Studio: international art (10.1897)

The Decoration of a Commonplace Room

In late years much advance has been made in designed for them ; the majority of us have to make
the direction of decoration, and in decorative work the best we can of speculative builders' architecture,
generally. On all sides one sees furniture, fabrics, In this paper, an ordinary room has been taken,
wall-coverings, and everything wherewith to furnish ; and a scheme for the decoration thereof shown,
and though some of it may err in striving after a which, with the exception of the frieze perhaps,
too striking originality, yet there can be no doubt need not be beyond the pocket of the average
that much is in advance of what was to be had in middle-class householder. The room as shown
the early days of the Victorian Era. by the plan (Fig. i), is about twenty feet long, and

But though we can get furniture of more pleas- just over thirteen feet in width; the fireplace on
ing design, chairs that, even if their construction one of the longer sides, and the door on the other,
is not of the best, certainly are better than those The windows, one at each end, are not more than
we used to have ; wall-papers in infinite variety, usually ugly, and the white marble mantel-piece
and, if we can afford it, even tapestry; yet the suggests nothing worse than a miserable waste of
commonplace room seems destined to be always material.

with us. It is the privilege of but few to live in The first consideration when attempting the
houses they design themselves, or, better still, have decoration of a room must be—unless of course

you operate on freehold
property—that no structural
alterations can be allowed ;
cornices, architraves, build-
ers' mantel-pieces, &c, can-
not be touched; the best
thing to do then is to cover
them up, as suggested in
the sketch of room (page
39), and where this, or a
similar treatment is not
practicable, to leave them
severely alone.

The room is shown with
three-quarters of its height
divided into panels by up-
right slats of wood. Plas-

","........., 11 tering need not be touched,

if in anything like a fit state

fig. i. plan of commonplace room of repair; old papering must

37