The Point Of View

THERE are undoubtedly some who at the very beginning of considering an improvement in furnishing will need to revise their ideas as to what good furnishing is; substituting new ideals and standards in place of an indulgence in plush and varnish and in favour of the real, sincere, and beautiful, however simple it may be.

Probably we all have our "queernesses", and the illogical quality of the human mind is as entertaining as a circus - with no admission-fee to pay. Many persons revile tradition and have nothing but scorn for the "past"; yet these are the very ones who cling with the grasp of the drowning to all the ideas and ways of their grandmothers, though the times in which they lived constituted what is admittedly the worst and the only really bad period in household furnishing since modern furnishing began in the 15th century.

Then those who have been accustomed to a merely casual collection of household goods of various kinds and colourings, with no distinctive idea behind their collection, and those whose environment has unhappily, through force of circumstances, consisted of such things as disproportioned over-ornamented, highly varnished furniture with hideous coverings, of fancy wall-papers and flower-bedecked rugs, will possibly at first find good furnishing of any kind, and particularly simple furnishing, rather bare and strange. A plain but attractive method of decoration is shown in Plate 2 and its carrying out described in the text.

The first principle of the much lauded democratic spirit of our day and generation is that we have no betters. Why then should anyone attempt to imitate in cheap and tawdry materials the more elaborate furnishing of those who are no "better" (whatever that expression may mean) instead of aiming at a really beautiful and appropriate result, easily to be obtained by the use of worthy furniture and textiles purchasable at a proper expenditure for one's own circumstances? Let us, without self-assertion, be really individual and independent. In the beginning let us get our ideas right, adopt a sensible point of view. We should aim at use and beauty: use first; for if furnishing is inappropriate to ourselves, to the interior in which it is employed, or to the purposes designed, it will not be beautiful. Even rich decoration if rightly done has its simplicity: that is to say, there is no overcrowding, and to ornament is given the relief of abundant plain surface. In this Modern style of furnishing will be found a large proportion of such comparatively un-decorated space in walls and floors, brightened and made interesting by the use of colour.

A good effect may be gained either by the employment of a very few hues well disposed and balanced, or by a liberal employment of colour. It is to be noted that if some of the interior decoration shown in the colour plates of this volume possess too great an element of novelty for the personal taste of any reader these are readily subject to modification. But it is to be observed, as well, that until the last few years the colour-sense of most of those now alive has been starved, they never having been supplied with a reasonable amount of nourishment in this direction. Such interiors, then, will prove a valuable tonic. Colour in the past was always a vital part of decoration and furnishing; sometimes it was bold and buoyant, sometimes refined, but it was never anamic!

There is also a certain amount of caution to be used. Colourful decoration is now abroad in the land. In some quarters restraint and dignity seem to be unknown words; strong constructional qualities and appropriateness to architectural setting are forgotten; instead of sane abodes for sensible men and women we see dolls' houses, bedecked and bedraped, painted, stencilled, embroidered, window-boxed, cord-and-tasselled, and cretonned. All these things are good in due proportion, but in some instances there is "no rest for the weary." We must be saved from severity: would to heaven we might be spared from undue ornament. Let not the woman of the house imagine that with a pot of paint of any colour she likes, and half a dozen of them at that, lavishly applied to old furniture, and aided by yards of "stunning" cretonne, she will accomplish "interior decoration": both resources have value in their place - and not too many places. So in all things: if we indulge in an orgy of ornament we shall soon be tempted to go back to the former inadequate symphony in mud and mustard, simply for the sake of peace and quiet! A balanced yet adventurous mind will without difficulty create variety and find expression for its individuality: it will avoid the one error of overdoing as it will the other of sinking into monotony and dulness.

Small premises, whether house or apartment, especially demand restfulness and coherence of result. The cutting up into a number of fragments by different treatments in the various rooms destroys the impression of spaciousness which the premises as a whole, even when of limited extent, may give if wisely handled. Dark walls on the one hand or strong patterns and advancing colouring in paperings on the other further minimise the effect of space. Upon the treatment of background - walls, ceilings and floors - more than upon any other one feature depends, then, a happy result in the furnishing of the small house or apartment.

This is not to say that walls must invariably be plain and many interesting suggestions will later be made, but not only are we now considering the simplest and most inexpensive mode of decoration but it is in itself one of the most charming of methods.