Space in Small Rooms

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 855, 26 December 1929, Page 7

Space in Small Rooms

Born, like granite, of a union of plastic earth and searing, incandescent flame, tile is practically imperishable. Burned in a temperature unapproaclied in any building conflagration, tile — immune itself —shields other materials from fire. Blood brother to the everlasting rocks, tile is untouched by the ravages of time. Designed, with science and skill, for maximum strength and minimum weight, it bears burdens dependably and safely.

Do you want to make your rooms look larger? Have you a small house or flat in which you pine for an effect of more space? This can be obtained if you have the right, shall we say, scenic sense? Overcrowding is the chief cause of that cramped appearance. If you have any articles in the room that can be done without, remove them and mark the effect. Do not go to the other extreme, however, and substitute pieces of diminutive furniture, or you may find yourself in a “doll’s” house.

A comfortable armchair, a chesterfield, an adjustable table and a writing desk should suffice for your main pieces. They should match the wallpaper as nearly as possible. A dividing line between your ceiling and your wallpaper is a mistake. Both should be of the same colour—light, of course—and should consequently merge into one another. A rounded celling is best of all. Do not forget that roundness, even in furniture, not only gives the effect of space, hut the space itself. Any articles with the corners cut off must serve both these purposes. A semicircular card table or desk placed flat against .the wall is a case in point. On the other hand, a triangular cabinet or grandfather’s clock that fits into a corner will lend an air, and at the same time take up practically no space.

Furniture, with possibly one or two

EFFECT OF GOOD FURNISHING Lady Strathspey’s Advice WELL known as an interior decorating expert, Lady Strathspey gives advice in the “Daily Mail” on how to give an impression of space in a flat or small house. Furniture, drapings, pictures and ornaments all play important parts in gaining this effect, the writer maintains.

exceptions to give contrast, should be as low as possible—in the modern fashion. This again gives the actual space as well as the appearance. The ideal articles for this purpose are the ultra-modern skeleton tables, desks, and stools —the desks with rounded drawers and the circular tables made of glass. Let plain window curtains fit close up to the frame and hang right down to the floor. This will give an effect of height. Be careful that the curtains fall on to the carpet and match it, as the great thing is to avoid dividing lines. LONG PICTURE CORDS Pictures should be as few as possible. Hung low on very long cords, they will again give a height effect. A" fairly large mirror placed opposite the door, so that most of the room is reflected, may give the right impression, though in certain cases it might defeat its own ends. Avoid a tiny mantelpiece, and above all do not overload it with ornaments. If you must have ornaments, have them both large and small to obtain contrast, hut not medium-sized. Lighting arrangements should be high up, hidden and soft. Alternatively, when you do not want the whole room lit up, localise your lamp with a more or less opaque shade which will direct the light where desired. This should give the remainder of the room an atmosphere of shadowy distance.

The decorative value of lighting fixtures in the home is coming into more prominence each season. This spring, particularly during the housecleaning and redecorating season, attention is being focused on the lighting equipments because of the recent general awakening on the part of the home owner to the possibilities that lie in having the newer styles of fixtures harmonise with other furnishings. Possibly because of the very rapid growth of the use of electricity in the home, the true development of fixtures from a decorative standpoint appears to have been somewhat neglected in the growing interest centred on convenience outlets and the selection of fixtures purely for illumination purposes.