OCR Text |
Show ' UGLINESS IS BANE OF MOST NURSERIES Beautiful Surroundings is of Infinite Importance in Education of Children Dumping Grounds of all the Household Trash By ELIZABETH WHARTON MITCHELL ' X-H''f I Living Room In a Remodeled Barn. I Hall in House of Weil-Known Aythor, With Long Vista Into Reception Room. lichcn-colorod walls. Thl 13 most ei-fectlve ei-fectlve when used In stencil work; It is to be avoided for, tho cntlro wall. Another popular color for bordering border-ing la a .vivid orange called carrot, and quite a departure for walls lu a dark northern or eastern room 1.3 crocus, cro-cus, the now, warm, rich Luff on tti lones of corn color but warmer find more suggestive of Ha namesake. For fctencll work over this crocus wa.ll tho warm myrtle or tho richer grove preens are used a great deal, with Just nn occasional touch of peony to add Interest to tho design. The uso of deep reds In dining-rooms dining-rooms Is no longer In vogue. Quieter, and more subdued colors and refined decoration prevail this spring. The Placing of the Stenoil. In good Interior decorating a great deap depends on the placing of a stencil. sten-cil. To give tho best effect, if tho cell- ing he low, omit horizontal lines as much as possible and avoid plaio rails, dados or wainscoting. Use narrow four-Inch headings or hands, and out- lino your woodwork t.y following along baseboard, up around doors and windows win-dows and back to baseboard again. Have perpendicular lines, for they suggest sug-gest Jit-lRht. To vary this treatment for nothing is more tiresome than a .injlo method carried through a house use the single sin-gle stencil motifs with heavy tops, and run the perpendicular llnc3 to th baseboard. Do nU get over two 01 four motifs to a sblo wall, and these will make a most artistic decoration for a room. Conventionalized chrysanthemums chrysan-themums am delightful when usod this way, with their heavy oriental colors against the soft color of the side wall. These oriental schemes are delightful delight-ful in libraries and dens, and sometimes, some-times, when tho lighting i-j good, in living rooms and dining-rooms. It all depends on Individual taste, as well as on the kind of furniture used. "When ceilings have exceasivo height, and this apparent height Is to bo rc- j duced, work the stencils from the plato or photo rail and use heavier pt-terns. pt-terns. Avoid white for tho colling, for that emphasizes height. Uso a warm, heavy tone of sumo color cither tho same shad? of fldi wall or a contrasting contrast-ing color drop this to the photo rail and work tho stencil out In deep, rich colors, such as deep, woodsy grconj j and dull reds. There is also a third method of reducing re-ducing apparent hci?bt. This is so- cured by using a much lighter tone of the side wall color3 as a drop of eighteen or twenty-four inehf-s from tho ceiling, find then outlining It on the Inside with a narrow, stencil as a horizontal panel; then with a lighter toned ceiling, the barnlike effect of height is almost effaced. Remember, as a general principle, white ceilings add height to your room, and colored reduco it. The Hall. Quito a new departure 13 tho use of heavy patterned stencils on tho lower third of the side wall, especially In halls where furniture is limited to a few chairs and a hall tree. Tho effect Is excellent aud Is a decided relief from tho usual treatment. These patterns pat-terns must not all terminate In a straight lino, giving a dado effect this Is tho very thing to be avoided; they must end in uniform but varying heights, tall and short designs alternating. alter-nating. Geometrical designs prevail, and tho colors used should bo warm and rich. The pattern is carried up to say four I or five feet, if the ceiling height will IN spite of tho emphatic persistence with which the cry. "Art Is one of the most powerful factors in civilization," it Is remarkablo how eager everybody seems to avoid uuy practical application of the maxim. More particularly can tho truth of this bo percelVPd when entering tho average Bchoolroom and nursery. The sentimentalist nnd Uie sermonlzer spend many words in proclaiming the wonderful influence of the nursery in producing fine men and women. And vet there la comparatively litt'c at-ienipt at-ienipt to educate the child Indirectly by means of his surroundings. Of course, many Improvements in this direction have been noticeable lately. Most nurseries now are at least more sanitary than they were and the Influence of tho Froebel doctrines has been felt to considerable advantage. But In far too many houses one can still see evidences of the tendency to send to schoolroom and nursery whatever what-ever furniture is too old and too ugly to be used In any other part of tho house. Presumably we are still far from tho day when class rooms In the public schools will be anything else lhaa hideous and uninspiring of aught but disgust and weariness. The fact has not as yot Altered Into the minds of tho. boards of education that tho child's whole view of what he is set to !earn, Indeed, of the necessity of learning learn-ing anything at all ia tinged by the lppearanco of the surroundings In which the actual studying is done. But there Is no reason why this should not bo counteracted In the home. In fact, as most people realize, real-ize, tho home must be relied upon to rounteract a good deal of the Influence of the school, especially in themaiter r,f manners, grammar and pronunciation pronuncia-tion of the mother-tongue. It ia a fact that the aesthetic sensibilities sen-sibilities wake early In some children nnd the Importance of having harmonious harmo-nious surroundings cannot bo exaggerated. exagger-ated. Who does not remember the associations between the appearance of certain rooms and tho dally occupations occupa-tions connected with them? And who has not felt a return of tho weary fooling fool-ing so often engendered by the memory mem-ory of particular parts of the paternal home? Tho dally Intercourse with poor pictures, pic-tures, trashy ornaments and cheap-looking cheap-looking furniture is Just as bad for the child as a course of dlnio novels. And yet parents who guard their young most carefully from the Influence of "Dead wood Dick" and "Nick -Carter" think nothing of letting them "decorate" "deco-rate" 'the walls of the nursery with chromos from lustrated papers and "comic" supplements. They may be quite scrupulous in not lotting friends and relatives spoil young stomachs w ith a mass of indigestible food, but they do not protect oung eyes and minds from the effects of a room cluttered up with Ill-chosen and nnadmlrablo "ornaments." And the worst of it is that tho money so spent would buy good things and a few good things are far better than a multitude of even mediocre stuff. This, by tho way, applies ap-plies just as much to tho rest of tho house as to tho Juvenile quarters. A good print can frequently be obtained for tho same price as a flashy chromo. Tho freak things that fond and foolish relatives sometimes buy for children, apparently under the Idea that they are funny, cost Just as much as a plaster plas-ter reproduction of good statuary, a Tanagra statuette or an 1 Lilian busL Peoplo who would not think of putting put-ting a pink monkey riding on a purplo cow anywhere in their dining-room or parlor allow such monstrosities quite complacently In tho nursery. And then they wonder why their children are bored when they are draggod to museums. muse-ums. An entire article could be written writ-ten on tho uselessness, even tho harm, of the number of Ill-chosen presents young ones receive. Just as harmful is the crowded, cluttered condition of the nursery in which they have to pass their early days, which, In many establishments, is considered the outlet out-let for the overflow from the rest cf the house. All miscellaneous adornments should be ruthlessly ejected. The walls should well named, because It is very true to the color of the lichen that forms on old wood. It is excellent for fddo walls new amber shade is also very popular; In western or southern rooms Tho It is warm in tono, very effect I vo and is decidedly good for bedrooms. The dull old blues are very much used in dining-rooms and libraries especially with inakcgany furaiture. There is a new red a rieh. warm, deep red whh plenty of carmine In It called peony, which Is excellent to give a touch of color to the soft bo of some light but restful color, such as turquoslo blue or pale green. They should servo as a background for a few carefully chosen plaster casts, photographs and prints of good pictures. pic-tures. And these should represent sub-Jects sub-Jects and objects connected with the immediate studies the child is pursuing. pursu-ing. For natural history, for instance, there should be pood Japanese prints of animals; for European history, prints or photographs of portarlts by Velasquez or Van Dyck of celebrated historical characters, such as Charles I., or whatever the principal actors be in the period studied. The prints and casts should be inexpensive enough and few enough to allow of their being be-ing replaced by others as the child's studies progress. In other words, tho walls of the nursery and schoolroom should form a pictorial commentary on what the child is being taught. It is easy to see how this system can bo developed and how It can be made to assist the teachers and parents. But the most Important thing to remember re-member Is, "Don't crowd the walls " It will be found that good pictures will Interest the children inore than the trash they are usually brought up with, on the pretext, generallyfl that tho trash Is "cunning." Ot course, the children like the trash, because they don't get a proper chance to like anything any-thing else. But they won't need very much encouragement to like what is really good. I bear it, and the upper portion of ths j wall should bo plain and of wara 1 color. Those patterns are excellent, j because thoy adjust themselves to l stairs and risers better than any otbtr ! form of hall treatment. The dark ' stencil colors serve to cover tho effect of soil coming from contact of oca- sional hands or clothing touching U19 wall surface. ! Warm, rich, sunny tan makes an . excellent hall color for tho side wall and cream for tho celling; then work the stencil pattern out with dull blua and a touch of dull red or orange red and you have a peculiarly good com-nosltion. com-nosltion. If you havo architectural picture j hang them in the hall, with, hero and there a good French print la color. I.t the lighting bo good, but preferably prefer-ably from tho side rather than fron the ceiling, if it can bo arranged. The Treatment of a Dlning-Room. 1 The voguo of mahogany for dining- room furniture has naturally devel- oped tho uso of white enameled or j painted woodwork as a background, which usually Includes wainscoting around the room, as well as the trim over door3 and windows. Tho wall surface is treated simply in either a dull green or a soft old blue, aud th ceiling Is white. Hang the picture3 blind If possible but if they are too largo to permit of this, hang from two wires to carry out the straight line effect of the panel9. Finish on your i wainscoting with a ledge at tho top to : servo as a plato rail. For your rug ' uso a delft blue, la two or three tones, if your wall color corresponds; or a dull green if the wall Is of that hue. For the curtains use the charming cretonnes cre-tonnes In floral pattern. ; The Sleeping-Room. j When It comes to the treatment of the bedroom, restful, quiet simplicity must prevail. Havo soft colors on walls and celling, the rug light In color and tho curtains dainty and sheer. Painted, enameled or brass bedj fit in with almost any scheme. Stencils on Curtains and Draperies.' The use of stcncilb can be extended ! to the curLilns. tablo runners, drap. ! eiies, couch pillows and hassocks with delightful effect. With the primary colors of blue, red and yellow, and tha addition of while, a perfect host of 1 shades can easily be produced. Add I plenty of benzine to tho oil color, j which should be used so that it wU j dry quickly, and then there will U j little danger of the color running. Can- tion must be taken, however, not w overilll the brush, which should be of j good stlfT brLillos. Dip it lightly into j ' 1 ho paint, try the color and s;encllcn . oine old fabric first, and then, by the use of thumb tacks, fasten jour stea- ell to the fabric and go over tho pi'.- j tern carefully and slowly. - i --rw v: o.-':-fr'r;-''-.'- ,,i v' A V v-;' ,' -v v " , :v ,, - x T1ilv -'?v H v-' "J ' j--- ' I ' " " """" rtn8nr.tMnj m Mfc Mj,.mf-Ti urn inwn m miibiii wim.rim Reception Room in the Home of a Leader of Boston Society. |