The Lady's Country Companion; Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life RationallyLoudon, Mrs. (Jane)
General
The Lady's Country Companion; Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally
Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
Cooking; Country life; Home economics
The _drawingroom_ should be fitted up with more elegance than any other
room in the house. The walls may be panelled, and the panels filled in
with fluted silk, with a gilt moulding round them; or the walls may
be covered with flock or satin paper, with a gilt moulding under the
cornice. In either case the cornice should be rich; and there should be
bosses on the ceiling to indicate the place for the chandeliers, if
you have any. A slight degree of conformity between the style of the
furniture and that of the house is, I think, advisable; but, as your
house appears to have had additions made to it in different reigns,
almost any style of furniture that suits your own taste may be adopted
without incongruity. There should be several large looking-glasses,
two or more chandeliers; and against the walls there should be a few
choice cabinet pictures, which should be characterised by delicacy and
beauty rather than force. A Claude or two, some of Guido's exquisite
female heads, and one of Raphael's Madonnas, would be very suitable, or
modern paintings of first-rate artists; but I think no picture should
be admitted unless its subject is elegant as well as pleasing. There
should be large mirrors in panels, or in richly gilt frames, and a
very handsome white marble chimney-piece, as I see there is but one
indicated in the plan, with a very rich-looking steel grate, made low
to show an ornamented back. I suppose the windows near the fireplace
are false ones, as otherwise there would be a cross light; the three
windows opening on the terrace are, however, quite sufficient to give
light to the room; and that at the south end I should like to see
opening into a conservatory. I scarcely know what colour to recommend
for the hangings of the walls. Full-toned colours lessen the size of a
room, and light colours enlarge it. Crimson is very becoming to female
beauty, and it has besides the advantage of being in perfect keeping
with the character of a drawingroom in an old mansion. The curtains
should be silk or silk damask, and made with either a piped valance
or very deep gold fringe; and the inner muslin curtains should have a
rich border, and be trimmed with either lace, or with silk fringe of
the same colour as the outer curtains. The chairs should correspond,
and should have a great deal of gilding about them. The carpet should
be Wilton, and made in one piece, of a pattern to fit the room; and
this pattern should consist chiefly of flowers. There should be several
sofas and ottomans and ornamental footstools, an excellent piano, and a
harp, ornamental screens to correspond with the style of the curtains;
consoles with richly gilt frames, and looking-glass slabs and brackets
for ornamental china; candelabra for lights; an elegant ormolu clock;
and in short, a variety of articles that will suggest themselves; only
take care not to crowd the room too much, lest you should give it the
air of an upholsterer's warehouse rather than a drawingroom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account