NEW ERA IN FURNISHING

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 338, 25 April 1928, Page 10

NEW ERA IN FURNISHING

EXPRESSION OF THE AGE SIMPLICITY OF LINE We live in the wonderful adventure of a new era in furnishing—expressed in a fine simplicity of line and an unprecedentedly wide choice of woods that are left to reveal th e beauty of their grain. The new furniture is not merely an expression of the age in which we are living, but shows an entirely new outlook of the present-day designers, who are creating beautiful work in simplicity of line and sound craftsmanship, without covering the natural grain of the wood with polish or varnish. Looking back, we find nearly every age which has produced a "style” of furniture of its own has made it similar in feeling to that of the country at the time it was designed. It has expressed the life of the people who lived in that particular period; their lives and customs have to a certain extent influenced the actual style of furniture. There have been heavy and light periods of furniture, grave and gay, plain and ebalorate—sometimes it has shown the economic state of the country, as to whether it were ,or

poor. At other times, it has been a mixture of both, looking as though it were made by many different people, and at different times, its own legs*being somewhat disjointed. The new furniture is perfect as a whole; it is delightful in form and feeling. Twentieth century craftsmanship shows the spirit of our times; and the thought is a pleasing one, for it is restful in its simplicity of form, and is not burdened with unnecessary decoration, but made particularly attractive by the use of coloured woods and inlay.

Even the large pieces of new furniture cannot be described as "heavy,” for they are mostly very distinctive in style, and where there is decoration, it does not detract from the beautiful shape of the piece of furniture. Rooms furnished in this style oi work show atmosphere, and cannot bo termed commonplace, for there is originality and thought in the mixing of the various woods, due, in many cases, to the discovery of new timbers. The application of colour in wood makes a strong appeal to those who realise th© need—and value —of colour in their homes. With the different treatments of woods, bandings, veneerings, and inlays, one gets a delightful change from the ordinary reproduction furniture. We now have something more in keeping with our lives and costumes, which is as it should be, as other periods have produced their furniture in sympathy with their architecture and clothes . Old-world homes and antique furniture, mellowed with age, are always delightful, but there are not enough old houses or furniture to go round. New homes there must be, which seem to demand new furniture, and the style of architecture requires contemporary things to harmonise in exactly the same way as the genuine antiques fit in with their old-world homes and surroundings. We seem, at last, to have found the right style of furniture to suit the modern house and our present mode of life, and without the slightest trace of heaviness in its design. Those who ar e fortunate enough to live in the up-to-date houses are feeling the advantages of this enlightened age by reaping the benefits of new inventions and these new styles, all of which have a tendency to save work.

Natural oak is very popular in many homes, also weathered-oak. but those who prefer mahogany veneered and other solid woods treated in this way find infinite variety in suitable furniture of this type. In the world of furnishing, things have reached such a standard of perfection that the fastidious are able to choose the furniture for the home in accordance with the light and position of each room. If the room is facing east o.r west, its particular type is already designed in the way of furniture, or if it is light or dark it can be furnished accordingly. A warm room often boasts silvergrey wood, while a cold room is warmed

—in effect—with the warmest coloured wood, or combination of woods, j possible. Time tests most things, and in our j critical eyes it is only the really good I pieces of furniture of days ! which please us sufficiently to find them room. There is every prospect of our new furniture living for a long time, and even becoming “period” furniture. In the modern designs all the. good points of antique work have been improved upon—the inferior ones left out altogether, and the ideas worked out are typically English, not in any way reminiscent of foreign influence. Various are the hues of woods employed in the making of some of the mere decorative pieces, with excellent results. More often than not, each wood must harmonise with its neighbour, for there ar e delicate and dark-toned woods used which are too numerous to mention in detail. A few of the favoured are maple, sycamore, cherry-wood, teak, ebony, black walnut, figured satinwood, and that delightfully fragrant cedar wood. Cross-grained veneering is shown in many of the new specimens and is most decorative in effect. Some of the simple woods, which have a lustrous surface, showing the various i rays to form the design, are quaint and original in style and verv much in vogu© to-day. This is an age when all woods seem to have come into their own, and are really appreciated to the full: and the new furniture shows comfortable and happy forms of treatment in great variety of household surroundings, likely to produce an important influence in future as well as present homes in England. e are still able to appreciate that which is old. but we are also able to admire a new style which owes nothing to early days and is characteristic of our present-day atmosphere. It is an interesting and refreshing home where every room is filled with contemporarv furniture. —Violet King in the "Ideal Home.” I A Brass Polish for Wet Weather.— Damp a cloth with methylated spirit, dip it into brickdust. Rub the article to b© cleaned with this, then put a little damp whiting on another cloth and rub on the article again. Let ir dry on, then polish with a chamois leather. Charmingly decorative are the new flowers of untarnishable copper and braas which an ingenious woman kas devised from these metals. The petals, which are of a wafer-like thickness, are mdde by hand, and the chrysanthemums especially have a very natural appearance. It is extraordinary too. how these blooms, with their long stems of twisted brass flexible wire, tone with the most varied of decorative schems. Water-lilies, which no. amount of water will even slightly dis- j colour,, art another happy achievement.