AN ALL-WOOD AGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 669, 22 May 1929, Page 15

AN ALL-WOOD AGE

TABLE SETS IN ROUGH OAK

The modern tendency in the matter of minor furnishing accessories is to introduce wood wherever possible. Brass and iron bedsteads have already been superseded by the wooden bed, which is less hygienic, perhaps, but certainly more pleasing to the eye. Table accessories are following suit, and the cruet set, formerly either of silver or china, is now made in the ; form of wooden tubs or kegs, fitted 1 with glass linings and accompanied by I horn spoons. Unpolished oak is the wood used, so that the pieces may be scrubbed when necessary without damage to their surface. To carry the idea still further, the latest tablecentre is a wooden rosebowl fitted with a glass lining, while even the salad-servers are made of wood, the handles being decorated after the Russian manner in bold blues, reds and greens. A pretty idea for the dining table that disdains a cloth is a small wooden platter for each dinner roll. This avoids the “busy” appearance created by the separate china bread plate, and the untidy look that results when no plate at all is provided. Now that wood can be rendered impervious to heat and moisture, the waxed and painted wooden tray has taken the place of the plated tray that used, to be considered the sign manual of respectability! Trays are now sold in sets fitting one within the other, so that they appropriate as little space as possible upon the shelf of the small kitchen. Some of the most attractive and original designs are the work of ex-service and disabled men.

Some excellent painted furniture has recently been devised which is made of wood treated with a mixture similar to that with which motor-car bodies are painted, so that the resulting surface is absolutely proof against scratches, acids, heat, damp, or any of the mishaps of daily life. This makes ideal nursery furniture, as its weEiring qualities are more like those of steel than of wood, but entire suites of furniture, painted with exquisite designs have also been seen for dining, drawing and bedrooms.