Living Rooms can be Improved by Simple Small Alterations

Taranaki Daily News, 30 September 1940, Page 24 (Supplement)

Living Rooms can be Improved by Simple Small Alterations

In the days of our grandmothers there used to be two kinds of living rooms— the one in which the family lived, and the one in which mother entertained. To-day, in most farmhouses, the two functions are combined in one room and frequently that room also serves as the dining room as well. This is just another reason why a little thoughtful re-ar-rangement will well repay the time devoted to con'sidered planning. To be successful. a living room should

be prepared according to the habits and activities of the various members of the family. For example, if card games are frequently played, it should not be necessary to move heavy chairs and chesterfields every time the pack is produced. If, on the other hand the tendency is to gather round the fire and read, then that is the place for the class of chair most sought after by the various individuals. Barbara Neville has set out a few ideas on how to improve a living room that should have a practical application to many Taranaki farmhouses.

"Go into your room," says Barbara, "as though you were a critical visitor. I am sure the first thing you will notice will be the collection of miscellaneous vases and ornaments, - family photographs and various pictures hung at different heights. To reach a comfortable chair, you have to go arbund , the table. at least some of these things are preventing your living-room from being as comfortable and attractive as it might be. The best way to begin the re-ar-rangement is to take down all the pictures— all the photographs, vases, ornaments, and any other bric-a-brac that is cluttering up the room. "Now, at one end or corner, put the dining table and the chairs, and if there is a sideboard or buffet, place that flat against the wall (not across a corner) near the table, but also near the door to the kitchen. A large bay window often provides a good solution to the placing of the table. In the remaining space in the room group your chairs, settee, otc., towayd the firCplace. "The time has come to consider your pictures. Do look at them with an unbiased view, selecting only the ones that have some real value for their fornj, colour, etc. Place these at eye-level, with the heads of the pictures in line. Sort your vases and ornaments into colour groups, and use one set at a time. Put the others away, and then they can be brought out in place Of the ones in use for a change of scheme. New, plain (not worked or ruched) cushion coverS, and painted picture frames, will do much to brighten the room, not forgetting the addition of flowers. Personal photographs, if used at all, should be limited to a bare minimum, say not more than two. For a while your room may seem sligHtly bare afid empty, but if it does, then you have achieved that spaeiousness • that was previously lacking. It will be soothing in its simplicity. and you will realise just what a difference even a re-r-vnn-o'rfnt oao make.

Use All the Bean. My aim is to use all vegetables when at their best, and to store, dry or bottle the rest for future use, said a country woman in speaking of farmhouse economies to a Daily News reporter. As an example, take broad beans. I begin by using the pinched-out tops as a vegetable like spinach. Next I thin out the young beans and slice ajid cook in the same way as runner beans. I boil the main iot in the usual manner, and finally skin the tougher beans and boil the inside. What remains, I dry for seed,