Principles of home decoration, with practical examples . These housesexist in quantities in our larger andolder cities, and mere slices of space 30 PRINCIPLES OF HOME DECORATION as they are, are the theatres where thehome-life of many refined and beauty-loving intelligences must be played. In such houses as these, the taskof fitting them to the cultivated eyesand somewhat critical tests of modernsociety generally falls to the womenwho represent the family, and callsfor an amount of ability which wouldserve to build any number of credita-ble houses ; yet this is constantly be-ing done and well
Principles of home decoration, with practical examples . These housesexist in quantities in our larger andolder cities, and mere slices of space 30 PRINCIPLES OF HOME DECORATION as they are, are the theatres where thehome-life of many refined and beauty-loving intelligences must be played. In such houses as these, the taskof fitting them to the cultivated eyesand somewhat critical tests of modernsociety generally falls to the womenwho represent the family, and callsfor an amount of ability which wouldserve to build any number of credita-ble houses ; yet this is constantly be-ing done and well done for not one,but many families. I know one such,which is quite a model of a charmingcity home and yet was evolved fromone of the worst of its kind and this case the family had fallen heirto the house and were therefore jus-tified in the one radical change whichmetamorphosed the entrance - hall,from a long, narrow passage, with anapparently interminable stairway oc-cupying half its width, to a small re-ception-hall seemingly enlarged by a. HALL IN CITY HOUSE SHOWING EFFECT OF STAIRCASE DIVIOED AND TURNED TO REAR EXPEDIENTS 31 judicious placing of the mirrors whichhad formerly been a part of the fixt-ures of the parlour and dining-room. The reception-room was accom-plished by cutting off the lower halfof the staircase, which had extendeditself to within three feet of the frontdoor, and turning it directly around,so that it ends at the back insteadof the front of the hall. The twocut ends are connected by a platform,thrown across from wall to wall, andfurnished with a low railing of carvedpanels, and turned spindles, whichgives a charming balcony effect. Thepassage to the back hall and stairspasses under the balcony and upperend of the staircase, while the spaceunder the lower stair-end, screened bya portiere, adds a coat-closet to theconveniences of the reception-hall. This change was not a difficultthing to accomplish, it was simply anexpedient J but it has the val
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectinteriordecoration
