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Show WOMAN'S WORLD Mantels Give Homes Extra Personality By Ertta Haley JUST AS A WOMAN completes her costume effectively with a dramatic hat, so should a room be punctuated with at least one feature fea-ture which draws the eye and creates a favorable impression. If you are the lucky owner of a mantel or fireplace in your living liv-ing room, then strive to make this the exclamation point for the room. One of the most common faults In decorating a place which amateurs ama-teurs make is the lack of effect. They're afraid to do something just a bit startling which would serve to give a room interest and personality. The thing to do, then, is to be daring and willing to try out several sev-eral ideas which might do the trick. Study the room from different dif-ferent angles; consider the light; take notice of the furnishings; and, above all, try to reflect your interests in-terests and hobbies in decorating. Use Imagination Instead of Stereotypes If many of us think of a mantel as a shelf with a mirror with two pots of ivy carefully placed on either side of it, then, it's no won- copper or brass pieces are set off to good advantage on it. Here's How to Use Too-Small Mirrors In rooms in which you want to create an illusion of size, a mirror i is quite acceptable over the man- I tel. But what happens when your particular mirror is too small for the space? This problem is easily solved by placing attractive prints, framed simply, on either side of the mirror. Two prints hung one above the other, can look very handsome indeed. Just in case you are dissatisfied dissatis-fied with the mirror arrangement, you might look for a clock in whatever what-ever period the room is furnished. Place this in the center and flank with candlesticks. Just in case you want a mantel and have none, don't despair. Good stock mantels may be purchased. pur-chased. To keep down the expense, ex-pense, put it up yourself or hire someone while the season is slack. Avoid a cluttered effect by keeping keep-ing the decorative pieces to two or three. del. Such has been the traditional tradition-al and over-used decorative effect employed for mantels from coast to coast. Such stereotypes are no longer considered good taste or fine de- II it lar point. Then the men may gather gath-er around the mantel where you've arranged comfortable chairs and discuss their hobby with map conveniently con-veniently at hand. Do you yourself like collecting quaint antique pieces? An old oval gilt mirror can be painted in modern colors, if that is the type of room you have, then placed on the mantel. If you can find old crystal candle brackets to go on either side of the mirror, the effect ef-fect is complete. Mantel Cupboards Ideal If You Collect Do you collect interesting pieces of china, rare glass, pottery or knick-knacks? These would be very attractive in a mantel cupboard cup-board which can easily be built or hung on the wall. Many of the new homes may even have a built-in set of shelves above the mantel, and this offers an ideal place, for showing your hobby. Tf vrvn hnvp a lnt nf small Hpttir "j Co) Baa Make the most ot a mantel . . . sign. Mantels are now seen as something which guests will exclaim ex-claim about and which the home-maker home-maker can look at several times a day and purr with contentment. Are you interested in old prints or reproductions of fine paintings? Perhaps you have clipped out sets of attractive pictures which may be framed. All these reflect your taste and interest, and are natural to use in the room. Have the prints matted against a color that picks up the most dominant tone used in the room. Hang them above the mantel-Jn three rows of four pictures each, or in another suitable arrangement. arrange-ment. How pleasing this will look! Think, too, of the conversations conversa-tions it can create while you entertain. en-tertain. You'll be well pleased over what the imagination can do. Let Personality Guide You , Is your husband interested in world affairs? That means he undoubtedly un-doubtedly gathers friends about him who have the same interest. What could be more effective under these circumstances than having a large world map placed on the wall over the mantel? Have it simply framed and skip other decorations at that particu- ... with appropriate furnishings. which you like to show, it isn't too hard to build a what-not over the mantel. Small items may be given giv-en the proper background by building build-ing or buying a mirror-backed shelf. This may have glass doors, too. A French provincial room or one in Early American can use a period per-iod what-not over the mantel. Porcelain figurines, assorted bottles, bot-tles, colorful pottery or miniature |