Bright Rooms Make Sweet' Tempers.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 73

Bright Rooms Make Sweet' Tempers.

We are only beginning to realise that the colour of wallpapers and draperies affects the temper, and consequently the health, of the people who live with them to a very marked degree. j No one jrants a gloomy room, but what i to do with such a room is a problem that | has bothered more than one of us. I Light,* cheerful colours may not be economical so far as wear goes, bat from a j health point of view they are marvellously so, and pretty rooms do undoubtedly save iwany -doctors* bills. { It is not so much the light that we need as the sunshine, and when this cannot be had we must made it, or, rather, get the effect of it. For real cheerfulness there is no colour like a warm yellow for a room on the ' shady side of the house ; while a rose-pink 'or sa^e-green one is simply lovely, and 1 there is a delicate charm and purity about » room hung and furnished in pale blue ° and cream. Now that paperhangings ace so artistic and cheap, it is surely a mark j of wisdom to select only such as are cheerI ful, even if they do not last clean as long as those of a dingy tone would. | Not only should we have yellow on the , walls of e^ery sunless room, but also on j the ceiling for the sake of the reflection. . A pretty treatment is to have a light ! yellow on the walls as far as the picture moulding, and a lighter shade above this and on the ceiling. Then yellow silk 6ash curtains, pulled back, tend to make a room sunny. j The impoitance of brass in a sunless A room canuot be ico strongly emphasised.

A large jardiniere with a plant in it placed in a dark corner will lighten up most marvellously. Brass fireirons too, will give a cheery reflection ; ev*n candlesticks help, and little trays and bowls. In selecting flower-jars one should choose plain forms and subdued colours with simple decorations. Simple ones may be used to advantage -with a greater variety of flowers. A plain dark green bowl is excellent for yellow roses, and there are some very artistic effects in Japanese holders. When glass is desired, white is said to be much better for flowers than coloured.