OCR Text |
Show tmfmUy::Mf:-.... lyiy n IULB the hearth Is the heart of N n H ",c 'lon"! 'n winter, the porch 11 K holds sway lu summer. Tbe fjj wise home-builder, therefore, sacrifices a bit off the buck yard If necessary, In order to have extru room for a commodious veranda In front and n veranda not too near the street. For the porch will.be tho family gathering plaeo snd half Its charm will be lost If neighbors neigh-bors and pnssersby are to be Included In all its conclaves. Plenty of comfortable chairs, a low table where books or glasses may bo within eiiKy reach of one's elbow, plenty of cushions and perhaps a bright colored fiber rug or two, will answer for the porch furnishings. Swinging seats of light wood or of rattan nro very artistic for those who can afford them, and take up much less room tbon a hammock strung across vul liable spnee. For porch decoration nothing can equal growing vines nnd flowers and there nro quick growing vines which if trained over wire cords or Inttlco will In n nhort time afford u pleasant sbnde. This matter of shade Is very Important If the porch is to serve as an out-of-door sitting-room through the hot weather. Awnings ore of course thu Ideal means of shading tho porch, for they give n suggestion of space nnd airiness, and while keeping out the sut. admit plenty of breeze ond light. Flowers and awnings In combination glvo a most delightful gayety nnd suggestion sugges-tion of leisure to a summer cottage of cen unpretentious style. A little whlto bouse muy be made quite charming by mi-strlpcd awnings and window and porch boxes filled with red geraniums. Crecn r.nd whlto nwolngs with green vines or' porch plants ore cool nnd restful lu suggestion, sug-gestion, and the comfortable rattan porch furniture comes In n particularly soft and phvislng sh'ide of green. An nrtlstie porch flower box Is shown; the odd fern mid foliage plants filling the box being mixed with a bushy plant coveted cov-eted with white berries. lioxes of tbls character are eel along the wide railing of tbe porch and form an artistic hereon and often trailing vines like wandering Jew or the dilnly green and white vines bfng over the edge of the box and the railing. Tbo rustic character of the box Illustrated Illus-trated will accord best with a porch of dork wood or with weather-stained shingles or clapboards. The cottage painted In white or n light color should have window and porch boxes to match or In some vividly contrasting shade like green or red which will blend with the flowers or with the stripes of the porch und window awnings. Crowing ferns of tho spreading Seottl variety are always charming on the porch, and If a siillletent-ly siillletent-ly large Jardlulero of porcelain be too expensive, ex-pensive, a wooden bucket robbed of Its lioudle and painted a dark green, will imiko n very satisfactory substitute. in fact plaut Jars of this sort are really more satisfactory for porch ubc, for they need not bo lifted Indoors at night for lear of pilferers. Hanging plant stands of wicker come from Japan, where so much Importance Is attached to floral decorations of ull kinds. These "stands" are really only wicker circles depending from long ropes, oso of wlrker or twisted fiber. The plaut Jar se(s down Into the wicker ring nnd swings about three feet above tho porch floor. From Japan, also, come the queer plant hangers In the forms of tiny animals ani-mals and birds. There little affairs are of Iron and nre very strong. There are j storks, frogs, monkeys and snakes which hook one to the other by menus of crooked tails, bills or pnws. As many as a dozen of these odd metal links may bo required to make a chain long enough to hnng a plant four feet from the floor. China cornucoilns are another pretty Japanese notion for porch decoration. Theso cornucopias are designed to hnng against tho house wall or on the porch pillars and they come In various sizes; soui" Just big enough to hold a few drops of water and a cluster of nasturtium; others largo enough to nccommodato a dozen chrysanthemums Window lioxes nrc such no uttrnctlvo und cheerful add 11 Ion to the summer home thnt one wonders nt the rows of bare honsefronts on our streets. English folk realUe to the full the value of window box necoratlons and In May smoky old London Is abloom with gay parterres of flowers, even tho most unpretentious un-pretentious dwellings showing their posy An ArtUllo Klowor Dox for th Vorcli. decorations. For u sunny window In an Invalid's room was built the pretty llttlo conservatory conserva-tory shown In our illustration; and great was tho pleasure afforded by this mlnlti-turo mlnlti-turo greenhouso. Tho llttlo model Is In every detail exactly liko a i practical greeuhouso, except that In tbe model there us uo glass and tho buuse-rramu may bo lifted from the Ijuso when tbo. plants require re-quire attention. Ordinary watering Is done by the invalid herself, who sprays the plants through the bars of tbe green, house roof and walls. DRICSS HINTS. , It Is surprising bow much of the shine can be removed from n cloth skirt If you first sponge tho gurmcnt with alcohol and then press. A satisfactory way of keeping tho shirt waist in pliiio Is to r'n a piece of elastic, elas-tic, about an Inch lu width tlshtly around the wal.it In packing your trunk for your summer vacation, secure n Inrge, nlr-tlght tlu can, put tbe bottles in it ond drop sawdust In between them. If the bottle breuku, tho sawdust will absorb tbe liquid and your clothes will not be ruined. |