Chapter 14

FORM, COLOR AND PROPORTION

Never overemphasize one of the dimensions of _height, width_ and _depth_ at the expense of one of the others. They must be harmonized.

OBLONG

The proportions of any room are best when they make a normal impression on the eye. The oblong is the best decorative art _form_, as a rule. It can be used in nearly all ornaments, in walls, doors and windows, ceilings and floors, in rugs and furniture, because it is obvious.

THE SQUARE

The square form is solid and firm, but tends to be monotonous. Square windows, fireplaces and wall spaces, as well as square rooms in general and pictures, are usually uninteresting, and this applies to cubes as well. The big cubical chair, for instance, is something to be avoided.

THE TRIANGLE

The triangular form (in mantel clocks, lampshades, highboys, bookcase foundations, and sometimes where it appears in wall paper or Turcoman rug designs) expresses movement in repose admirably, and has real decorative values.

CURVED FORMS

Curved forms, the circle, the oval and the ellipse, are all agreeable. There is in them "a hint of the mysterious dualism of life."

COLOR

Colors makes decorative shapes easy to see. (For the character of the colors and the principles of their effective combination the reader will find much useful information in the "Color Harmony and Design in Dress" included in this series.) Art, Nature and books will all help the interior decorator in the matter of color adjustment. Trim in most houses compels the adjustment of the color harmony to suit it. In general white paneling calls for the use of one warm and one cool color, while dark brown or black paneling needs two or more warm colors.

PROPORTION

All parts of a furnished room must help express one ideal of balance. The realization of this ideal is proportion. A horizontal room calls for horizontal furniture and lines, a vertical room for vertical ones. Every important decorative feature of a room must be selected in accordance with its proportion in general. The size of a room increases the form scale (or scale of the forms) represented by furniture, pictures, rugs, etc. In every room the important individual pieces, such as library table, piano, bed, dresser, must parallel one or another wall. Do not violate proportion and artistic effect by overcrowding.