Brightening Up That Room Can Be Fairly Simple

Lake County Mail, Issue 11, 6 August 1947, Page 10

Brightening Up That Room Can Be Fairly Simple

—A Few Suggestions

Are you tired of your living room or dining room, does it appear too dark or too small or do you merely want to have a change and brighten things up? Well, here are a few suggestions.

First, really look at the room. Is it dingy, shabby or dark, or arc you merely tired of your present arrangement? Redecorating can mean a variety of things from an expensive programme requiring re-upholstering, new curtaining and re-painting to a simple matter of changing the position of your furniture and making a few inexpensive alterations. If you do not want to embark on the “ whole works,” some of these suggestions may help. A change of background colour can alter your room out of all proportion. "The modern trend is for lighter walls and backgrounds, because lighter Avails make small rooms appear larger and dark rooms brighter. Larger patterned Avail-papers were definitely “ out ” some time ago, but they are returning iioav. Unless, however, you have a very sure sense of taste and decorating I Avould not adA'ise you to use them. Stick to the smaller, more discreet patterns, and be sure the basic colour in the Avail paper will fit in Avith the other colour schemes in your room.

Personally I prefer plain walls — cither a wallpaper without any pattern or a plain finish. I mentioned before that the trend was for lighter colours, but the term “ light ” covers a very wide field. Many persons think they must have warm colours for cold aspect| and cool colours for sunny aspects, but do not stick to this rule too rigidly. There arc warm and cold shades in every colour, and all colours are affected to a greater or lesser do-, gree, not only by light but by neighbouring colours. A pale yellow, for example, may look greenish and cold if used with greens, but warm as sunshine if used with orange-reds and reddish browns.

Now, is your room light or dark? if it’s light you will not have much trouble. Off-while or soft neutral shades or any clear tint from green, blue, yellow, and off-pink which fits in with your furnishing scheme, will look very well. If it is a dark room your aim will be to make the room glow, and the best way to achieve this is to treat your whole background, ceiling, Avails, and Avoodwork Avitli a light tint with underlying warmth. Off-white or pale cream arc hard to beat. These two colours reflect a natural light by day and light up AVell at night. Any bright and rich colours used in furnishings are enhanced by the light background.

Well, having dealt with the walls, let us turn to the furnishings. You may not be able to afford rc-upholstcr-ing, but c’an you manage new loose

covers? These are not very expensive ;md with many now furnishings appearing in our shops they can be a very easy means of rejuvenating your suite.

If you choose a floral pattern, liow about giving it a narrow piping of one of the colours in Mie fabric and repeat the colour in, a. cushion or two in the same pjgiji shade. A warning—not too many cushions of the same shade. One very charming lounge I saw had the furniture, with loose covers, of

plain beige coarse-weave sacking, piped with rust —the colour of the over-all carpet.

An re-arrangement of your furniture depends entirely on the type and quantity of furniture, the position of your windows and your fire-place or heater. As a general rule do not block up your windows in any way if you can help it, and if you have a good view make the most of it and have chairs placed where the view can be appreciated. Consider your fireplace also, and see that your furniture is placed so that you obtain the full benefit of your fire on these cold days.

I have not so far mentioned curtainings, because these are dependent on so many factors. The size and type of window, the type of furniture and your own personal choice have to be considered. If your windows are, however, large and long, make the most of them with material and not frilly net or lace. If they are small and you wish to make them longer, try making the curtains come a little loAver than

your Avindowsjll. This gives an illusion of additional height. Be sure that they harmonise Avith the colour scheme of your loom.

As a final reminder, have a look at your cushions and ornaments. Does the room have the faintest hint of being a little cluttered up. Aunt Mary’s satin cushion may have been a cherished gift on your wedding day, but isn’t it time it was relegated to the back room or covered in a plainer fabric? And maybe—just maybe—we can gather up some of these flower bowls and vases and store them in a cupboard and bring them out when we have flowers which will suit them rather than having them all on display on the mantlepiece or in odd comers. And do not whatever you do forget what a difference flowers or some greenery does make to a room. It makes it live.

are at home wherever society’s leaders gather, and in conformity with their exalted status, sell for anything up to £75 a piece. Reason, apart from the unpredictability of woman’s modes, can be found in the habit of Parisian dress designers of the early ’2o’s of exporting dresses with chunks of crystal, wooden fruit, and silver flowers ornamenting lapels and bosoms. Then bobbed hair and skull fitting cloche hats became the fashion. The long ornate hatpin, the towering gilt knobbed comb were doomed. Ornament makers couldn’t pin anything on the upper strata of woman’s person, so they had to look for other fields to cultivate. As a result they poured out strings of necklaces, bangles, lapel pins, tiepins, shoulder pins, and waistpins; . chains, butterflies, stag flowers, harps, leaves, crowns, and what have you—anything, in fact, that could conceivably be fastened anywhere on .the feminine anatomy and shine there.

. Reading trends and producing ideas €:o satisfy the novelty-hungry nation gives designers and manufacturers many, a , headache. New jewellery has to he. .created to fit in with fashion developments. .When off-the-shoulder

evening gowns appeared costume, jewellers were ready with pearl dog collars and rhinestone necklaces; when sleeves on day-time drosses came to a point between wrist and elbow ■ they were there with bushels of bracelets;