The Business Of Decoration Previous Page (47)
Upon the bookcases stand colorful porcelains, candlesticks, etc., and books that are being read lie upon the tables. The center of the room is generally occupied by a two-faced flat-top desk, well stocked with drawers and compartments, and this is comfortably furnished with writing materials and accessories and a lamp. Lamps there must be everywhere, if the room is large, and chairs and smokers' tables and perhaps a friendly tea-pot with cups and dishes. A carved wood cabinet would not be amiss, if only to make a change from the shelves along the wall; but more especially must there be warm light, warm draperies, warmth in the fabrics of the furniture.
The drawing room, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. Here we have a chamber essentially for the entertainment of the romantic and formal of both sexes, and here, if anywhere the woman decorator should find her sphere. Everything must be of the daintiest, from the light-toned rug, whether Oriental or slightly figured chenille, to the piano scarf of embroidery or brocade. Here we may employ those delicate objects of jade and porcelain that have come to us from the East and have taken such a place of popularity among us in America. Here may our instinct for the eighteenth century things of France
Page 58a
A corridor about fifteen feet by forty feet. The height was not commensurate with the length so it was thought best to
increase the effect of this by means of Gothic arches.
Page 58b
Billiard room and library combined by the use of a caenstone mantel.
Page 59
THE LARGER APARTMENT59
or England have full play, and we may indulge ourselves in consoles and commodes and corner commodes of tulipwood and satinwood, in pieces painted or inlaid, in tables and chairs of the finest and most delicate in workmanship and fabrics, always mellowed by soft, delicately shaded lamps, side brackets, or even a crystal chandelier. Here may the brocaded draperies have the finest fringes and the cornices above them be wrought most fastidiously. This room must be permeated by no less than an odor of daintiness and charm and luxury. For unless this very thing is realized, the room will seem antiquated, needless, and unlovely.
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Bed In A Bag Sets Books - The Business Of Decoration
