CHAIR SEATS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 801, 23 October 1929, Page 14

CHAIR SEATS

ADJUSTABLE LEATHER CUSHIONS leather cushions a | very welcome addition to the ordinary dining-room chair, and they are often made round, so that there may be no confusing of them with the square seat of the chair. With old, dark chairs very bright colours are used, j and the cushions may be stitched to- ! gether in quarters all of which are j different. I This is not to say that the cushions may have simply the brightness of a j child’s ball. Very good thick leather is used, and generally in raw sienna, madder, yellow', black. Some of the I deep red and rust shades are sewn [ together with white in between, and this easily takes on a general tone which is Egyptian or even Etruscan in ! suggestion. Leather cushions for dining-room chairs need to be fairly | full and yet maintain their flatness, j The custom of adorning them with any j kind of fringe is to be deprecated, as j the fringes get untidy and are some- ! times in the way. i Generally the well-sewn cushion of I circular shape, with a button in the J middle, is the most satisfactory. A | piping all round adds to the look of the whole. Where square cushions are used they are often in one colour only, : and this may be in very gorgeous red- ! dish tans. In thick, soft leather this adds greatly to the colour scheme of | the room. | Perhaps because it is often used only ] for meals, the dining-room easily takes jon a stiff, uninviting appearance. It I may even be too w'ell polished and 1 too well kept to suggest comfort. The I additions that can be made are not ! many, as in the case of a drawing- ! room, and they must be strictly businesslike. It is here that the good leather cushion comes in. It should he emphasised, however, that odd pieces of cheap leather are of no use at all In this connection. Only really good, well-dyed leather makes the diningroom cushions really worth while. It is quite usual to see a brass tortoise which in reality is a bell for the table or bedroom, but an ashtray secreted in the body is quite new. When the tail is touched the shell flies open, and reveals a large ashtray, and this is hidden again at a touch on I the head.