Home and the Individual. There will be no effort in this chapter to regard the home in these three aspects separately. But whatever is written will be prompted by some one, or all three, as the means of best fulfilling the lives we are all called upon to live to-day. less important object to be attained, sidered, or it may be in the It has been said, in looking upon the home in its organized aspect, there are certain offices that pertain to the family in its relation to society, in its closer relations, and to the individual. These, broadly speaking, are the hall and the drawing-room, on the one hand; the dining-room and common room, on the other; while the sleeping-room belongs to the individual. That these three subdivisions may be more strictly defined and overlie one another does not alter the main proposition, that to a greater or lesser extent they exist. From this point of view the whole matter of home decoration and furnishing is simplified, or falls easily into classification, if the purpose of each room, and whatever is necessary that this be carried out with greatest satisfaction and least subsequent trouble, first be carefully thought out. A drawing-room under some circum-whenstances is a parlor in another. A dining-room may be an apartment of state in which the display of dresses under artificial light must be con In the Fashion of the Olden Time. 105 possible, it must be held in mind that both color and form may be translated from material to material, from bro A City Entrance. cade to cotton, from dollars to cents, and lose nothing in their real value. A color scheme worked out in costly fabrics may be as artistically valuable elsewhere in cotton or kalsomine. So far as possible, questions of expense shal! not enter, except as expense in the long run may be the better economy. THE HALL. The hall in modern houses strives to live up to its ancient signification. In the more pretentious houses its proportions are baronial. Architecturally, no part of the interior is more imposing. There are, however, few new houses in which the hall is not regarded as an antechamber as well as a place of entrance. An ante- chamber must be differently regarded from a passage-way broken by stairs, with a convenient depository for hats, canes, and umbrellas. The antechamber is preceded by a vestibule, a necessary intermediary between the exposure of the street and the protection of the house. The vestibule should be neutral ground. In fact, it affords the moment of vantage in which the guest may sum up the mistress of the house in the brass knockers, cleanly kept mats and shining glass, and for the mistress, perhaps, to weigh the importance of the guest. The side lights. and veiled glass are not decorative merely. This vestibule is usually the charge of the architect, who provides it with hard wood or tile floor, and walls, whether of marble, paint, or panelling, that readily may be kept clean. It is to be hoped that he adds a graceful seat of wrought iron and tiles that may be kept chained by its leg to the floor. The care of the mistress begins in-doors. A busy woman is accustomed to say that her idea of the house of the future is one that can be cleaned with a hose and that is untenantable to any form Tiles, Mosaics, and Enamel Brick. of life but the human. Most of us are willing to admit at least one cat and a dog. All women may not be prepared to go as far as this. But it is certain that the drudgery of the home might be lessened greatly by substituting, as far as possible, tiles, mosaics of glass and marble, and enamel brick for woods, stuffs, and paper. In the newer houses this is done. marble chips em- 107 pends on its situation. Dark passageways contradict all one's idea of hospitality. "Salve," "Hail," is wrought in the mosaic of the house of Glaucus in Pompeii. The expression of the hall should be no less joyous. If the hall has a north light the color of the hall should be warm. If the house has a southern exposure the color, although cheerful, may be cool. In the recently built Colonial houses buff A Roman Mosaic Pavement, Ostia. seems to be the tint preferred in the halls. When natural woods are used these do not suffice to give the tint of the hall irrespective of the exposure. Where common pines or cheap woods make the trim, enamel paints are used with good effect. There are some tints in bronze, green, and in dull blues, and Indian red, that are admirable. Suppose, for example, that a hall has a north light. This suggests a warm tint. We choose a red, a red that may range from Indian red to reddish cream. It should be constantly borne in mind that in speaking of color, whether we are dealing with silk or kalsomine, the relative artistic values. The color treatment of a hall de- are the same. The hall, we presume, From Picturesque Holland. Above the dado is the field. Here we have the main tint. If one may express a personal preference, it is for oil painted walls which may be wiped off with a damp cloth. The ornamentation is given by stencilling. We may pause here and speak of stencilling, which has taken a new place in modern decoration. There is no easier nor more resourceful method of ornamentation. In its baldest state it is superior to commonplace fresco. And fresco, as we have it, is usually commonplace. But stencilling, as now practised by a person of any art-knowledge, has vivacity, subtlety, and those elements of surprise that ward off monotony from our surroundings, and which can never be found in machine-printed paper. This is done by going over certain parts, the treatment of this part heavier, of that lighter, more color here, a variation of tint there, thus producing modulations of color, etc. To treatment of this sort the play of light on the walls contributes. In this manner the effect depends as much on the resultant color which seems to float on the surface of the wall as on the design stencilled. Stencilling, if the pattern be not too elaborate, is easily managed. A courageous woman having no other help at hand has been known to undertake and carry out successfully the work herself. A number of attractive designs used by Louis C. Tiffany, and given here with his permission, offer suggestions for both opened and “allover" decorations. In the field of which we are speaking the wall may be painted a warm light red-terra-cotta, for example-or may be covered with ingrain paper of the requisite tint, the surface of which is so agreeable. This would receive an all-over stencil design in deeper tints of red, reddish brown, olive, or red and gold mingled. When two tints of the same color are used they should differ sufficiently in intensity to produce the proper effect. It is the rule in wall treatment that the color should lighten toward the top. Whether there be a frieze or a cornice it should be the means of leading the color from the field into the still higher ceiling. If there is a frieze it too may have a stencilled design. The forms, in this case, should be more decided than those of the field, thus accentuating the all-over design of the field which would count for a plain surface. The design should be. either of upright or continuous flowing ornament. Both the ground and ornament of the frieze must be relatively lighter in color than that of the field, its value as accent not lying in |