Four Well-Furnished Rooms
Designed by UnA Nixon Hopkins: With Drawings
By Frances Lauderbach
A Pink Bedroom
Dainty cretonne, such as has been used as the keynote for the decoration of this room, always tends to give the cheerful, restful air so desirable in a sleeping-room. The wall is plaster tinted — although plain paper would give very much the same effect — and the rose in the cretonne was taken as the motif for the stenciled border above the picture moulding. Casement windows on two sides of the room provide a cross draft, which is always desirable. Shades are omitted at the windows, but the cretonne curtains are lined with plain sateen, and slide easily on brass rods so that they may be pulled together to shut out the light. Cretonne decorates the home-made furniture, and is used for the cover of the dainty comforter on the bed. For a floor covering nothing could be better than this simple striped rag rug.
A Brown and Tan Living-Room
When the walls are sand-finished, as in the illustration, the chimney breast above the mantelshelf may be simply a continuation of the wall proper, and below the shelf a good amount of cement may be put into the plaster which may be marked off into squares, and tinted the same as the walls. This is not only economical, but it also apparently extends the space in a small room, doing away with any interruption in color. Where a decorated frieze is not desirable narrow strips of wood may be used with good effect to indicate a frieze, and these same strips, running at right angles, will make a pleasing contrast to the wall. Cotton poplin stenciled has been used for the curtains, the table scarf, and the pillow on the window-seat. Although this room is comparatively small the recessed window-seat gives a feeling of space.
A Simple Dining-Room
This dining-room was designed with the idea of making it harmonize with the living-room; yet care was taken not to repeat the color scheme altogether. The grape and its vine — which are stenciled on a very fine art burlap — were chosen as the motif for decoration, and the coloring has been accentuated by some good pieces of old china. The wall above the dado is of the same rough plaster as in the living-room. Small casement windows, with their quaint, leaded panes of glass, have been placed high enough so that when open one may site at the table without fear of drafts. The upper part of the doors is of leaded glass also, to correspond to the windows. No dishes that do not further the color scheme have been permitted here, as the temptation to "clutter" a small dining-room is one of the reasons why this room is seldom successful.
A Blue Bedroom
A sweet, wholesome air pervades this room, and how deftly the decoration has been handled! The cold, plain look of the white furniture has been relieved by a dainty design in blue — a design so simple that any homeworker may easily repeat it. The fireplace is of white plaster, smooth finish, cut to simulate tile, and decorated with a stencil design in the frieze. The small shelf which relieves the face of the chimney is just large enough to hold two ornaments. Simple muslin was chosen for the window curtains because it is so easily laundered, and the cushions are of blue linen to match the paper. The long seats under the windows have hinged covers, and will be found useful for storing away clothing, or extra bed linen during the day, and one of them may be used as a wood-box.
Source
- Hopkins, Una Nixon. "Four Well-Furnished Rooms." Ladies Home Journal, Vol. XXVIII, No. 4 (February 15, 1911): 43.
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