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Read Ebook: Aesop's Fables: A New Revised Version From Original Sources by Aesop BCE BCE Griset Ernest Henry Illustrator Tenniel John Illustrator Weir Harrison Illustrator
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Ebook has 62 lines and 5585 words, and 2 pages
A long box under a group of windows, built in with mouldings and panelling like the walls to the left of the door as one entered, was covered with a cushion of a small patterned velvet in dull gold. This box held golf clubs, tennis rackets and other odds and ends very conveniently. The lighting fixtures were black sconces with raised lacquer in gold. An old black lacquer Chinese chest with raised gold decorations served as a wood box and gave color and character.
Above this hung a black Chinese lacquer mirror of Queen Anne type. An inexpensive Chinese rug of blue with gold figures covered the centre of the floor, which had been properly varnished and waxed. Some Canton willow chairs with a low table of the same, cushions of plain Chinese blue and of brocades in Chinese design of blues, old golds and black carried out the idea of color. The room was made so attractive that it was decided to place the piano there. The windows, being small and many-paned, were hung to the sill with sheer sash curtains against the panes and soft old gold silk at either side of the window, all pulled back so that the vista into the gardens might not be obscured--a vital point in a country house.
The living room, opening off directly to the right, had its walls done in a soft Colonial yellow flat tone with cream trim; old mahogany furniture was covered in soft brown and dull old greens; an Oriental rug of great beauty and unusual coloring in golds, browns, tans and blues covered the floor. A piece of old brocade hung flat against the chimney breast, against which was hung a long oblong antique Colonial mirror. A pair of old brass candlesticks stood on the mantel with a bowl of laurel leaves reflected in the mirror in the middle; brass andirons and fender--all gave sparkle and life to the room. A wing chair with a low table at its left, on which stood a reading lamp, was placed beside the fire and gave a very inviting touch. There were no fixtures in this room, but many lamps all with gold colored silk shades. The rooms all opened so closely into one another that it was felt best to employ the same colors, though differently expressed.
The trim, throughout the entire house, which was small, with very low ceilings, was kept in the soft creamy tones. The wainscoted dining room had the same soft creamy paint, with a very quaint old black-backgrounded paper above the wainscoting, which was part of the original old house. Old brass sconces made into fixtures added another quaint touch, with soft yellow silk shades lined with deep rose to give a glow of color when lighted. Old mahogany table, chairs, sideboard and corner wall cupboard fastened high up into the corner. The floor, which was finished in a very dark stain, varnished and waxed, was covered with a dark brown--"t?te de negre"--seamless chenille rug. None of it expensive, none of it done in a "scheme," yet all harmonious, happy and unobtrusive.
The loveliest rooms are those that grow from one thing to another as the suggestion is developed. Of course, if your house is so pure in style or period as intelligently to call for only the period furniture of its type, that is a different proposition. We are dealing here with the ordinary conditions of thousands of our American homes--houses and apartments that have no special architecture or "period" background to work up to.
The guest bedroom contained a motley collection which would have cost much to replace with desirable and attractive furniture. An inexpensive copy of a French chintz paper in lovely soft blues and red pinks was found to cover the walls. The trim was painted creamy white. Then, as an inspiration, it was decided to paint the furniture, and a soft dull blue which was in the paper was decided upon. Everything--brass beds, bureau, chiffonier, desk and chairs, all were painted old blue. The dressing table had a much too ornate cheap mirror which was removed entirely and a small antique mahogany shaving mirror was stood on the dressing table in its place. Copies of old hardware handles, etc., replaced the common commercial variety. A red mulberry carpet rug made a wonderful background for the blue furniture, the floor having been properly done as to finish, varnishing, etc. At the windows were organdie curtains ruffled and looped back--no other hangings. The whole made a most charming room.
The same thing was done with another bedroom, in which a soft green instead of blue was used. The trim was done in the same creamy white; a green and white striped paper covered the walls. Again everything, beginning with the brass beds, was painted. An inexpensive English block print chintz was used in this room for curtains. A chaise longue was upholstered in this same chintz which had pink and soft mauves to offset and balance the green paint. Bed spreads with a full gathered valance covered as much of the ugly brass bed as possible. A dark green carpet rug was used,--and so another room was transformed by a coat of paint, at small expense, using what one had and painting all to bring it together happily. A few pieces of old mahogany or walnut can always be used in a room with painted furniture and they relieve the hardness which sometimes occurs with certain types of this kind.
It is always best to keep to the simplest types in furniture, avoiding cheap adaptations and the kind of wicker furniture that is full of scrolls and fancy loops.
A living room in an apartment had a most distressing look when first beheld by its prospective tenants. The apartment was in an old-fashioned house which had been made over. The doors and trim were of heavy solid oak with a yellow grained varnish finish--very expensive and very ugly. Nothing could look well against such a background.
This was entirely refinished and painted a soft dull green with a gold line on the smaller mouldings. The walls were tinted a greenish grey, the ceiling a soft, dull browny gold. At the windows were hung, only to the sill, filet net curtains, with old gold silk pushed back at the sides, both curtains hanging flat against the window pane to give full value to the deep embrasure of the window and do justice to the panelling and architectural detail.
In this room a lovely English glazed chintz was used to cover the large davenport and large winged chair. Pleated valances were used on these pieces. The chintz had a very soft pinky tan background with flowers in red pink and blue and yellow, producing a very old mellow effect. The other odd pieces of furniture were covered in a dull dark old blue. Built-in sunken book-cases flush with the wall were filled with books whose bindings reflected again the colors in the chintz. A fireplace of Italian design in dull green and gold composition with a pair of very quaint andirons of Italian reproduction and fixtures of the same style made another note in the room.
A very beautiful old Sheraton table was pulled up to the left of the guest as he sat on the davenport, which was placed at right angles to the fireplace, and held magazines, books and a large reading lamp with a gold colored shade. A room which was a mixture of English, Italian and Colonial, yet the effect of which was warm, soft and most sympathetic--all of which would have been impossible with the yellow varnished oak background originally in the room.
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