On Choosing Furniture - The Kinds of Finish Suitable for Different Woods - The Importance of a Harmonious Scheme of Decoration - General Hints on Walls and Floors

The artistic success of a scheme of furnishing does not depend upon the amount of money spent on it. A comparatively small sum laid out with judgment will give better results than the most lavish expenditure made haphazard and without taste.

When economy is necessary, well-made furniture on simple lines should be chosen in preference to that which is elaborate and showy. Buy furniture of the best workmanship you can afford. Drawers that jam, castors that work loose, doors that refuse to close - these things make life a burden. A generation ago, some form of ornamentation, such as carving or inlay, was considered all-important, and in the case of inexpensive goods this was insisted on to the exclusion of good material and sound construction, while uty of proportion, which is in itself sufficient to make the simplest object charming, was overlooked.

Comfort An Essential Note

A house is primarily a place to be lived in, and it is necessary that, above all things, it should be comfortable, so an air of comfort should be the dominant note. Furniture, hangings, carpets, and the rest are to form, as it were, a background to one's daily life, and they should not obtrude themselves too violently into the picture; for this reason highly decorated furniture, however beautiful in itself, is difficult to deal with satisfactorily except in very spacious rooms.

Most of the charm of old English woodwork is due to its simple and dignified lines and to the mellowness of colouring brought about by age. These qualities make it easy to combine pieces widely differing in character into a pleasant and harmonious whole. But there is no reason why new furniture, if carefully chosen and arranged, should not give equally successful results.

Changing Ideals

Moreover, modern work has this great advantage, that, being designed to meet the special needs of our own day, it is generally more convenient for use than that made for our forefathers, whose lives were passed under different conditions. For example, the sideboard handed down to us by tradition has cupboards close to the ground, and the top, or "table part," about three feet three inches high - a relic of the old custom of carving meat on the sideboard. That cus-torn has fallen into disuse, but we still submit meekly to the discomfort of going on our knees to use the cupboards. The modern sideboard illustrated shows a departure from this, the chief point studied being a convenient arrangement of the cupboards and drawers.

However a piece of furniture is decorated, be sure that the decoration does not interfere with its proper use. A chair-back with anything such as carving projecting from it is most uncomfortable to lean against; a carved table-top is difficult to stand small things upon, and also it is apt to form a trap for dust, etc.; very spindly legs may look graceful, but the important thing is that they should not be too thin for the weight they have to bear.

Do not have your furniture "ornamented" with mirrors; a looking-glass is useful, but it is not in itself decorative. As a rule, it is better to have a mirror framed and hung on the wall rather than to have it forming part of a sideboard or other piece of furniture. If you have one over the mantelpiece, see that the bottom of it is some few inches above the shelf, so that it shall not reflect the back of the clock, or of anything else not intended to be seen from behind.

The Importance Of Proper Surface Finish

Most people think that, whatever be the wood the furniture is made of, it must be French polished. This is a mistake, and in buying furniture care should be taken that the finish is suitable to the kind of wood employed. Oak should never be French polished, but waxed, or oiled with linseed oil, firstly,because the bright polish exaggerates the coarseness of the grain, and secondly, because it forms an impervious coating which prevents the mellowing action of the air from taking effect, and producing that fine, deep colour - the distinctive feature of old oak which no artificial staining can counterfeit.

If you have a fancy for an oak suite which is already polished, you can generally arrange to order a similar suite from the workshop to be waxed, or it can be sent home in the natural state and waxed at home with ordinary beeswax and turpentine. Most of the so-called "waxed" oak furniture is given a thin coat of French polish first, and waxed afterwards; this gives a brighter finish at the start with less elbow-grease, but it is not so satisfactory. The natural oak is of a pale golden colour which has a sunny effect in some surroundings, but if a darker tone is desirable it is better to have the furniture fumed before it is sent home.

Walnut, particularly English and Italian walnut, should be waxed. Mahogany can be either waxed or French polished with equal success. Satin-wood and other delicate woods are always French polished.

It should be borne in mind that, while French polish has the brightest gloss, it is easily damaged, either by a scratch or by anything hot being placed on it, and it can only be restored by an expert polisher. Beeswax and turpentine or linseed oil, on the other hand, are easily applied by anyone, and an occasional application should be followed by a good brushing with a stiff brush.

A modern sideboard showing a convenient arrange-ment of cupboards and drawers. Since it is no longer customary to carve at a sideboard, this model is preferable to the old form with a "table-part" Hamilton T. Smith