Furnishing the Home of Good Taste: A Brief Sketch of the Period Styles in Interior Decoration with Suggestions as to Their Employment in the Homes of TodayThroop, Lucy Abbot
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Furnishing the Home of Good Taste: A Brief Sketch of the Period Styles in Interior Decoration with Suggestions as to Their Employment in the Homes of Today
Throop, Lucy Abbot
Interior decoration
There are a few cases, however, where top lights may be used, such as
large drawing-or music-rooms, rooms in which formal entertaining is to
be done. Crystal ceiling lights are then best to use, or chandeliers
with crystal drops or pendants. If these rooms are Italian Renaissance
in style, the center lights must naturally harmonize in period. Large
halls with marble stairs and wrought-iron balustrade can have this
elaborate kind of light, but the average hall demands a simpler
chandelier. If one is to be used there are some very good copies of old
Colonial lights and lanterns, but personally I prefer wall brackets and
a dignified lamp, or a floor lamp. Torchères or lacquered floor lamps
may be used in pairs if the hall is large enough to have them placed
properly. In a long, narrow hall they would look a bit like lamp posts.
Rather close fitting round shades, nearly the same size at top and
bottom, made of painted parchment give a decorative touch and sufficient
light. As one does not need an especially bright light in a hall, a
beautiful lamp can be made of one of the fine old alabaster vases which
many people have by dropping an electric bulb in it. Placed on a consol
table before a mirror it makes a delightful spot in the hall. These
lamps may also be used in other rooms where a light is needed for effect
and not for use. In placing lamps the charm and utility of a reflection
in a mirror must not be overlooked.
A vestibule may have a lantern of some attractive design in harmony with
the house, or side lights, if they can be so placed as not to be struck
by the door.
Dining-rooms are far more beautiful and also better lighted if
sidelights are used, with candles on the table, rather than a drop
light. Dining-room drop-lights or "domes" have all the disadvantages of
other center lights and are extremely trying to the eyes of the diners,
as well as being unbecoming. Even when screened with thin silk drawn
across the bottom there is something deadening to one's brain in having
a light just over one's head. Side lights with the added charm of
candles will give plenty of light. It is a cause for thanksgiving that
drop-lights over dining-tables are rarely seen now-a-days.
Bedrooms should have a good light over the dressing table, and to my
mind, two movable lights upon it, which may be in the form of wired
candlesticks or small lamps. These are much more convenient than fixed
lights. There should be a light over any long mirror, and one for the
desk and sofa or _chaise longue_, and one for the bedside table. The
dressing-room should be supplied with a light over the chiffonier and
long mirror, and there should also be a table light. Clothes closets
should have simple lights.
And do not forget the kitchen if one wishes properly cooked meals. A
light so placed that it shines into the oven has saved many a burned
dish, and a light over the sink has saved many a broken one. The
servants' sitting-room should have a good reading lamp.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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