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Show suddenly come alive" will interests. But I also believe that everyone in the family should be encouraged to pursue his own interests at home. He should be given space that is his alone, whenever possible, so he can pick over his collection or make his models or experiment with his uncertain tastes and talents in private when he so chooses. But he should also be given public space in the home display space, so to speak, in the room where the family and its guests cten gather. The reason? To let him know that the family respects and is proud of his contribution to the culture of the home, and wants to participate in it. The results? Encouragement for the individual, education (by exposure) for the others in the family, and a vitality that can be brought to that room in no other way 1 Contribute to the family showcase Other ways are being tried, I am sorry to say. . Decorators are buying books that w ill look pretty on antique desks. People are buying paintings to match the rug or the curtains. Shops are offering arrangements of small pictures to fill given wall spaces. From coast to coast all sensible conversation is being led astray by what the call "conversation pieces. All this is nonsense, fashionable but utterly meaningless. Instead of this phony kind of Ask each have a go at favorite his person in your family to contribute he whatever books and pictures and objects of kind a considers interesting or beautiful to or family living the culture core of your home. Never mind if the childrens taste is at first naive and crude; it will get better, and sooner, because it is part of a family effort. Dont be discouraged if one or another in your group culture-by-the-yar- culture-by-the-perso- n. room-playroo- m room-showcas- e, At left: Stereo equipment from liberty Music Shopit-coloprints, Metropolitan Museum sculpture reproductions, frrentono's; lytspon from liphtoher, butterfly collection from butterfly Art Center, Brooklyn, rug from Bigelow; color reproduction from Museum of Modem Art, TV set from General Electric claims to have no suitable interest; it isnt so. A girl who cares for nothing but riding, for instance, can be led to racing prints or sculptured horses. A sports car enthusiast can bring at least "Sounds from Sebring to the record player and perhaps stay to find a comparable excitement in Shostakovich. There is an artistic or beautiful extension of almost any sport or hobby. Set no ask only that each coninhibiting standards tribution be honest, of real meaning to the person who contributes it. I think youll be amazed at the results. A room that wras only a room will not suddenly come alive. It will be more fun in any silly sense, but in a way. What has meaning and value to you will change as you go along. ,Whatj just right on the mantelpiece today is just dull when seen there month after month. Put it away, from time to time; or at least move it to a different place. In my new house, now building, I have provided for change to an extent you may think extreme: our curtains, upholstery, rugs, will change; even closet doors will pivot to display different faces in different seasons of the year. We will have permanent display places for the things that interest us, but we will have no permanent displays. deep-dow- n , bric-a-bra- c Beauty changes with the seasons My daughter, our housekeeper, Mrs. Boyce, and I each have creative chores. At the moment, mine are arranging and changing the pictures, sculpture and accessories; Anns is music. Mrs. Boyces talent for arranging flowers and greens keeps all parts of the house fresh with changing beauty. This house is dedicated to our way of living, our changing tastes, our piece of land and its seasonal changes. Suppose you are too new at this game to have on hand a revolving stock of beautiful objects. No problem. Heres where mass production helps. Reproductions of paintings and sculpture are getting better and better. They cost remarkably little; and you can "learn on them until you Continued on next page are ready to buy concealed by the sliding pegboard panels. Paintings and prints can be stored con- veniently on an additional pegboard panel hinged to the wall. The bookcase hangs on overhead tracks, is easily moved, as Mr. Wright demonstrates in the photos below. s' If you livo in a houto: For large living rooms or open plan houses , heretis how you can have a Family Leisure Center ( Plan B). Here the sliding panels , the bookcase and additional storage shelves are all contained within a large cube that can be extended to become a room divider. In this way your hobbies, your favorite prints and paintings, books and magazines, or pieces of are right at your fingertips. You eon got plane For instructions on building both Family Leisure Centers by Home Service Bureau, Masonite Corp., send unstamped envelope with 10 to This Week, P.O. Box 2053, Grand Central Sta., New York 17, N. Y. d, |
