Page 6 Advertisements Column 2

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 651, 1 May 1929, Page 6

HOME COMFORT SOME USEFUL HINTS FOR j FURNISHING Comfort means different things , to different people, but they will j agree when a room has a com- ' fortable air, even if their particular requirements are absent, writes A. M. Dane in “Homes and Gardens.” It is no uncommon thing to see rooms displaying impeccably good taste, with fine furniture, well schemed decora- ; tions, and expensive accessories, j yet they give no impression of ! comfort. And there are other rooms, nondescript from the fur- j nishing and decorative standpoints, with large ramshackle armchairs, surrounded by a lit- i ter of papers and books, which | may mean comfort to their owners, j but do not suggest it to anyone J else. The really comfortable room must j combine a certain sense of style and j ordered arrangement with ease, if it | is to satisfy all desires, just as a welcoming and “lived in" appearance must dispel that stiff disregard for the uses of chairs and tables, which sometimes makes the expensively furnished “period” room more suggestive of a high-class department store than a human habitation. This unapproachable aspect may be modified in a variety of ways, markedly by a more intelligent arrangement of the furniture, especially with reference to the fireside. Warmth is one of the essentials of indoor comfort, and the placing of a settee and armchair about the hearth, with tables conveniently disposed to take book, ashti'ay, or tea cup, is one of the first methods of humanising such an interior. A low fender stool or a con veniently placed coffee table will break the formal arrangement of highbacked chairs while cushions, of which one can hardly have too many, invite one to take one’s ease. A carpet square makes a wonderful addition to comfort, especially as in these days rooms are frequently sparse of furniture. Evidences of occupation—the card table placed wh.ere it can be used, not dissimulated in some remote corner, as well as a writing table placed in a good light beneath the window —make for that homelike atmosphere which differentiates a house from an hotel. A lighting system which enables one to pursue his several employments in comfort is not the least important item. A diffused light from some central bowl or chandelier may be admirably arranged for entertaining, I but well shaded, adroitly disposed j table lamps, which throw the light on i t lie work or books, give pleasure and the advantage of localised and intimate lights. A tall screen round the door has decorative value, besides mitigating a draught. The direct opposite of the stiff, unbending, formal type of room is the one which has an undoubted appearance of comfort, yet is at the same time entirely wanting in any kind of distinction —so wanting in form as to be a mere jumble of unrelated objects. The room which is filled with an illdisposed number of conveniences is made much more comfortable, in the true sense, by the putting of these in their place, with the consequent improvement in their whole appearance. A more important bookcase, for instance, which may give dignity and height to a featureless wall, will hold the volumes scattered about on tables, shelves, or wall brackets, making them easier to find when wanted. A large new wastepaper basket, supplemented by stationery cases, files, blotter, stamp boxes, and neat compendiums for labels, string, and other necessities, will greatly add to the convenience of the most commodious writing table. And a periodical overhauling of ornaments, pictures, almanacs, photographs, cards, and other items which the comfortable sitting room gathers with extraordinary rapidity will do much to restore its vanished : distinction. For kitchen mats, for use by table, stove and sink, use up odd pieces of linoleum after covering the floor. Cut to shape and add a two-inch border of black Japan, painted over the linoleum. These look better than mats of a different pattern. On summer evenings there is no doubt that even unlighted candles have their definite place in schemes for table decoration. Those of pale applegreen look loveliest on a table set with sweet peas in crystal bowls. A striking effect is obtained by the use of black candles in conjunction with a dessert service of scarlet Venetian glass. Among the new bathmats are those of crepe rubber. In many colours, they are a pleasing novelty in the bathroom. But with the popularity of home-made things to crochet a bathmat is the latest fad. Ordinary flat double crochet can be used throughout. and the mat is an easily-made 1 addition to a pretty bathroom.