NEW FACES FOR TIRED ROOMS

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20731, 15 February 1939, Page 3

NEW FACES FOR TIRED ROOMS

BRIGHT AND CHEAP RENOVATIONS Is anything more depressing than the daily round of housework in a house that has lost its first freshness Any effort that is made seems to be swallowed up in the general feeling that at least £SO majst lie spent in replacing furniture anil fabrics that have seen better days. Which, of course, is all very well if one happens to have £SO to spare for renovations. And who has, these days? This feeling 11 1 at. the whole house is shabby is much worse when the spring sunshine is showing up the unfortunate stain on the carpet and the scratches on the woodwork by the fireplace, so that this is the very time to lackle the situation before it ge_is too serious. Small repairs, regularly carried out, can do a lot towards preventing a home from becoming shabby. In most houses there are many things, which are just taken for granted. The furniture, the pictures, the accessories have all been in the same positions so long that any member of the family could walk blindfold round the house with the greatest confidence. One of the first steps towards brightening the rooms is to remove all the existing laken-for-granted accessories. You need not replace them all at once, liut hunting for new ones will give you a fresh interest in your home. It is tlie unexpected that is the successful in many cases. Who, for instance, would think of using an old brass preserving-pan as a flower bowl ? ’ Vet. filled with flowers or green Jeaves, a pan of this kind looks lovelv on a hall table of dark polished'wood. Keen if tlie hall is little more than a passage it can be presented with a gay hooked rug which can he made quite cheaply at home. And it is not absolutely necessary to stain all the woodwork dark. Light paintwork will make tlie hall appear much larger, especially if you hang a narrow, fraineless mirror on one of the walls and reflect a really colourful poster iti it. ~ Tlie sitting-room is generally the last room to catch the dread disease of dullness, but it is surprising how long chairs are allowed to go on with a broken spring or minus a castor. And in lots of sittingrooms, too, no use is made of the shallow alcoves on either side of the fireplace The local carpenter will be only too pleased to put up some shelves for vou. They will cost so little, but they will be useful for books and flowers and magazines and lots of things which never seem to have a home of their own. (You can always have a curtain tonne on the bottom shelf in front of things which incline to ,untldlneSs'lt. mav probablv be out of the question to do any redecorating this vear, which will be sad considering the scratches and perhaps he finger-marks, too, which your small son or daughter has made or the wall beside the bed. When you have removed as many of these traces of activity as possible, try the effect of a panel of ESVpUan tent work tacked on the wall. These have camels and sheiks and camel drivers anil palm Irees, all embroidered in the brightest colours on a cream ground You can buy quite large ones quite cheaply. t TI ? e J wIU f er '® the double purpose of protecting the wall and adding bright notes COIOU \ “tired-looking" kitchen is, of all places in th-house, the most “J, 1 VZ the sheVT' “iilTnfAWt perfee?,/ c&'n is an occasional wipe with a damp cloth. You can get it in bright colours, or in a tiled effect. -