A Garden on the Walls

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 529, 5 December 1928, Page 9

A Garden on the Walls

LATEST MURAL DECORATIONS Sprays and Growths FASHIONS in house furnishing are as changeable as fashions in dress, and we have passed through a number of phases since the beginning of the twentieth century brought release from the Victorian yoke. The natural reaction from dark rooms filled to overflowing with massive oak and mahogany “pieces,” has given us light flooded rooms which are considered sufficiently furnished if they contain a few comfortable chairs, a bookcase, and a gramophone. Similarly with wall treatments.

The swing of the pendulum brought severely plain walls hung with possibly a few black-framed etchings in place of the florid wallpapers of last century, with their conventional designs partly hidden behind an awe-

effects may be obtained. The downward “growths” are sometimes only an extension of the old-fashioned frieze, but discard neat regularity for a positive riot of blooms. Getting away from “growths,” some of the all-over floral papers can look

inspiring array of family portraits But the era of revolt has now passed People are beginning to realise that a sparsely furnished ro6m with bare white plaster walls lacks character, and is rather less than Inviting. Hence the wallpaper has come into Its own again, and is offered to us in a multiplicity of delightful forms that is positively bewildering. ‘‘There is nothing new under the sun,” and the present day tendency is merely a reversion to mediaeval times when the mistress of the baronial castle relieved the monotony of her bare hall with mural decora tions. in those days hand-woven tapestries. The only difference lies in the fact that those bygone homemakers sought their inspiration in scenes of battle, murder, and sudden death: to-day we seek ours in the garden. A number of the new \yall papers are patterned all over with “real” flower designs, but the most distinctive are those which feature what are known as the “upward” or “downward” "growths." Two examples of these are shown in the illustrations. The walls are papered with any light neutral toned paper (the various tones of fawn from putty to buff, and the lighter greys are popular at present), and then floral motifs, which are purchased separately, are placed at irregular intervals round the walls either in upward or downward positions. or both. These need not necessarily match in size. They can be varied to fit the furniture. Some of these "growths” are very colourful and most realistic. One suggested treatment which is most attractive has a regular herbaceous border growing up to a few inches above the wainscotting, from which clumps of tall foxgloves, gladioli, and other summer flowers rear their heads. The wall looks a veritable garden. This is an extreme case and is hardly recommended except where the income permits that the wall treatments can be changed at will. One is apt to tire of the design. Even the least changeable do not keep the same kind of flowers in the same bowl in the same spot perpetually. Designs with a slight motif are attractive. A small spray fIUDg across the upper corner of a panel gives a distinctive touch. If the motifs are chosen with moderation and good taste some very delightful

delightful In panels, although here again one is apt to tire of the very definite, highly-coloured design. A paper where brilliant birds of paradise fly through trees entwined with flowers, for instance Some, of these panel papers, getting back to the idea of the old tapestries, depict scenes. A variation of the Chinese willow pattern design carried out In black and gold would make a suitable background for an “Eastern” room. In this department Canadian papers have come into prominence of late and bid fair to supplant English papers. Where the exigencies of income demand that the paper remain a fixture for a number of years, or where the householder’s inclinations lead from the exotic to the restfully simple, wall treatments can still be both charming and fashionable. The polychrome papers present a number of attractive possibilities They have no defined pattern, but ook as though they had been painted in two or three colours and that the paint had been allowed to run, thus achieving a blurred effect that is restful to tne eye. The opal chromes are very near relations, but introduce, more colour, presenting a surface on which the multiplicity of soft tones closely emulate the real opal. These are suitable for papering a whole room where the panel effect is not desired Wood papers are most realistically grained, and the smooth surface is less likely to harbour dust. If you are the fortunate possessor of French furniture of the Louis XIV period, you should paper your walls with “silk” paper. These look so like thick watered silk that you run your hand down them, expecting to feel the silky texture. There are some lovely shades of blue in this paper that wii: not fade overmuch. For the papers with garden motifs there is this to be said, that they gt a long way in themselves toward fur nishing a room. Much furniture would detract from the decorative value of these pretty papers. Hence flat owners who want to sublet woul< find them a good investment.