THE SPARE ROOM

Southland Times, Issue 22969, 15 August 1936, Page 16

THE SPARE ROOM

Make Use of It What a charming little den could be made of that small spare room, so often neglected or filled with boxes —things which could be concealed without taking up an entire room. And it could be done so cheaply, too. Here are three suggestions for changing the entire nature of the room simply with the wall decorations. A Study. The husband with reading and writing to do in the evenings would appreciate its beiug turned into a study. Furnishings: An armchair, a bookshelf, an electric stove, a writing desk and rugs on a stained floor. Decorations: Choose quiet, warm colours —beige and brown. “Wood” papered walls suggest a study immediately. Either mahogany, silky oak, or stripped pine look equally opulent, yet cosy. Those “leather’ papers are suitably masculine, too. Sitting Room.

For those who would like another sitting-room—perhaps for bridge or cocktail parties. Furnishings: A fitted bench, covered with cretonne or tweed fabric, running round one or more walls provides plenty of seating accommodation using the minimum of space. Bright cushions, subdued lighting, and wellarranged flowers will help towards an “inviting” atmosphere. Alternatively, a divan would be useful for putting up unexpected friends. Decoration: Try an unusual contrast scheme —tomato and black; green and mauve; mauve and pale blue. An abstract designed paper with a gold fleck in it would look well. Many of the newest papers have gold in the designs, giving an appearance of warmth and brightness. A paper that deepens in shade, made in a variety of colours, from the ceiling to the skirting would help to make the room seem larger. Bedroom. Furnishings: A gay, cretonne-cov-ered bed; a dressing-table with plenty of drawer space and a cretonne “skirt and some cretonne on a cord drawn across one corner would make a good substitute for a wardrobe. Decoration : Preferably of the cottage type. Papers with rosebuds—fashionable again—trellises, or a chintz effect on the walls. A beautiful reprot’action of a Persian paper or a tapestry designed paper would look charming, too. Or you might really let yourself go over the decorations, and try something experimental. Your guest- will probably welcome a change from the conventional. For example, you might have the band-box type of room, a “cretonne” wallpaper, perhaps, matching the cretonne hangings—the French idea. Or, as suggested by Mr Edward Bawden, an instructor at the Royal College of Art and an occasional designer of wallpapers, you might even have the ceiling papered in this way, too. This designer has tried the scheme himself, and says it gives a room a very cosy and intimate appearance. Another original idea of his is to have the border running round the middle of the walls instead of round the top. Tonic Scheme. One of the newest schemes is to have the room papered in the usual way, with a chevron-designed panel behind the bed, reminiscent of a bed-head. Mr Bawden goes one better. Why not, he says, have a strip of the chevron paper on the ceiling over the bed, giving the effect of a four-poster? But, of course, there is no need to go to such extremes to be original! With all the hundreds of new and varied wall-paper designs to choose from, it should not be difficult to make that spare room a tonic for jaded guests.