OCR Text |
Show 'Twixt Us Teens by Tibby Tucker In the spring a young man's thoughts may turn lightly to love but as for girls - - - find themselves dreaming about a room of their own - - - a pretty room decorated in the manner a girl likes and furnished fur-nished comfortably with the things a girl needs to welcome, friends in for records and tea-time snacks. The grimmest attic niche, or the darkest basement corner, the dullest bedroom can become a paradise for a teen-ager willing to mix effort with imagination. I, Tibby, think it's a practical idea to make a sketch of the area to be re-decorated. Draw it to scale so that furniture pieces can be worked with. Get swatches of fabric and samples of paint and paper color and see how everything goes together. It's a good idea to use your watercolors (even if you're no artist) so that you. can see how the dresser will look against the wallpaper when it's been repainted. You'll be able to tell, too, teens, whether or not you'll want a room all one color (matching draperies to walls and carpeting) which is a very new trend, using only lounge pillows for accent - - - or whether you want draperies and bedspread to contrast with wall and floor color schemes. You may have a print or a still-life painting or a lithographed picture that you just love. How about choosing the color scheme from the picture or print. Artists have such an eye for color that you'll have professional help in blending tones if you work along the lines of the print. An old bed, relieved of bric-a-brac and fancy trims, sawed down to pleasant height, footboard removed and painted black or white and used as a dramatic contrast against a plain wall - - . or a headboard head-board covered with fabric to match coverlet or spread are ideas to think about for your bed. Remember that by cutting off ornate legs on old furniture, putting put-ting on new drawer pulls, and painting the old furniture and new unfinished bookcases or storage units the same color, you really have something - - - a brand new set! It's a good idea to size up the job of painting the room itself carefully before you dip brush in pot. Measure the room and tell the paint salesman how many square feet of surface need to be covered. He'll help you buy the right amount. Always mix enough paint for the entire job, so that the color is uniform. If you plan on doing the ceiling, do it first. Here's a tip, if you're dreaming of having the ceiling the same color as the walls. One part of wall color to three parts of white used on the ceiling will give the effect of having ceiling and wall match exactly without darkening the ceiling so much that you feel it's coming down on you. And idea for floors - - - to splatter dash them (a sharp idea for disguising old cement or faded linoleum or beat up wood) remove all dirt, wax, or grease and sandpaper smooth. Clean well with water containing a bit of turpentine. Then when dry apply splatter-dash by dipping paint brush or whisk broom only partially into paint. Tap the brush lightly against a stick and the paint will spatter against the floor in interesting pattern. . , |