has been set into the fireplace, and cream-painted radiators under the windows. Mr Chamberlain's jnew bathroom leads out of his bedroom. It has the latest kind of bathroom floor in black and white checked rubber, and the walls are cream. A DOWNING STREET' VIEW Mrs Chamberlain's bedroom overlooks Downing street, and is simply furnished with a green all-over carpet, cream furniture and a brass bedstead like her husband's. She has a plate--'iass top to her dressing, table (which has white-knobbed drawers underneath), and her brushes are silverbacked. Her bedside telephone is ivory-coloured. Her bedside table has a glass-shaded lamp, and there is a hanging light over her dressing table with a shade to match. The wallpaper is pale yellow, with a silver star pattern. Much has been done to increase the comfort of the house; the central heating system has been improved, and more electric points have been fitted. The kitchens, which are semi-base-ment, have occupied much of Mrs Chamberlain's attention. Various labour-saving arrangements have been made, ovens have been improved, and new cream paint gives a pleasing light Both the Prime Minister .and Mrs Chamberlain are keen gardeners, and the grounds have also been brightened and brought up to date. There is a rumoured possibility mat Mr and Mrs Chamberlain may entertain royal guests in the near future, and there are sure to be some grand " house-warming " parties.