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finds in ordinary silks and other materials. The
chintzes must be appropriate to the uses of the room, well designed, in
scale with the height of the ceilings, and so forth. It is well to
remember that self-color rugs are most effective in chintz rooms. Wilton
rugs woven in carpet sizes are to be had now at all first class
furniture stores.
Painted furniture is very popular nowadays and is especially delightful
when used in chintz rooms. The furniture we see now is really a revival
and reproduction of the old models made by Angelica Kaufman,
Heppelwhite, and other furniture-makers of their period. The old
furniture is rarely seen outside of museums nowadays, but it has been an
inspiration to modern decorators who are seeking ideas for simple and
charming furniture.
A very attractive room can be made by taking unfinished pieces of
furniture--that is, furniture that has not been stained or painted--and
painting them a soft field color, and then adding decorations of
bouquets or garlands, or birds, or baskets, reproducing parts of the
design of the chintz used in the room. Of course, many of these patterns
could be copied by a good draftsman only, but others are simple enough
for anyone to attempt. For instance, I decorated a room in soft cream,
gray, yellow and cornflower blue. The chintz had a cornflower design
that repeated all these colors. I painted the furniture a very soft
gray, and then painted little garlands of cornflowers in soft blues and
gray-greens on each piece of furniture. The walls were painted a soft
cream color. The carpet rug of tan was woven in one piece with a blue
stripe in the border.
The color illustrations of this book will give you a very good idea of
how I use chintzes and painted furniture. One of the illustrations shows
the use of a black chintz in the dressing-room of a city house. The
chintz is covered with parrots which make gorgeous splashes of color on
the black ground. The color of the foliage and leaves is greenish-blue,
which shades into a dozen blues and greens. This greenish-blue tone has
been used in the small things of the room. The chintz curtains are lined
with silk of this tone, and the valance at the top of the group of
windows is finished with a narrow silk fringe of this greenish-blue. The
small candle shades, the shirred shade of the drop-light, and the
cushion of the black lacquer chair are also of this blue.
The walls of the room are a deep cream in tone, and ther
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