FURNISHING CORNERS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20669, 6 March 1937, Page 11 (Supplement)

FURNISHING CORNERS

HOUSEHOLD PROBLEM BUILT-IN CHINA CABINETS The problem of decorating the corners of sitting and drawing rooms is one that we must tackle with a clear idea of the effect we wish to produce. Even the least artistically inclined realise that comers are not just to be left to themselves as parking places for the odds and ends that spoil our decorative schemes if they are in the full light. They can be made the focal point of the scheme, or a harmonising accessory to it, just as we desire, and we can get the effect of cosy homeliness or of spaciousness to a great extent by what is in the comers of the rooms and how it has been arranged.

Modem architects have overcome the difficulty of trying comers in a variety of ways. First of all, they ar? building rooms with rounded corners, more particularly, certainly, in ultramodern flats or institutions where the cleaning to be done is a great consideration. Or they have planned the walls with cut-off corners and actually built in china cabinets or book shelves on the flat, sloping surface. Another method has been to have book shelves

set Into the wall in a niche for some distance to the corner, usually for about four to five feet. Still again the arrangement of panelling in an even tone—ivory lends itself particularly well—with narrow panels at each side of the comers and wider ones along the widths of the walls, gives a graceful, gracious effect. Lighting again is the business of the architect, and Indirect half-dome lights set at the rounded corners throw down a soft and attractive light, or light set at just the right interval along the wall, if this type is favoured, can be made to give a satisfactory amount of shadow and brightness to light up the names of the books in your shelves, or throw a quiet, restful glow on to the plain surface of the panelling. In the new house, where the builder has given consideration to possibilities in furnishing, the woman who sets out to do her own decorating need have little fear regarding the success of her schemes. In the gaunt, not necessarily less costly houses, corners become the greatest difficulty. So much depends on the placing of the windows and the arrangement of curtains which, if they are hard or of uncompromising appearance. can make the decorating of the near corners twice the work and worry. A great deal must depend also on the kind of furniture used—if it is of the most modem with its clear straight lines, or cf the older era with its greater decoration.

For the comers near the window in the modern rooms, when the window Is set some distance from either corner, the are various suggestions of treatment. A plain little wooden triangular table rounded in front like a quarter of a circle, makes a stand for a pottery bowl of cacti—an arrangement that with the dark green or grey of the cacti and the clever colour in which pots can be obtained, can give a most unusual effect to your room. The modem comer couches, with their unit pieces, suit these comers very well, while an old oak settle, or one that approximates to oak. can give quite an old-world air to a room.

Should the window be near enough for the light to fall properly, a writing desk set either flat or across corners, will find a good home in the comer where the light comes from the left so that the shadow of your hand is not thrown before it as you write.

Book shelves play a great part In modern furnishing, as they provide not unly form, but the books themselves give colour In the bindings and lettering. To make the best of the shelves they must be placed where the light 'falls obliquely, throwing up every vestige of glint and shine and shadow that

T B R E E DELIGHTFUL FASHIONS, made in the latest materials awl styles. Left, an evening gown in the season’s latest fabric — silver lame. It has the exaggerated cut-out back and lacing, finishing off with full bustle effect. A large bunch of lacquered flowers adorns the right shoulder. 'Above, an afternoon dress in blue jersey fabric, with draped neckline and elbow-length sleeves .4 belt of black suede is the only trimming. Riyht, a smart Parisian ensemble, with the new cape effect on the jacket, lavishly trimmed with nutria. The suit is in maroon woollen material, and the. hat, with larye quill, is in maroon velvet.