The Art of Interior Decoration

One so often hears the complaint, "I could not possibly set out alone to furnish a room! I don't know anything about _periods_. Why, a Louis XVI chair and an Empire chair are qu...

It is interesting to note that the Great Fire of London started the importation of foreign woods from across the Baltic, as great quantities were needed at once for the purpose...

Lucky is the man or woman of taste who has no inherited eyesores which, because of association, must not be banished! When these exist in large numbers one thing only remains to...

In a New York home one room is devoted to a so-called _panier fleuri_ collection which in this case means that each article shows the design of a basket holding flowers or fruit...

We use the term "period rooms" with full knowledge of the difficulties involved, in defining Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Directoire, Jacobean, Empire, Georgian, Victorian an...

Sumptuous bathrooms are not modern inventions, on the contrary the bath was a religion with the ancient Greeks, and a luxury to the early Italians. What we have to say here is i...

The only way to learn how to distinguish the three _Louis_ is to study these periods in collections of furniture and objects of art, or, where this is impossible, to go through...

We all know the saying that it is only those who have mastered the steps in dancing who can afford to forget them. It is the same in every art. Therefore let us state at once, t...

For the young and inexperienced we state a few rules for table decoration. If you have furnished your dining-room to accord not only with your taste, but the scale upon which yo...

The story of the evolution of textiles (any woven material) is fascinating, and like the history of every art, runs parallel with the history of culture and progress in the art...

Many of our museums have interesting collections of old Wedgwood. Altogether the most complete collection we have ever seen is in the museum adjoining the Wedgwood factories in...

If you have been in Venice then you know the Murano Museum and its beguiling collection of Venetian glass, that old glass so vastly more beautiful in line and decoration than th...

The classic periods in French furniture were those known as Francis I, Henry II and the three Louis,--XIV, XV, and XVI. One can get an idea of all French periods in furnishing b...

The experience of the author is that the most attractive, inexpensive furniture is that made by the Leavens factory in Boston. This furniture is so popular with all interior dec...

Periods in furniture are amazingly interesting if one plunges into the story, not with tense nerves, but gaily, for mere amusement, and then floats gently, in a drifting mood. O...

Following the Gothic Period came the Renaissance of Greek art which began in Italy under the leadership of Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael, who, rejecting the existing types of de...

"Sun-rooms" are now a feature of country and some town houses. One of the first we remember was in Madrid, at the home of Canovas del Castillo, Prime Minister during the Regency...

Candlesticks, lamps, and fixtures for gas and electricity must accord with the lines of your architecture and furniture. The mantelpiece is the connecting link between the archi...

In a measure, the materials for hangings and furniture-coverings are determined more or less by the amount one wishes to spend in this direction. For choice, one would say silk...

There are countless fascinating schemes for arranging sun-rooms. One which we have recently seen near Philadelphia, was the result of enclosing a large piazza, projecting from a...

From Greece, culture, borne on the wings of the arts, moved on to Rome, and at first, Roman architecture and decoration reproduced only the classic Greek types; but, as Rome gre...

It is impossible to state a rule for this, however, because while there are many styles of pictures which all are able to classify, such as old paintings which are antique in co...

Here we can indulge our tastes for beautiful quality of materials and fine workmanship, as well as good line and colour, so we describe a room which has elegant distinction and...

{The transition style {Legs tapering { between the Bourbon { straight, rounded { Interior Decoration { and grooved. A { and that of { few square-grooved { the "Directorate" { le...

Painted furniture is, at present, the vogue, so if you own a piece made by the Adam brothers of England, decorated by the hand of Angelica Kauffman, or Pergolesi, from Greek des...

The furniture made in America during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was reproduced from English models and shows the influence of Chippendale, Sheraton, Heppelwhi...

Every house, or flat, which is at all pretentious, should arrange a Vanity Room for the use of guests, in which there are full-length mirrors, a completely equipped dressing-tab...

"Those who duly consider the influence of the _fine-arts_ on the _human mind_, will not think it a small benefit to the world, to diffuse their productions as wide, and preserve...

The first thing to consider in selecting window shades when furnishing a _house_, is whether their colour harmonises with the exterior. Keeping this point in mind, further limit...

An original scheme for a dining-room was recently carried out in a country house in England by a woman whose hobby is illuminating. It will appeal to experts in the advance guar...

The revival of Directoire and Empire furniture within the past few years, is attributed by some, to that highly artistic, and altogether illuminating publication, the _Gazette d...

Every bedroom planned for a woman, young or old, calls for a work table, work basket or work bag, or all three, and these furnish opportunities for additional "flowers" in your...

Gradually architecture and interior decoration drew apart, becoming two distinct professions, until during the Victorian era the two were unrelated with the result that the peri...

Nothing is ever more attractive than the big open fireplace, piled with blazing logs, and with fire-dogs or andirons of brass or black iron, as may accord with the character of...

The Gothic Period is the pointed period, and dominated the art of Europe from about the tenth to the fifteenth century. Its origin was Teutonic, its development and perfection F...

A long, narrow hall in a house, or apartment, is difficult to arrange, but there are methods of treating them which partially corrects their defects. One method is shown on Plat...

A professional pianist invariably prefers the case of his or her piano left in its simple ebony or mahogany, and would not approve of its being relegated to the furniture depart...

The modern architect turns out his closets so complete as to comfort and convenience, that he leaves but little to be done by the professional or amateur decorator. Each perfect...

By introducing plenty of yellow and orange you can bring sunshine into a dark living-room. If your house is in a part of the country where the heat is great, a dark living-room...

Whether you expect to arrange for one servant or a dozen, keep in mind the fact that efficiency is dependent upon the conditions under which your manor maid-servant rests as wel...

About nine years ago, an American connoisseur, automobiling from Paris to Vienna, the route which lies through Northern Italy, quite by chance, happened to see some statuettes i...

A dining-room buffet requires the same dignity of treatment demanded by a mantelpiece whether the silver articles kept on it be of great or small intrinsic value. Here, as in ev...

Mere comfort.--Period rooms.--Starting a collection of antique furniture.--Reproductions.--Painted furniture.--Order of procedure in creating a room.--How to decide upon colour...

Chiselling of metals.--Ormoulu.--Chippendale.--Colonial.--Victorian.--The art of furniture making.--How to hang a mirror.--Appropriate furniture.--A home must have human quality...

Method of procedure.--Inherited eyesores.--Line.--Colour.--Treatment of small rooms and suites.--Old ceilings.--Old floors.--To paint brass bedsteads.--Hangings.--Owning two or...

Appropriateness.--Intelligent elimination.--Furnishings.--Colour scheme.--Small suites.--Background.--Placing rugs and hangings.--Treatment of long wall-space.--Men's rooms.--Ta...

A panier fleuri collection.--A typical experience in collecting.--A "find" in an obscure American junk-shop.--Getting on the track of some Italian pottery.--Collections used as...

Materials woven by hand and machine, embroidered, or the combination of the two known as Tapestry.--Painted tapestry.--Art fostered by the Church.--Decorated walls and ceilings,...