HOME DECORATION
CUT FLOWERS. Women with gardens are looking forward to a steady supply of cut flowers to decorate their rooms and tables; for others the florists' shop offer a wealth of choice. Never before was there such a variety of beautiful containers calculated to show off every type of bloom to best advantage from the short border blooms, delightful for the low troughs and rings, to lhe dignified lily sprays, which demand a vase of simple design and good depth. The modern woman makes a cult of flower decoration. This is a field of housewifery in which she far excels the chatelaines of former generations noted for their domestic achievements. She appreciates the value of subtle colour combinations, the lasting qualities of each variety and the correct setting and background to produce the best effects.
■Whenever possible she tries to plan a room, however small, as a special flower room. This is strictly a utility room with sink and running water; adequate cupboard or shelf space for the storing of vases according to size, shape and coour; flower holders, scissors, dusters and waterproof sheet for table or side of sink. CLEANING VASES. The diversity of shape of modern vase designs has brought its own problem. How can they be kept scrupulously clean? A. correspondent writes: “Perhaps some of your readers have experienced the same difficulty that I have in removing water marks from vases. I have found that a single rubbing over the spots or ridges with a small pad of steel wool removes the encrustation immediately, doing no damage to the glass. The degree of “rimming” varies according to the district and consequent hardness of the water, but an expert in the glass and china department of a large store states that this should not cause serious trouble, either with glass or pottery, if the water is changed daily and flowers never allowed to die and stand in the vase. Should it be necessary, finest silver sand can be used with no deleterious effect.
The intricate shapes, often with narrow openings, which do not permit of the insertion of hand or cloth, present some difficulty, but a selection of flexible handled brushes, similar to decanter brushes, usually reveals just the one for the job. There is a long wire brush with three or four inches of bristle completely encircling the stem and with extra tufts of bristle projecting at the end and on two sides. A shorter brush of similar shape has the bottom tuft replaced by a firm padded end of chamois leather. Other designs, again of bristle, are coneshaped. tapering to the finest point imaginable.
Added lustre is given to glassware if a little ammonia is added to the water when washing, and borax or blue to the rinse. Silver should be washed in hot soapy water, and afterwards polished with chamois leather and plate polish. If prepared at home, powdered whiting and a little under half the quantity of jeweller’s rouge moistened with methylated spirits is good.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 November 1939, Page 8
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502HOME DECORATION Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 November 1939, Page 8
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