OCR Text |
Show WOMAN'S WORLD Modern Dining Rooms Should Be Colorful and Pleasing Classroom Fashion i "i i 'i I ' "i 1 II j Li ,i I Li . ; . - "f I v ' I ' & . i " 'I ' 1 I I. ; ' By Ertta Haley THE OLD - FASHIONED dining room was very much like the parlor of past years. You put in, a table with chairs and a buffet and possibly a glassed chest. It was the room in which you had your meals. This may be one of the reasons the dining room has passed out of favor in some circles. Another is that, for approximately the two or three hours a day it was used, it was an expense and a space consumer. con-sumer. Today's dining room is as colorful color-ful and pleasing as the most tastefully taste-fully decorated living, recreation or bedroom. It may be part of the living room, separated only by a different decor. It may be many other things, too, like a sewing room, music corner or library. Table, chairs and buffet may match, or they may not. Either way worked out intelligently and tastefully taste-fully can give you a room which you're proud to have in your home, and on display. If you're building or remodeling, you may want to take advantage of built-in features for the dining room. This is especially true If the room is small, or if it's a combination living-dining room. One wall can be used for a built-in cabinet which will house all manner of dining accessories ac-cessories like glassware, silver, linen and dishes. Combination living and dining areas can also be separated by flexible flex-ible screens to give you privacy during dining, and then, too, to What if the hall is patterned and living room plain? Use a plain stripe or wide floral stripe in the dining room. A large dining room can take the "busier" wallpapers like wide striped ones, bold prints and wealth of pattern. If the room is high ceilinged it's very effective to paper pa-per ceiling and come down a foot or two on the walls. Have the remainder re-mainder plain. Select Wearable Floor Coverings Much used dining rooms need floor coverings built to withstand wear. If yours is a home with smaller small-er children and a lot of their friends, consider linoleum, rubber tile or polished cork. Busy dining rooms require floor coverings which will look neat, f:ven after a meal. When dirjng and living rooms are small in scale, they may be carpeted in the same rug material. This gives a feeling of spaciousness, and ties the rooms together effectively. Those who want to give distinct separation to the rooms can do just the opposite. In contrast to the thick carpeting in living room, let the dining room floor gleam with wax or polish, a separate rug or an entirely different covering. Size of Room Determines Furniture Large dining rooms can cope with massive pieces of furniture, while smaller rooms must have their furnishings fur-nishings in harmonious scale. Tables for the smaller rooms are made compact, but they have good extension when it's needed. Then, too, for a feeling of space, keep the drop leaf table against a wall until the room is put to use. If you lack chairs in the living room and can't afford them, it's wise to buy at least two chairs, to be used by host and hostess that can serve in dining or living rooms. Dining rooms which are to serve as music or sewing rooms should have their furniture t-arefully chosen so the appearance isn't hodge-podge. Radios or television sets in the dining room, to one end should be finished in harmonious woods, and the chairs or loveseats near them can have the same slipcovering slip-covering as the dining room chairs. Built-in cabinets are excellent for the sewing equipment. Shelves in the cabinet can take care of sewing sew-ing accessories. A large shelf can hold a portable sewing machine, while a folding table will fit against the wall of the unit. Accessories Should Balance Dining Rooms Proper accessories add a homelike home-like atmosphere to the room, but they should be used with discrimination. discrim-ination. Choose what you like but limit the number used to the size of the room and whatever is in it. A small room, naturally, should have few accessories. A large mirror mir-ror above the linen chests or buffet will give the illusion of more room than there actually is. Three items on the buffet should be sufficient, and one is better, since these would be reflected in the mirror. Larger rooms can take plates oi prints on the wall. In this case, too, the table can carry a flower, fruit or plant arrangement. Simple in design but effective In style, this school-teacher's dress is in the budget-priced class. Mint green worsted is the featured fabric with rhinestones buttoning the bodice. Comfortable, Comfort-able, three-quarter sleeves give warmth, and the slanting cuffs accenting the jutting pockets add a style note. al furniture for dining, than the modern types. In an average sized combination unit, the dining area will have room for the table and chairs. There may be enough space along the wall for a buffet, which is good for housing dining accessories. If you can't find the buffet in a size harmonious to the unit, consider consid-er two matching chests set side by side. They make a roomy buffet and can be made to appear as a single unit when topped with a mirror mir-ror which extends over both chests. Adjoining Rooms Determine Colors Consider the walls of the adjoining adjoin-ing room before deciding upon your choice of dining room colors and scheme of decoration. Usually the dining room is adjoined by a hallway, hall-way, den or living room. Since we now aim to unify the house in a decorative scheme, the rooms, though separate, should look Let dining rooms be attractive..... separate the clearance of the dining area while the family or guests relax re-lax in the living room. Basic decorating principles apply to dining areas, no matter to what other uses the room is put. This gives rise to some problems, but they're easily solved with forethought. fore-thought. Treat Combination Room As Separate Unit When dining and living room area is combined into a single room, it's usually built so that the end nearest the kitchen Is reserved for dining. This may or may not be separated by flexible screens, or a Dutch door type of arrangement. If painted or papered, the whole room should be done the same. The floor covering is to be the same in both cases. If draperies come in the dining area, these should match those of the living room. If the room is narrow, you may use this exception in the wall decor. The dining end of the room may have figured or printed paper if the remainder of the room has plain walls. The predominant color in the paper used, however, must match or harmonize with the plain color. It's possible to furnish the living room in modern light woods, and the dining room in traditional furniture, fur-niture, using dark woods. The two types are frequently combined in the same rooms, and this is an excellent ex-cellent way to do the combination unit, especially if you are more pleased with the design of tradition- B as well as practical. as though they belong together in the same house. If you have a plain hall and plain living room, try a patterned paper in the dining room. It will add versatility ver-satility to the home. The paper, however should harmonize effectively effec-tively with the plain colors used in hall and living room. |