FURNITURE YOU CAN SCRUB

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17220, 11 December 1923, Page 9

FURNITURE YOU CAN SCRUB

There is a good deal to be said of the new furniture .eff hard, white wood, which is neither stained, polished, nor enamelled. Augustus John is one of those who have recognised its beauty and utility. In the dining-room of his Dorsetshire home, table, chairs and sideboard are ail made of untreated wood, in its natural grain and colour. The result is surprisingly pleasant. The wood, with repeated scrubbing, has taken on a very charming lustre and reflects unexpected ’ights when the run shines, or the lights are turned on in the evening. Care must tbe taken in the choice of wood. The grain should be even and there should be as few knots as possible. Many of the Australian whitewoods fulfil these requirements, and they have the additional attraction of being reasonable in priceThere are practical as artistic advantages. The cheap oak furniture which looks so delightful in the showroom, has an unhappy trick of “ marking ” when a hot plate is put on it. If he has to turn out a cheap article, the furniture maker cannot afford to employ a French polisher; he has to be satisfied with “ brush polish,” which is really not a polish at all, but a kind of varnish. Enamelled surfaces are just os bad.

oecause even the very best are liable to chip and soon look worn and shabby. ‘Natural wood” furniture does none of these things. A scrub with a hard brush and pumice removes every stain; even cigarette-marks can be obliterated with sand-paper. An attractive variation from the plain, natural wood can be achieved by using two different types. The sideboard, for instance, can be of white wood, with a narrow beading of unpolished mahogany round the drawers. A pleasant dining-room table, made for a country bungalow, was of maple with a six-inch border of mahogany round the edge. The chairs were bordered in the same way, while the doors had panels of white wood framed in mahogany. But these embellishments prove expensive, and the natural white wood is to attractive without them that “ «rimmings ” of this kind can be dispensed with,