White enameled furniture is not only peculiarly appropriate for the bedroom, but is well adapted to home construction, inasmuch as soft and inexpensive woods may be used and any slight defects in the wood or in the fitting may be puttied over. The use of putty further simplifies the construction by making it possible to use nails wherever desired. Those who have not seen new wood properly treated and coated with white or cream enamel rubbed to a flat finish after the modern fashion cannot fully appreciate the very fine effect.

Another possibility with this finish is that a stripe, or even a light stencil design, of the prevailing tint of the bedroom, may be run around the fronts of the drawers, a good deal after the fashion of the inlaid strips with which Sheraton embellished his lovely furniture. The reader will of course understand that the white enamel finish is not imperative, but if stains are used, a light effect is desirable for such large surfaces.

The appearance of these pieces will in a large measure depend on the accuracy with which the curves around the feet are worked out. These curves are all elliptical, and an ellipse is just about as easy to lay out as a circle if gone about in the right way. In the working drawings there is a small diagram which shows how to lay out an accurate ellipse. Suppose that a string reaches from a tack at A, around a pencil-point (P), to a tack at B. Then any movement of the pencil that keeps the string tight will trace a perfect ellipse. The distance between the points A and B are nine and three-fourths inches for the seat, ten and three-eighths for wash-stand, eleven for bedside-stand, and twelve and five-eighths for dresser.

In sawing out these curves with the key hole-saw. proceed slowly, so as to avoid tearing up splinters along the outside. The finishing down to line will require the use of the spoke-shave and considerable sandpaper. The very simplicity of the outline will necessitate a sharp edge in order to be effective.

In the matter of painting and enameling you can spend about as much or as little time as you care to, depending on the results desired. After thoroughly wiping off the sandpaper-dust, touch up any sappy spots or knots with shellac, and then fill any defects with putty, which, by the way, should never be applied to new wood without having first oiled the place to be puttied.

The first coat should be of good white paint (white lead, linseed-oil, and turpentine), which should be lightly sanded when dry and then receive a second coat. By this time our piece of furniture will begin to look quite well. The better enamels usually are accompanied by a preliminary "undercoat" preparation, which should follow the white paint, and is sometimes applied in as many as three or four coats, between each of which the piece is thoroughly rubbed. The finishing-coat is of the enamel proper, and may be left with the gloss or rubbed flat.

The result of all this labor is a beautiful smooth surface that will wear for years. A quite satisfactory finish, however, may be obtained with a coat of white paint, followed by one of prepared enamel. In fact, a good smooth surface treated in this way will be superior to a rougher one receiving the more elaborate finish.

Many of the pieces in this set will have to be glued up from two or more pieces of wood, a feature of the work that may be conveniently attended to at the mill.

There is really nothing to prevent the home-worker from making a bedroom-set of this sort, provided he will work carefully, slowly, and with accuracy. It will be necessary for him to have good tools, and a reliable square is absolutely essential. Without careful measurements and a thorough "truing up" of joints and corners, the work will have a very amateurish look which no amount of painting and enameling can rectify. All of the tools used in making furniture should be of good quality, sharp and in the best condition. No great amount of skill or experience is needed by the workman, but he does need patience, and must be painstaking.

Although this bedroom-set is to be finished in white enamel, it would be quite possible to finish it in the light French-gray enamel which is now so popular. This enamel is copied from some of the old French enameled furniture, and is very beautiful. Another suggestion for finishing is to decorate the set, after it has been finished in white enamel, with small medallions in Wedgewood blue with white figures. These would necessarily have to be copied from good designs in a first-class furniture establishment. This, too, is a very new idea and very beautiful when successfully done.

However, these are merely suggestions: If the set is well made and finished in white or ivory enamel without any decorations, it will be found to be very handsome and satisfactory to the most fas.

The curved back strip and the two uprights that support the mirror are next in order; and, after mortising them together, secure them to the top by glue and by nails set in from below through the top board. The back should now be closed and the curved foot strip shaped up and secured in place, after which the drawers will receive our attention. A moment's inspection of any well-made piece of furniture will clearly indicate the best and most workmanlike manner of connecting the several thin pieces of wood that form the inner portion of the dresser-drawer.

Beveled plate is desirable for the mirror, and if a piece of almost the correct size can be reasonably secured, change the size of the frame to accommodate it. The mirror feature need not be made a part of the main structure of the dresser, but may be hung on the wall above, as in the case of the dressing-table.