OSTUME DESIGN 
 
 AND 
 
 HOME PLANNING 
 
 ESTELLE PEEL IZOR 
 
COSTUME DESIGN 
 
 AND 
 
 HOME PLANNING 
 
Cbstunie^esfcp. an 
 Home planning : 
 Gstefle * DedL* 
 
 Dorter* ^.BTOIUTL* * GundL 
 RxicheL Toft- TMxon; 
 
 Atkinson, GDenlg 
 
 Boston. NeiuVork, 
 
 _^ ^^^ *^ 
 
 Chicago, Dallas. 
 
Copyright 1916 by 
 ESTELLE PEEL IZOR 
 
LIST OF PLATES 
 COSTUME DESIGN 
 
 Plate A. Color and Design in Dresses. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Plate I. Good Spacing in Striped Materials 3 
 
 Plate II. Arrangement of Tucks 8 
 
 Plate III. Good Design in Plaids. . . ^ 13 
 
 Plate IV. Incorrect Use of Line in Dresses 19 
 
 Plate V. Plans for Fancy Aprons 25 
 
 Plate VI. Utility Aprons 29 
 
 Plate VII. Rhythm in Laces 33 
 
 Plate VIII. Correct Use of Flower Forms 40 
 
 Plate IX. Imitation of Nature Forms, a Violation ... 50 
 
 Plate X. Violation of Principles in Waists 63 
 
 Plate XI. Structural and Weak Lines in Dresses. ... 85 
 
 Plate XII. Color in Dresses 89 
 
 HOME PLANNING 
 
 Plate XIII. The Houses 95 
 
 Plate XIV. A Room, Redecorated and Furnished by 
 
 Students 99 
 
 Plate XV. Floor Plans 112 
 
 Plate XVI. Living Room, Lucy Fitch Perkins 124 
 
 Plate XVII. Wrong Use of Horizontal Lines 139 
 
 Plate XVIII. Another View of Room, Redecorated and 
 
 Furnished by Students 146 
 
 Plate XIX. The Balancing of Furniture 153 
 
 Plate XX. The Height of Chair in Relation with 
 
 Other Objects 156 
 
 Plate XXI. Large Objects Add Dignity to a Room 162 
 
 Plate XXII. Dining Room 166 
 
 Plate XXIII. Convenience in a Kitchen 172 
 
 Plate XXIV. A Breakfast-ell in a Kitchen 176 
 
 Plate XXV. Built-in Dressing Table 183 
 
 Plate XXVI. Built-in Closets 191 
 
 Plate XXVII. Color in a Room 202 
 
 Plate XXVIII. Dining Room Lucy Fitch Perkins 208 
 
 V 
 
 3G0538 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I 
 COSTUME 
 
 CHAPTER PACK 
 
 I. Good Spacing of Parallel Lines. 
 
 A. Striped Materials 1 
 
 B. Tucks and Hem 6 
 
 II. Plaids 10 
 
 III. Suitability of Line to Figure 15 
 
 IV. Aprons 22 
 
 V. Rhythm in Laces and Embroidery 31 
 
 VI. Color Theory in Relation to Dress 36 
 
 VII. Color and Complexion 45 
 
 VIII. Self-Criticism 53 
 
 IX. Structural Lines in Waists 57 
 
 X. Appropriateness 64 
 
 XI. Design in Dress Fabrics 75 
 
 XII. Design in Dress 80 
 
 PART II 
 HOME PLANNING 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XIII. The Home 96 
 
 XIV. Choice of Site 104 
 
 XV. The Appearance of the House 114 
 
 XVI. Compact Arrangement, a Survey 127 
 
 XVII. Wood Finish 141 
 
 XVIII. Fundamental Principles, 1 149 
 
 XIX. Fundamental Principles, II 160 
 
 XX. Choice of Furniture 169 
 
 XXI. Pictures and Floor Coverings 179 
 
 XXII. Color in a Room 194 
 
 To the Teacher 207 
 
 VII 
 
COSTUME 
 
 The purpose of the book on Costume Design is 
 to help establish in the minds of girls a sane, sen- 
 sible, well-balanced attitude toward dress, and to 
 help them to realize that beauty is dependent upon 
 principles of Art, as well as to attain a standard 
 by which they may be guided in the artistic, eco- 
 nomic, and wise selection of the innumerable com- 
 mon things that their daily life compels them to use. 
 
 The subject-matter is presented from the art side 
 alone, and deals with materials and construction 
 only when these elements influence the character of 
 the design. No attempt has been made to present 
 this matter from the viewpoint of either Domestic 
 Art or Commercial Costume Designing, although 
 it should be the basis of both. 
 
 The course was begun by another, but has been 
 developed wholly by myself. It is correlated with 
 the Domestic Art Department to the degree that 
 the garments designed in Costume classes are made 
 in the Domestic Art classes. 
 
 The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance 
 of Helen R. Lang, who has edited the manuscript of 
 
 IX 
 
the book, of Jane Rawls McCrea and Sara Bard, co- 
 workers in the class room in Costume Design, and of 
 others who have contributed in thought, high ideals, 
 and inspiration more than I can hope to acknowledge. 
 
 ESTELLE PEEL IZOR. 
 Indianapolis, Indiana. 
 
The, first purpose; 
 of Clothes mas not 
 for urarmttx^or de- 
 cency, but ornament^ 
 ff Hurt" changes 
 uirouaht , not by 
 Time, yet in, Time-Us 
 Clothes gave us iixr 
 
 * 
 
 sociaL polity ; 
 Qothes have- made 
 of us/'^^V^ 
 * 'Carlyle- 
 

 : j 
 
 PLATE A 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 GOOD SPACING OF PARALLEL LINES 
 
 A. STRIPED MATERIALS 
 
 From the simplest form 
 of design in wearing 
 apparel through the 
 multitude of details that 
 compose the more com- 
 plex forms, good spac- 
 ing is the essential fac- 
 tor. Casual reading and 
 seeing alone will not de- 
 velop critical powers to 
 a degree sufficient to en- 
 able one to judge of fine 
 form or color. It is through persistent effort in the 
 doing that one attains good judgment and acquires 
 discriminate taste. 
 
 The simplest form of design in its relation to dress 
 is the grouping of such parallel lines as are found in 
 striped materials, to produce good spacing. To put 
 together a few parallel lines with intervening spaces 
 seems a very simple problem, and in a way it is; yet 
 
2 Costume Design 
 
 a designer restricted to straight lines only, has 
 recourse to a wide range of expression in spacing, 
 in texture, and in color, suited to all kinds of mate- 
 rials for wearing apparel; and to secure lines that 
 are finely related involves the fundamental princi- 
 ples of design as well as the ingenuity of the 
 designer. 
 
 Since the purpose governs the character of 
 design, the first consideration is always the use to 
 which the material will be put. The design for 
 striped wearing apparel will require a different 
 spacing and arrangement of lines from that intended 
 for striped wall coverings or for upholstery. Silks, 
 wools, and various kinds of wash fabrics furnish 
 ample opportunity for patterns in modest, incon- 
 spicuous stripes, or in broad, self-asserting stripes; 
 in quiet and retiring or in bold and striking colors; 
 and in all kinds of stripes that vary in width, tone, 
 or color. 
 
 The chief elements in designing a unit for striped 
 materials are good spacing, repetition, and har- 
 mony. Repeating lines and spaces of equal width 
 across the surface of a material gives repetition, 
 but not necessarily good spacing. Equal space 
 
i 
 
 |j 
 
 joodL Spacing for 
 Jtriped CDatoriflb 
 
 PLATE I 
 
4. Costume Design 
 
 divisions produce monotony and have no art value. 
 Good spacing demands variety in the proportions 
 of lines, contrast in the width of intervening spaces, 
 or contrast in the depth or delicacy of color-tones, 
 and any combination of these elements that will pro- 
 duce it. Good spacing is the result of a conscious 
 effort to secure good proportions, which give variety 
 and contrast in unity and a sense of balance without 
 equal divisions. A word of caution is needed here, 
 for the effort to avoid monotony may be carried 
 too far. Too great a variety in the width of lines, 
 spaces, or color gives lack of balance, and is as 
 undesirable in design as is uniformity. 
 
 Repeating a unit adds enrichment and brings 
 into existence a set of space relations which some- 
 times presents an entirely new phase of the problem 
 inspacing. Various modifications in spacingand plac- 
 ing may be used to express or to avoid an u up and 
 down" to materials, as in two upper designs, Plate I. 
 
 Many or few lines may be employed in a unit, 
 but each line must have its own place in the har- 
 mony of the whole. If a line, space, or color asserts 
 itself to the detriment of others the result will be 
 discord, not harmony. A design of striped material 
 
Striped Materials 5 
 
 which a person of good taste would be willing to 
 wear will have well-cut, finely related spaces which 
 are inconspicuous and unified. 
 
 Examples of materials showing good and bad 
 spacing, while differing in texture, weave, and 
 quality, will suggest to the teacher methods and 
 ways of handling the different mediums lead 
 pencil and pen and ink in the making of designs 
 by the students, and will also help to develop in 
 the students an appreciation of what constitutes 
 good spacing in striped materials for wearing 
 apparel. 
 
Costume Design 
 
 B. TUCKS AND HEM 
 
 The arrangement o f 
 tucks and hem in a gar- 
 ment is another prac- 
 tical application of the 
 grouping of parallel 
 lines to secure good 
 spacing. The purpose 
 of the garment and the 
 quality of material to be 
 used determine the deli- 
 cacy or boldness of the 
 ^^^^^^^^M tucks. The contrast in 
 the width of tucks, and the relation between the 
 width of the tucks and the intervening spaces make 
 the design of the finished garment either distinctive 
 or ordinary. 
 
 The possibility of attaining beautiful spacing in 
 the arrangement of tucks is unlimited and in a 
 large measure untried. Designers of the best lin- 
 gerie waists are giving more attention to this prob- 
 lem. The girl who makes her own garments has 
 a rare opportunity to exercise her sense of appre- 
 ciation in well-spaced, finely proportioned tucks. 
 
Tucks and Hem 7 
 
 Equal width in tucks or in tucks and spaces 
 produces monotony. Making all tucks different in 
 size will be even more unsatisfactory. There needs 
 to be a degree of symmetry and repetition in the 
 width of spaces and tucks to produce a harmony of 
 the whole. Good spacing depends upon the keep- 
 ing in balance of the variety and contrasts of pro- 
 portions of tucks and spaces. 
 
 In developing the spacing and tucks for waists 
 and for flounces and sleeves, variety may be secured 
 by 
 
 (a) a contrast between the width of the tucks 
 and that of the intervening spaces; 
 
 (b) a contrast of tucks with each other in 
 width and arrangement, the intervening spaces 
 being kept uniform in size, as in a, b, and c, Plate II ; 
 
 (c) a contrast of an entire group to the space 
 between groups, as in a, Plate II; 
 
 (d) contrasts of individual tucks with the hem; 
 
 (e) a contrast of the width of the space between 
 tucks and hem to all the other elements involved 
 (hem, tucks, and spaces between tucks), none of 
 the widths of which it repeats, as in b and d, 
 Plate II. 
 
PLATE II 
 
Tucks and Hem Q 
 
 To secure a finer sense of proportion a series of 
 problems may be worked out on drawing paper, 
 a straight line indicating the edge of the tuck and 
 a dotted line the machine stitching, the best design 
 to be selected and folded in Japanese paper. This 
 gives the dexterity and accuracy in finger skill so 
 essential to good workmanship. 
 
A 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 PLAIDS 
 
 Any harmony in design 
 depends upon the use of 
 lines, masses of light 
 and dark, and color. 
 Personal choice marks 
 the design of a student 
 as commonplace or dis- 
 tinctive, for beauty 
 comes only when per- 
 sonal choice results in 
 good spacing, good pro- 
 portions, and harmon- 
 ious color. The one who has acquired a fine sense 
 of good spacing will find 'great interest in producing 
 new arrangements and combinations of parallel 
 lines in two directions, that is, in forming plaids. 
 The breaking of a definite area into equal divisions 
 with horizontal and vertical lines results in monot- 
 ony, and produces a uniformity undesirable when 
 repeated over yards of surface, as in ordinary 
 
 checked materials. The beauty of a plaid depends 
 
 10 
 
Plaids II 
 
 upon the balancing of unequal spaces which pro- 
 duces well regulated lines, spaces, and color values. 
 
 Three main elements are involved in the design- 
 ing of a plaid, the principles of dominant and 
 subordinate, repetition, and opposition. 
 
 The dominant or central idea is the focus point 
 which holds the attention and to which all else is to be 
 subordinated. The dominant idea may come through 
 a conjunction of well-placed lines, as in lower design, 
 Plate III. It may come through the use of striking 
 or harmonious colors in lines against a neutral back- 
 ground ; or it may come through the pronounced 
 color of an empty field with neutral lines subordin- 
 ated, as in upper design, Plate III. The principle of 
 subordination, which is inseparable from that of 
 the dominant, helps to bring order out of confusion, 
 and simplifies and concentrates the grouping of 
 lines and spaces. The principle of subordination 
 through concentration of lines and the balancing 
 of unequal spaces gives coherence and organization 
 to the plaid. 
 
 Repetition which involves parallelism gives en- 
 richment. The regular repetition of lines and 
 spaces produces monotony, while not enough repe- 
 
12 Costume Design 
 
 tition leaves a design empty and meagre. Rhyth- 
 mical repetition is often produced by the accenting 
 of lines in colors in one direction alone, as is fre- 
 quently seen in lines running lengthwise in silks. 
 The principle of opposition involves the use of 
 lines and intervening spaces in opposite directions, 
 producing a severe contrast, and includes parallel- 
 ism. It adds a variety, contrast, and interest in the 
 relation of spaces and lines not found in parallelism 
 alone. 
 
 Color is an important factor in the designing of 
 a plaid. A balance of color includes a balance of 
 light and dark. When one color asserts itself above 
 other colors, the harmony is lost. Color emphasizes 
 good proportions and spacing, and as easily points 
 out defects. 
 
 A series of exercises for plaids may be developed 
 in various ways, for example, by designing a com- 
 plete unit or a section of a unit, or by grouping 
 two or four units, thus bringing together a different 
 set of space relations and forming a new unit. 
 Examples of the best Scotch plaids and various 
 weaves of plaid fabrics are invaluable in a class- 
 room. The exercises may be developed in any 
 
Cjood designs for plaids 
 
 PLATE III 
 
14 Costume Design 
 
 medium, in pencil, in pen and ink, and in water 
 color or colored crayons on white, grey-toned, or 
 colored papers. The method of handling these 
 mediums may suggest the texture and weave of the 
 material to be represented. 
 
f 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 SUITABILITY OF LINE TO FIGURE 
 
 The fundamental prin- 
 ciples of design in 
 their elementary forms 
 lead to the direct ap- 
 plication of line to 
 dress. The dominant 
 lines are formed in 
 many ways, by seams, 
 plaits, folds, areas of 
 other m a t e r ia 1 s, or 
 trimmings. The lines 
 of opposition and of 
 repetition are also found. The dominant lines are 
 frequently found to be horizontal and vertical. It 
 is a well established principle of art that wherever 
 used, horizontal lines emphasize breadth and verti- 
 cal lines emphasize height. The application of 
 this principle is unfailing in its results whether 
 in painting, architecture, or costume. 
 
 The main or structural lines of a dress should 
 be studied carefully in reference to this principle 
 
 15 
 
id Costume Design 
 
 and its relation to the size and shape of the individ- 
 ual who is to wear the garment. All girls fall into 
 three general classes, the normal, the stout, and 
 the slender. The normal person will not be con- 
 sidered here, since she is easily dressed. The stout 
 person may be tall or short, and the slender person 
 may vary in the same way Size is a more important 
 factor than age, and one need never look oversized 
 or undersized if the dress is designed for the indi- 
 vidual figure. 
 
 In order to bring necessary traits more clearly 
 before a student, an impersonal study of the two 
 abnormal types is imperative. It is a noticeable 
 fact that a stout person invariably chooses for her 
 ideal way of dressing the style most becoming to 
 the slender person, because in her heart she longs 
 to appear like the slender person. But she forgets 
 her own figure. Her face and head are broad and 
 round, and her neck is short and thick. Her 
 shoulders are square and broad. She is full chested, 
 and being full under the arms, necessarily carries 
 her arms akimbo. She is short-waisted and has 
 large hips. Every portion of her person expresses 
 breadth and circumference. If in her ignorance 
 
Suitability of Line to Figure I / 
 
 she uses horizontal lines, she will appear stouter 
 than she really is. Horizontal lines such as are 
 formed by broad belts, broad shoulder effects, ruf- 
 fles, plaited flounces, or broad trimmings in the 
 waist and skirt will invariably emphasize her 
 breadth. The line of the sleeve ending at the elbow 
 is a continuation of the waist line, and emphasizes 
 breadth where least breadth should be expressed. 
 A very tight blouse as well as one that is very loose 
 and baggy gives the appearance of an added amount 
 of flesh. Coats ending at the hip line and loose 
 flaring capes in plain, plaid, or striped materials 
 increase her apparent width. Broad flat hats trim- 
 med in pronounced horizontal lines add to her 
 breadth. Conspicuous stripes and borders, pro- 
 nounced plaids, bold designs, and large dots and 
 figures widely separated and strong in color, increase 
 size and attract attention. The stout person needs 
 to use every line that will emphasize her height 
 and apparently decrease her breadth. Long lines, 
 quiet colors, and an unbroken silhouette will be her 
 salvation. The question of wearing a short or 
 long waist line or a full skirt of figured material 
 will depend upon whether the material is soft and 
 
l8 Costume Design 
 
 clinging in quality and inconspicuous in design and 
 color, upon the direction of the main structural 
 lines, and upon the silhouette of the figure. 
 
 An analysis of the slender person shows her 
 characteristics to be exactly opposite to those of the 
 stout person. The slight woman has a long, slender 
 face and head, and a long, thin, and sometimes bony 
 neck. Her shoulders are sloping and narrow, and 
 her arms are long, slim, and angular, hanging 
 straight by her side. She is flat-chested and very 
 straight, with slight evidence of hips. She needs 
 to emphasize every line in her costume that will 
 appear to increase her breadth. She must avoid 
 vertical directions in main or structural lines and 
 in striped materials in her dress. An unbroken 
 silhouette increasing her apparent height is a detri- 
 ment to her. Narrow, clinging clothes, close-fitting 
 coats, and small, tall hats trimmed vertically will 
 exaggerate her height and slenderness. She must 
 learn to avoid deep yokes which divide the waist 
 into equal parts, lines which meet in angles over 
 the breast and make her appear hollow-chested, 
 and tight sleeves which emphasize sharp elbows. 
 In every way she must avoid severe angular lines 
 
2O Costume Design 
 
 in waist, sleeves, skirt, coat, and hat. Horizontal 
 divisions in blouse, sleeves, and skirt will broaden 
 the slender person's figure, and puffs, flounces and 
 frills will increase her breadth and break the severe 
 or angular contour of her figure, as bolero jackets, 
 half-length or preferably longer coats, and broad, 
 low hats with graceful curves will soften her lines. 
 It is ignorance of the principles underlying the use 
 of horizontal and vertical lines in dress that makes 
 caricatures of the stout and the slender person. The 
 violation of these principles will make the wearer 
 ludicrous in the eyes of observers, however she 
 may appear to herself. The fault lies with the 
 wearer's choice and not with the dress. Dresses 
 are designed for particular types of figure, and it 
 is ignorance alone which leads the stout and the 
 slender woman to choose the same style. 
 
 Since the purpose of this book is to study the 
 individual, the lay figure is not used at any time. 
 Instead, a knowledge of the proportions and char- 
 acteristics of the human figure is necessary. Various 
 types of figures can be found in class-rooms, and 
 the lesson may proceed as in pose work, through 
 the study of models. The u head" may be used as 
 
Suitability of Line to Figure 21 
 
 a unit of measurement, as, for example, the number 
 of "heads" high, the number of "heads" to the waist 
 and in the length of the skirt, and the number of 
 "heads" through the shoulders, the waist, and 
 the hips. The length of the arm, the placing of 
 the elbows in relation to the waist, and the perfect 
 balance of the figure by the careful placing of the 
 feet must also be considered. Simplicity in pose 
 and accuracy in measurement will greatly facilitate 
 the work. 
 
 When students have gained a degree of judgment 
 and have exhibited increased intelligence in adapt- 
 ing lines to figures, their best drawings may be 
 chosen and with slight alterations be transformed 
 into stout and slender figures. A better judgment 
 and appreciation of the correct and incorrect use 
 of horizontal and vertical lines in dresses will come 
 through the students' designing dresses for these 
 stout and slender figures. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 APRONS 
 
 The designing of an 
 apron furnishes another 
 definite application of 
 fundamental principles 
 of art to simplified 
 forms. Once more we 
 have a problem in pro- 
 portion and fine spac- 
 ing, not only in deter- 
 mining the shape of 
 the apron, but in mak- 
 ing good space divi- 
 sions in relation to the whole and in securing suit- 
 ability of line to the particular figure which is to 
 wear it. Here, too, a stout person should avoid 
 curves and horizontal lines, while the slender per- 
 son must discard severe vertical divisions. 
 
 The purpose of the apron determines the choice 
 of materials and influences the character of the 
 design. There are many kinds of aprons from 
 which to choose, each one giving a wide range for 
 
 22 
 
/ Aprons 23 
 
 expression in well-proportioned designs and excel- 
 lent workmanship. Among the various kinds only 
 two that are representative need to be mentioned 
 here, the small utility apron made of a combina- 
 tion of natural and colored linen with ample pock- 
 ets which form part of the structural design, and 
 the fancy apron made of organdies and fine lawns 
 with insertions of lace or embroidery which form 
 the design. The purpose of the apron regulates 
 the size. The length of the apron for a person of 
 normal size ranges usually from sixteen to twenty- 
 two inches and the width varies according to the 
 contour and design of the apron. The waist line 
 is usually fourteen inches. Each type of apron is 
 capable of limitless variations, and furnishes oppor- 
 tunity for beautiful space divisions and artistic 
 arrangement. 
 
 All plans for aprons are based upon three con- 
 structive lines representing the horizontal waist 
 line, a vertical line expressing the greatest length 
 of the apron, and a second horizontal line at the 
 place of greatest breadth, as in A, Plate V. The 
 joining of the ends of these lines by means of 
 straight or curved lines gives one the foundation for 
 
24 Costume Design 
 
 all simple aprons and the basic form for more 
 complex styles, as indicated in Plate V, the dotted 
 lines representing the construction lines, and the 
 continuous lines the outlines or general shape of 
 the apron. The contour will vary according to the 
 length of the second horizontal and the position 
 which it occupies upon the vertical, and the nature 
 and direction of the curve or straight line connect- 
 ing the extremities of these two determining factors. 
 Many variations in angles or curves in the outline 
 at the bottom of the apron may be secured by raising 
 or lowering and by extending or shortening the 
 second horizontal. 
 
 The next step in designing an apron is the break- 
 ing of the area of the shape into beautiful space 
 divisions, by means of lines representing insertion 
 or different materials or pockets, as in the case 
 of the utility apron. The possibility of infinite 
 variation in arrangement of such spaces makes it 
 unnecessary for any two aprons to be exactly alike. 
 When insertion is used, the variation may be secured 
 by placing the insertion parallel to any part or to 
 all of the outline; by the use of insertion to break 
 a vertical division into unequal spaces, as in a 
 
plans for 
 fancy Aprons 
 
 PLATE V 
 
26 Costume Design 
 
 narrow central panel with broader ones at each side, 
 or in a broad central panel with narrow sides; by 
 the subdivision of the outer panels into unequal 
 spaces, the line of insertion being kept parallel to 
 the corresponding outline; or by the use of striped 
 or figured dimities or organdies as broad borders 
 repeating the curved, angular, or straight shape at 
 the bottom of the apron, and placing it in with an 
 insertion which adds to the general appearance of 
 the completed article, as in Plate V. Insertion 
 used as lines of repetition and opposition add inter- 
 est and variety to the design. 
 
 The main element in the utility apron is the 
 pocket, which should be ample enough to retain 
 articles and materials needed in work. The practise 
 of placing pockets upon any apron independently 
 of its design or purpose often violates fixed princi- 
 ples of design. Pockets out of proportion, whether 
 too large or too small, pockets out of place, whether 
 too high or too low, or placed in the angles at the 
 corners of fancy aprons, have no relation to the 
 design as a whole. The placing of pockets is a 
 problem in itself. They must be considered as a 
 distinct element in the design, and must become so 
 
Aprons 27 
 
 a part of the design as a whole that to remove the 
 pocket would be to mar the appearance of the 
 apron. 
 
 The same basic lines that govern the foundation 
 shape of the fancy apron are used in the utility 
 apron. The utility apron is capable of marked 
 variety in the modifications of shape, which comes 
 through the use of one color of material upon 
 another. The space may be broken by the use of 
 different colored materials in pronounced forms or 
 in the use of pockets, which at once become the 
 dominant feature of the design, as in Plate VI. 
 
 The quality of materials, their economic adapt- 
 ability, and their aesthetic values require indepen- 
 dent consideration. In the making of the fancy 
 apron daintiness, beauty, and texture as well as price 
 should govern selection. These can be studied from 
 samples of lawns, batistes, dimities, and organdies 
 brought into the classroom. The batistes and organ- 
 dies are translucent cloths of very fine threads vary- 
 ing in quality, and can be found plain or with small 
 figured designs. The dimities and lawns are fine, 
 light-weight fabrics which are starched and pressed 
 in the process of manufacture, and which when 
 
28 Costume Design 
 
 laundered often lose the original texture and quality. 
 The dimities, which are frequently ribbed and 
 corded in one direction, often split along the thread 
 of the cord, thus rendering the wearing quality 
 questionable. The utility apron, which requires 
 heavier material, may be made of linens or Russian 
 crash of natural color with plain, solid colors form- 
 ing the main element of the design. Many beauti- 
 ful colors, such as dull blues, dull rose, mulberry, 
 maroon, olive green, old gold, and russet brown, 
 may be secured in these colors. The colored linens 
 may be used as pockets alone, as in 2, 3, and 4, 
 Plate VI ; as complete or partial borders, as in 1 
 and 2, Plate VI; as the central panel connecting 
 the pockets, as in 5, Plate VI ; or merely as a dis- 
 tinct element of design, as in 6, Plate VI. The 
 apron may be further enriched by embroidering 
 upon the colored material a carefully thought-out 
 unit in a simple cross-stitch, outline, or couching 
 stitch, or in a darning stitch with even and uneven 
 length alternating. Since it attracts attention, the 
 embroidery design should be dignified and restrain- 
 ed, and placed near the center of the apron to avoid 
 calling into prominence either by misplacing, or by 
 
Utility Aprons 
 
 PLATE VI 
 
30 Costume Design 
 
 multi-colored flosses, the parts that should be subor- 
 dinated. 
 
 When the problem has been developed after the 
 manner indicated, there should follow the drawing 
 of a plan for an apron to the scale of J4" to 1", 
 and including the indication of the lines of the 
 insertion, as in the small drawings in Plate V. A 
 curved line passing through a point two inches 
 down from the waist on the central vertical line, 
 and returning to the upper extremity of the sides, 
 as in the plans shown in Plate V, will lengthen the 
 waist line and make the apron fit snugly over the 
 hips. The band, which is cut two and one-half 
 inches wide to make it one inch when finished, 
 should end either with the edge of the apron or 
 meet in the center of the back, at which place the 
 ties are to be attached. The tie may vary in width 
 and length according to one's taste. If the design 
 proves satisfactory, a pattern may be cut actual size, 
 inch for inch, allowing %" for all seams. 
 
f 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 RHYTHM IN LACES AND EMBROIDERY 
 
 The value of studying de- 
 sign and rhythm in mod- 
 ern machine-made laces 
 and embroideries is of 
 great importance in rela- 
 tion to aprons and in its 
 broader relation to cos- 
 tume. Rhythm is meas- 
 ured movement. It is the 
 keeping of time in art. 
 Rhythm depends upon the 
 ease with which the move- 
 ment glides from one part to another, each line 
 expressing a continuation of another movement 
 without opposition. 
 
 The simplest form of rhythm in laces and 
 embroideries is found in simple scallops of equal 
 length and height. Variety in rhythm is secured 
 when the length of the movement is changed by 
 alternating a long scallop with a shorter one. A 
 compound rhythm is one in which one long scallop 
 
 31 
 
32 Costume Design 
 
 is composed of many smaller ones which themselves 
 sometimes vary in length, as in the lower example 
 in 1, Plate VII. Rhythm is also found in scallops 
 having accented terminals, Plate VII. 
 
 In all laces and embroideries which form borders, 
 rhythm, which is an essential element, comes 
 through an orderly recurrence of lines, units, and 
 movements. Rhythm is sometimes shown by pro- 
 gression, that is, by the direction in which discon- 
 nected units, dots, or eyelets are placed upon a 
 background, as in 1, Plate VII. More often rhythm 
 is found in one orderly continuous and undulating 
 movement, as in 2, Plate VII. 
 
 Besides rhythm two other elements are to be 
 considered, that is, the pattern and its orderly 
 construction, and the contrast of the pattern with 
 the mesh or background. The pattern should be 
 clearly defined, firm in structure, and simple in 
 form. There should be force, clearness, purity, and 
 elegance in the outline of the pattern. Nothing 
 vague or uncertain is desirable. Good designs are 
 elementary in form, expressing only length and 
 breadth without any attempt to express depth, 
 modeling, or shadow. They include geometric 
 
PLATE VII 
 
34 Costume Design 
 
 forms and such abstract forms as baskets, emblems 
 of all sorts, and the decorative use of nature forms 
 which suggest flowers and leaves without actually 
 portraying them, as in Plate IX. Each form should 
 occupy its own space, one by one, not overlapping 
 another and thus cutting off a portion of a form. 
 In laces the pattern of the closely woven forms 
 contrasted with the intervening spaces of mesh- 
 work should give a sense of balance of masses and 
 spaces, and should appear in an orderly, continuous 
 movement with parts subordinated to the more 
 pronounced forms, as in Plate VII. Richness of 
 effect should mark the design, Plate VIII, not pro- 
 fusion, over-crowding, or poverty of ideas. 
 
 Weakness in design comes through the introduc- 
 tion of lines that have no structural relation to the 
 pattern and through movements of opposition hav- 
 ing no rhythmical connection between adjacent units, 
 as in 3, Plate VII. Vigorous whorls, halting, 
 jerking movement, and the crossing and recrossing of 
 lines give an impression of unrest. Disquieting 
 forms twisting and turning awkwardly, badly shaped 
 forms added to ill-formed groups and imitating 
 nature by modeling rose-petals and leaves, as in 
 
Rhythm in Laces and Embroidery 35 
 
 Plate IX, as well as bow knots of ribbon, and trel- 
 lises with trailing vines, all violate laws of structural 
 design. No amount of elaboration can hide dis- 
 orderly and misplaced construction. Good design 
 is marked by simplicity, pure lines, and good forms 
 with obvious rhythmical relation of parts to whole. 
 Beautiful, broad surfaces, bold, pure lines, and 
 clearly defined forms contrasting with their back- 
 grounds while lying flat upon the ground, will 
 never weary the eye. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 COLOR THEORY IN RELATION TO DRESS 
 
 Although the theory of 
 color is a most impor- 
 tant factor in dress as 
 well as in other fields 
 of art, it is not well 
 understood, as is testi- 
 fied by the wide range 
 of opinion of various 
 critics as to what con- 
 stitutes good color in- 
 struction. I offer no 
 more than a few sug- 
 gestions of some well established facts which I 
 have found helpful to students. In Costume, the 
 chief aim of the study of color is to be concrete 
 and to give only that portion of the theory of color 
 which enables one to compare colors discriminately 
 and to select and use harmonious combinations 
 which are at once beautiful and wearable. The 
 effect of color should be considered rather than 
 the science. 
 
Color Theory in Relation to Dress 3*] 
 
 The spectrum and the source of color may or 
 may not be discussed, but the question of relative 
 color values is important. The one deals with the 
 admixture of lights, the other with pigments; the 
 one with cause, the other with effect. The student 
 of costume needs to know that the three elements 
 governing color are hue, value, and intensity. Hue 
 is the name or quality by which we distinguish one 
 color from another, as green, blue-green, red, 
 orange, or violet. Vahiejs the amount of light or 
 dark in a color; and intensity is the strength or 
 purity of a color, the quality, which determines a 
 bright from a dull one. The painting of the neutral 
 value scale assists in developing a power to distin- 
 guish the amount of light and dark in colors. The 
 placing of the smallest possible quantity of each 
 of the six fundamentals, yellow, orange, red, violet, 
 blue, and green, in a color-wheel is serviceable in 
 locating hues and their complementaries at their 
 fullest intensities. It is not necessary for the student 
 to produce either the color scales of any of the 
 fundamentals or the many intermediates in order 
 to distinguish them, for the production of these 
 defeats the effort to create beauty. It fixes indelibly 
 
38 Costume Design 
 
 in the mind of the student the ugliness, crudity, and 
 intensity of pigments, never seen in nature and sel- 
 dom in manufactured materials. The lasting im- 
 pressions of these crude colors upon the minds of 
 students at an impressionable age may account for 
 the choice and display of crude and intense color 
 in dress in later years. "A little learning is a dan- 
 gerous thing," and unless the student can have long 
 and continuous study in the science of color, the 
 production of color scales had better be eliminated. 
 Colored papers reproducing fairly accurate hues 
 and values of the fundamentals and a wide range 
 of intermediate hues can be secured and arranged 
 in scales in five or six values. Such scales are 
 fairly suggestive of the innumerable hues with 
 which the world of costume has to deal. 
 
 Emphasis should be placed upon producing 
 beautiful color harmonies, that is, upon producing 
 the dominant, the complementary, the analogous, 
 and the contrasting. We are told that harmony 
 comes through "reconciling differences too crude 
 and oppositions too startling" into such relations 
 as are agreeable to the eye. Harmony can be pro- 
 duced through a wise selection of hues of which 
 
Color Theory in Relation to Dress 
 
 one dominates in quantity, through a contrast in 
 values, and through carefully related intensities. 
 A dominant harmony is composed of two or 
 more values of one hue. Three consecutive values 
 in a color do not produce harmony any more than 
 do three consecutive tones in music. Harmony 
 will depend upon a contrast of values used in 
 unequal quantities. A dominant harmony for dress 
 may come through neutralizing one or more values 
 and using a small quantity of another value at full- 
 est intensity. If intensity in one value is desired, 
 it may be increased by lowering other values, or by 
 neutralizing without lowering all the values. If 
 too intense, a hue may be reduced by neutralizing 
 it without lowering the value, thus making it greyer 
 but not darker. Violent extremes in values and 
 strong intensities may result in brilliancy, but more 
 often result in crudity and harsh contrasts which are 
 as disastrous as are too great similarity in value and 
 intensity. The mind must be kept alert to values 
 placed in juxtaposition and thus to avoid final 
 results that are petty and uninteresting. It must 
 be borne in mind at all times that the study of 
 color must be directly applicable to costume, and 
 
PLATE VIII 
 
Color Theory in Relation to Dress 41 
 
 that the final test will be the affirmative answer to, 
 "Is it beautiful? Is it suitable to wear?" 
 
 A complementary harmony is a harmony of I 
 extreme opposites which is composed of colors that j 
 stand opposite each other upon the color-wheel. 
 The production of any two complementaries at their 
 full intensity will not produce harmony. Lowering 
 the value of one or neutralizing it and increasing 
 the intensity of the other may produce harmony. A 
 small quantity of pure intensity in one hue requires 
 a large quantity of its complement in low or neu- 
 tralized value. When carefully mixed in painting, 
 complementaries neutralize one another, that is, pro- 
 duce a neutral tone. When used in juxtaposition, 
 each emphasizes the intensity of the other. By 
 the use of complementaries, any given color can 
 be neutralized without changing the value, or its 
 value may be changed without materially changing 
 its distinctive hue. A complementary harmony 
 gives opportunity to balance colors, e. g., warm 
 and cool colors, or neutral values and intensities, 
 or high and low values, or two values equally 
 removed from intensity, or values near middle, with 
 or without neutralizing one or both hues. The 
 
4.2 Costume Design 
 
 charm in this harmony is due to the brilliancy and 
 richness which come through the reconciliation of 
 differences, that is, the widest range of contrasts 
 brought into subdued, glowing harmony. 
 
 Analogous harmonies are based on a contrast of 
 values of neighboring hues, that is, hues that are 
 found in close juxtaposition, in which one color 
 plays through adjoining hues, as, for example, green 
 running through GYG, G, GBG, BG, BBG, or 
 orange running through RRO, RO, ORO, O, 
 OYO, YO, YYO. Neither the combination of 
 three consecutive values nor the same value in three 
 adjoining hues will produce agreeable harmony. 
 Analogous harmony depends upon the contrast of 
 hues in different values. It requires thoughtful 
 discrimination in the selection of hues, the effect 
 of contrasted values, and the degree to which they 
 are neutralized. A large variety of hues in colored 
 papers will be useful in increasing knowledge of 
 the variety of hues and in stimulating the imagina- 
 tion to invent distinctive combinations. The deep- 
 toned relationship of values in rich colors makes 
 this harmony the most subtle and most beautiful 
 of all the color harmonies. 
 
Color Theory in Relation to Dress 43 
 
 Contrasting harmonies include all harmonies 
 found in the range of hues lying between comple- 
 mentary and analogous in the color wheel. In this 
 harmony is found the widest range of color com- 
 binations from the most delicate to the richest, 
 from the most sparkling and brilliant to the deepest 
 or dullest, from the most ordinary to the most dis- 
 tinguished. The different ways of producing 
 harmony previously mentioned may be applied 
 here. The mind must be kept alert by the study 
 of the relation of value to intensity. A combination 
 lacking in harmony may be corrected by changing 
 the hue, or removing the intensity without lowering 
 the value of the hue, or neutralizing the value with- 
 out changing the brightness. The study of the 
 combination of adjacent bright colors in an oriental 
 rug or Japanese textile or print shows how the 
 skill of the worker and his knowledge of color har- 
 mony enable him to combine daring and startling 
 contrasts, such as turquoise blue, orange, rose, red, 
 indigo, green, and black, in quiet, peaceful harmony. 
 Colors which are rich and daring when seen sepa- 
 rately may be brought together in such a way as 
 to enrich and enhance or subdue each other. A 
 
44 Costume Design 
 
 color sense can not be imparted or passed on from 
 one person to another. Neither can it come through 
 description or formulas. It can be gained only 
 through discreet observation and practise, the basing 
 of one experience upon another, and a never-ending 
 effort to possess better comprehension and appre- 
 ciation of great beauty and enrichment. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 COLOR AND COMPLEXION 
 
 In costume the beauty 
 of a color should not 
 be considered alone, 
 but in relation to the 
 effect it has upon the 
 complexion of the per- 
 son who is to wear it. 
 The instinctive craving 
 for color is natural and 
 should be gratified, but 
 not at the sacrifice of 
 harmonious appear- 
 ance. There is no complexion, however attractive 
 or commonplace and uninteresting, but may be 
 improved by a selection of the color best suited to 
 the particular complexion. 
 
 Individuals fall into two general types, blonde 
 and brunette. Some of the most familiar types 
 of blondes are the pink and white blonde with 
 delicate, transparent skin and flushed cheeks; the 
 red and cream blonde with more vivid coloring; 
 
 45 
 
46 Costume Design 
 
 the colorless blonde whose hair, complexion, and 
 eyes are monotonously alike ; the sallow blonde with 
 sallow complexion in conjunction with medium dull 
 brown, lusterless hair; and the Titian or the red- 
 haired blonde with remarkably clear complexion 
 accompanied by beautiful reddish-copper hair. 
 The combination of the complexion with the 
 various hues of hair, and the color in the eyes which 
 range from china blue to deep violet blue and 
 from grey blue to grey green and hazel brown are 
 what make a person distinctive and interesting. 
 Brunettes are distinguished in a similar manner. 
 There is the genuine brunette with dark skin, hair, 
 and eyes, and flushed cheeks; the fair brunette with 
 cream and scarlet complexion, and blue or brown 
 eyes with dark brown hair; the sallow brunette with 
 black hair and eyes and a sallow skin; the "nut- 
 brown maid" with nut-brown skin and hazel eyes, 
 and with cheeks flushed like dull rose; and the 
 olive brunette with brown skin tinged with clear 
 olive green, flushed cheeks, and mellow, warm 
 brown eyes. There are, of course, many interme- 
 diate types of blondes and brunettes. 
 
 The wide difference in the complexions of 
 
/ ' I 
 
 Color and Complexions 47 
 
 blondes and brunettes makes it impossible for them 
 to wear the same hues. Each season brings cer- 
 tain popular colors, and blondes and brunettes alike 
 rush for them regardless of the effect these colors 
 have upon their complexion. Color has the same 
 effect upon complexion that certain chemicals do 
 upon water. For example, certain hues of red will 
 bring out the yellow in the face of one blonde, 
 while in the faces of others it emphasizes green or 
 perhaps purple, or makes one ashen, the color of 
 the eye fading and the hair becoming dusty and 
 lusterless. Because of the marked difference in 
 types and because color affects each individual 
 differently, no set rule can be given for the choice 
 of harmonious colors. The right choice of color 
 is largely a matter of individual study. 
 
 No more convincing argument can be made for 
 the proper choice of color than the actual applica- 
 tion of dress materials of many different colors to 
 the different types of complexion. Choose a group 
 of four or five girls representing as marked types 
 as possible. Try upon each of them in succession, 
 in the presence of the class, dress materials of 
 various hues and values of red, blue, yellow, green, 
 
48 Costume Design 
 
 brown, and violet. The same color upon different 
 types will emphasize or change the color of eyes, 
 hair, and complexion. 
 
 Anyone with a complexion verging toward yel- 
 low or with pronounced yellow or sallow skin should 
 avoid white and black, both of which bring out 
 yellow in the face. Most pale colors or colors of 
 middle value and strong intensity, such as coral or 
 turquoise, blues, and heliotrope, emphasize yellow. 
 Rich cream or buff counteracts yellow in the face. 
 The sallowness of a complexion verging toward 
 green can be counteracted by the use of grey-green 
 in materials. Certain hues of green have a tendency 
 to bring out pink in a face where a flush is lacking. 
 It is popularly believed that pale people should 
 wear strong colors to impart color to the face. 
 Strong colors exaggerate pallor and sallowness, and 
 leave the hair lusterless and dead. Blondes appear 
 best in modified colors. Only the fairest brunette 
 can wear anything approaching pure hues. Many 
 make the mistake of choosing dress materials 
 according to the intensity of hue instead of the 
 value. It is in the realm of values neutralized or 
 lowered that the most successful dresses are found. 
 
Color and Complexions 49 
 
 The countless variety of hues neutralized in inten- 
 sity and raised in value, such as russets, citrines, 
 greyed orange, and dull peach, which bring color 
 to lips and cheeks and hair, makes it possible for 
 the colorless or sallow person to dress in taste 
 and harmony. 
 
 It has been erroneously said that the red-haired 
 blonde must never wear blue. Several centuries 
 ago Titian found that certain hues of red hair com- 
 bined with dull peacock blue-green produced a 
 wonderful harmony. The eyes of the Titian blonde 
 vary from clear blue, deep blue, grey blue, or green 
 blue (never violet-blue) to golden brown. The 
 color of the eyes should determine to what degree 
 the blue or the green should dominate the mate- 
 rial. Golden browns which reflect the same golden 
 hue of hair are safe colors though not so distinctive 
 as faded heliotrope, deep apricot, dull apple green, 
 or dull sage, as in Plate XII. The red-haired 
 blonde must always avoid all hues of red, black, 
 milk-white, yellow-brown, or yellow-green, all pure 
 colors. 
 
 The brunette with dark hair and skin and flushed 
 cheeks may wear stronger color, but the clearer 
 
PLATE IX 
 
Color and Complexions $1 
 
 type will require different colors from the sallow. 
 The brunette who rejoices in a good complexion 
 may wear almost any color, except the so-called 
 pastel shades or any greatly modified color. Warm 
 colors, such as deep yellow, sunset yellow, orange 
 yellow, orange red, cardinal, claret, maroon, Indian 
 red, flamingo, and deep poppy-red are sometimes 
 better for brunettes than cool colors. Exuberant 
 red in the face can be counteracted by the use of 
 a similar red in material. The danger lies in not 
 choosing the right hue of red, for there are thou- 
 sands of hues of reds, varying in kind, quality, and 
 degree. The "nut-brown maid" may be very beau- 
 tiful or very ugly according to her choice of colors. 
 Requiring combinations entirely her own, she can 
 wear colors suited to few other types, as, for exam- 
 ple, dull amber, faded golden brown, nut browns 
 verging toward dull orange, faded apricot, peach 
 blow, dull russets, and citrines, the colors found in 
 wind-blown autumn leaves. The olive brunette may 
 be beautiful in such colors as cafe-au-lait, amber, 
 maize, dull orange, a deep and rich dull rose, and 
 chestnut brown. The use of greens, violets, or blues 
 will emphasize the olive green in her complexion. 
 
$2 Costume Design 
 
 The no-type-in-particular girl, who knows her own 
 peculiarities and chooses with care and discrimina- 
 tion only those hues which bring color to her face 
 and glow and interest to her hair, is no less attractive 
 in becoming, harmonious colors than are the others. 
 There is no complexion, whether it be beautiful in 
 the extreme or thoroughly commonplace and unin- 
 teresting, that does not require a comprehension of 
 its good qualities and the exercise of good judg- 
 ment in the selection of colors to make the beautiful 
 more beautiful, and the homely more tolerable. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SELF-CRITICISM 
 
 One of the main pur- 
 poses of this course is 
 to show that each girl 
 is a distinct problem in 
 herself. Because it is 
 her own figure she is to 
 dress and not a lay fig- 
 ure, she must study the 
 main structural lines in 
 reference to her own 
 size and shape, and the 
 color suited to her own 
 complexion. I do not ask that girls spend more 
 time in the study of dress in general, but that they 
 spend the time ordinarily given to the subject in a 
 systematic, critical study of self. The danger lies 
 not in too close a study, but in an undirected or 
 misdirected study of self which results in false 
 standards of beauty, color, and cost. 
 
 Every girl needs to study herself carefully and 
 analytically in a full-length mirror, searching for 
 
 53 
 
54 Costume Design 
 
 good points as well as for defects. The average 
 person is self-conscious and sensitively morbid 
 regarding her defects, and rarely dwells upon her 
 good features and qualities. Vain people are few 
 in comparison to those who depreciate self. A 
 young girl is usually either painfully conscious 
 of every defect or entirely oblivious of any qual- 
 ity, good or bad, save what she sees in her friends 
 and believes she reflects in herself. The need today 
 is to have a well-balanced, sane comprehension of 
 one's own figure, its defects and its good points, 
 with the knowledge of how to correct the one and 
 emphasize the other. Let each girl study critically 
 the form and character of her head, and the size, 
 shape, and outline of her face and its proportions to 
 the head and to the figure. Let her study ana- 
 lytically the particular color of her complexion; 
 the amount of yellow, cream, brown, or pink in it, 
 the amount of rose, purple-red, or red in her cheeks 
 and lips, or its absence; the kind and quality of the 
 color of her eyes, and the play of color in the 
 light and shadow of her hair. Let her discover 
 the height, breadth, and contour of her figure, and 
 analyze the length, slope, and angle of her shoul- 
 
Self-Criticism 55 
 
 ders and arms. Are they narrow or broad, sloping 
 or square, angular or full of graceful curves? Are 
 the chest and hips prominent and well-modeled or 
 lacking in contour? Is the waist long or short for 
 the height of the figure? Let her acquaint herself 
 with her own peculiarities and characteristics, which 
 are apparent to the observer. Let her study herself 
 in the same impersonal manner and spirit in which 
 she studies another person or a foreign object that 
 she intends to draw. This will decrease rather than 
 increase vanity, and will bring her to realize that 
 her individuality, whether ordinary or attractive, 
 must be studied carefully if she is to choose with 
 discrimination, lines suited to her figure and color 
 suited to her complexion. 
 
 Because she needs to fix more firmly in her mind 
 her own distinctive features and because she has 
 further use for the drawings, the student should 
 make careful and accurate drawings of herself, both 
 front and back views. She should recall the former 
 lesson in drawing the different types of figures and 
 apply this knowledge to the drawing of self. 
 Through actual measurement the normal sized per- 
 son in normal proportions and action will be found 
 
Costume Design 
 
 to be from seven to eight heads high. The usual 
 fashion-plate figure with its exaggerated propor- 
 tions is not infrequently fourteen heads high. Since 
 very few persons have a fashion-plate figure to 
 dress, the student will presently come to see that her 
 costume will not resemble the pictured pattern, but 
 will be something much more satisfying from every 
 point of view. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 STRUCTURAL LINES IN WAISTS 
 
 Design in relation to a 
 waist pertains to the or- 
 derly arrangement of 
 parts in their relation to 
 the whole. Students 
 learn by experimenting 
 and doing. To acquire 
 the ability to appreciate 
 and arrange lines and 
 forms harmoniously in a 
 waist is to understand in 
 a degree the principles 
 of order, rhythm, and balance. 
 
 The first thing to consider in choosing a waist is 
 the style. Under the guidance of a teacher the stu- 
 dent learns to study a fashion book in a systematic 
 way, gaining a power to choose and use the best 
 of any prevailing style and the ability to modify 
 or elaborate the design. Something of the follow- 
 ing order will help any student to become the 
 
 57 
 
5<? Costume Design 
 
 master rather than the slave of fashions. What 
 main lines were prevalent last season? What are 
 the radical changes this year? What modification 
 of old ideas are to be found? In what parts of 
 the waist are the greatest changes manifest? What 
 are some of the art principles underlying the de- 
 signing of a waist? To what degree do new styles 
 obey art principles? If they do not conform to 
 such principles, how can they be modified to obey 
 them? A correct answer to these questions will 
 place one well on the way to the construction of 
 design for a waist. 
 
 The purpose of the waist governs the choice of the 
 design and the material. The materials for the 
 waist should be considered in relation to the color 
 and quality of the skirt with which it is to be worn. 
 No matter how elaborate the trimming or how fine 
 the material, the fact remains that the waist and 
 skirt are two separate garments and can never 
 appear as one complete whole. Daintiness should 
 mark the quality of materials for lingerie waists, 
 \while waists for general service may be of heavier 
 materials. The master of costume planning will 
 be alert to each season's new materials and pre- 
 
Structural Lines in Waists 59 
 
 vailing styles, and alive to the possibilities of beau- 
 tiful combinations that the new materials offer. 
 
 The principles which govern the designing of a 
 waist are the same principles used in previous 
 lessons. They comprise all the elements of good 
 spacing, that is, the dominant or central idea, that 
 which attracts and holds the attention and around 
 which all else is subordinated; the proportions 
 which secure the balance of unequal spaces; and 
 the enrichment which comes through the applica- 
 tion of the principles of repetition and opposition. 
 
 The outline of the drawing of self becomes the 
 boundary of a surface that is to be broken into 
 pleasing space relations, thus forming the design. 
 This outline is to be divided into four big space 
 relations the front or back, the sleeves, the collar, 
 and the girdle and the harmony of the design will 
 once more depend upon the relation of the parts to 
 the whole. Within this outline the student learns 
 first what constitutes the main structural lines, 
 where to place the line representing the center of 
 the figure as it curves over the chest, how to balance 
 the foreshortened side of the figure with the nearer 
 side, and how to indicate the waist line, which 
 
6o Costume Design 
 
 curves slightly downward in the front and upward 
 in the back view. 
 
 The line of the arm eye more than any other 
 line in the waist, gives the keynote to the char- 
 acter and style of the waist. There are waists with 
 normal arm eye and shoulder seams, and others with 
 very large arm eye coming well down on the under- 
 arm seam. There are waists with the drop sleeve 
 with or without shoulder seam; waists without any 
 arm eye or shoulder seam, as in the kimono pat- 
 tern; and waists with raglan sleeves, the lines of 
 the sleeve cutting across the shoulder and ending at 
 the neck. Whatever its position, the arm eye deter- 
 mines the style of the waist. 
 
 The portion of a waist which is formed by one 
 dominant shape or mass becomes the center of inter- 
 est, and must be considered in relation to the sub- 
 ordinated forms. The subordination may come 
 through the repetition of the direction of a line or 
 the shape of a surface repeated in a less pronounced 
 way, and also by the right use of opposing shapes or 
 lines. The chief elements used to compose the domi- 
 nant surface are the placing of the waist opening, the 
 use of the yoke, and the disposition of the trimmings. 
 
Structural Lines in Waists 6 1 
 
 The direction of the opening down the front, 
 whether it be straight, angular, or curved, often 
 influences the shape of the surface. The grouping 
 of tucks, folds, frills, or trimmings with their 
 variety of spacing, proportion, balance, and repeti- 
 tion furnishes endless possibilities for the center of 
 interest. Yokes which vary in length, shape, direc- 
 tion, and character are of primary importance 
 whenever used. The success will depend upon the 
 fine balance of proportions, and upon the order and 
 concentration which come through subordination 
 in arranging the parts into unified dominant form, 
 beautiful in shape and enriched by harmonious 
 repetition. 
 
 Many violations of principles are found in 
 fashion-plate designs of waists. It is well to recall 
 what has been said in the chapter on Suitability 
 of Line to the Figure. It is individual choice 
 which makes one appear deformed and ridiculous 
 or well-dressed. A person with sloping shoulders 
 and narrow chest who chooses for the main lines, 
 lines meeting in angles over the chest, as in 1, Plate 
 X, or lines of shoulder or of sleeves leading to the 
 neck, as in 4, Plate X, will exaggerate the hollow- 
 
62 Costume Design 
 
 chested and narrow-shouldered appearance where 
 maximum breadth should be secured. Lines which 
 break the space into many sections form ugly shapes, 
 as in 2, Plate X. The emphasizing of the breadth 
 of the waist by lines leading from the center of the 
 neck and spreading at the waist, as in 3, Plate X, or 
 the division of a waist into two equal horizontal 
 divisions by either yoke or trimming, as in 5, Plate 
 X, is a mistake on any type of person. 
 
 There are endless possibilities in designing any 
 waist, by varying the length of the shoulder and 
 the direction and shape of its outline; by the various 
 ways of arranging and placing groups of tucks, 
 laces, frills, vest, and folds into pleasing space 
 dimensions in the front of the waist; by the sub- 
 ordinate repetition of these elements to enrich and 
 enhance the appearance; and by the character and 
 style of the collar and its corresponding likeness in 
 cuffs and sleeves. The designs will vary according 
 to each individual choice, for the waist offers ample 
 opportunity for creative imagination and inventive 
 power. 
 
Violations op 
 Principles 
 
 PLATE X 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Appropriateness 
 
 Costly ihy habit as thy purse can. buy, 
 Butndt expressd in-^ncy;rii:h_ t Tidt gaudy; 
 Jpbr the apparel op: proclaims the 
 
 Perhaps the most needful 
 work to be done in Costume 
 is to kindle in all minds 
 a sentiment for appropriate 
 dress which fits not only the 
 purpose, but the purse as well. 
 There is always danger that 
 fashion will become the mo- 
 tive power of life. The solu- 
 tion of the difficulty will 
 come when women hold the 
 ethical, the economic, and the aesthetic phases of 
 dress in normal balance. 
 
 The desire to manifest beauty is legitimate, for 
 it is God-given. It follows, then, that beauty, come- 
 liness, and grace should be striven for as one strives 
 
 64 
 
Appropriateness 65 
 
 for honesty, truth, and sincerity. Beauty in dress 
 is the result of an unerring sense of proportion, 
 whether that relates to size and shape, or pertains 
 to fitness and cost. 
 
 Love of adornment has always been the motive 
 power of dress. It manifests itself in one of two 
 ways, either through a sensational desire for em- 
 bellishment which leads to ostentation and pomp, 
 or through a desire for association with and appre- 
 ciation of the real qualities of beauty which leads 
 to an enduring satisfaction. Lack of understand- 
 ing and appreciation of what constitutes beauty is 
 responsible for the immense annual waste of skill 
 and money in the production of audacious, capri- 
 cious, eccentric, and seductive modes. 
 
 Many contributing causes promote false stand- 
 ards of taste and appropriateness: The remarkable 
 facility manufacturers possess for reproducing in 
 rapid succession new fashion movements, the meth- 
 ods of keeping in touch with fashion centers through 
 various publications, the gorgeous and startling dis- 
 plays in shop-windows and at theatres, all tend to 
 dazzle the ignorant girl and evoke in her a- desire 
 to possess wealth because of the possibilities it 
 
66 Costume Design 
 
 offers. She is confounded by the excess of orna- 
 ments, the pretentiousness and theatricality in de- 
 sign, color, and pattern. She mistakes the extrava- 
 gant in style for dignity, the loud and dowdy for 
 the rich, and the costly for the beautiful, and so is 
 led to purchase some gown which attracts the at- 
 tention at once, pleases for the moment, and creates 
 a desire previously unfelt. This extravagance in 
 style and cost establishes a false standard of dress 
 which may exceed the purse of any parent. It 
 fosters a love for the gaudy and conspicuous which 
 often leads to the destruction of moral standards. 
 When extravagance is the standard of dress, beauty 
 is apt to be sacrificed. It is a lack of well-established 
 principles and of the ability to choose wisely that 
 brings ultimate dissatisfaction, unrest, and irresist- 
 ible desire for change. 
 
 Insufficient thought is given to the suitability of 
 the style and material of a garment to its use and 
 purpose. To be sure, no definite standard for the 
 use of materials in relation to time, place, or occa- 
 sion has been set up. In America women are freest 
 from tradition, conventionality, and class distinction, 
 but for all their opportunities many fail to unite 
 
Appropriateness 6j 
 
 principles of beauty and appropriateness. A woman 
 may go so far as to wear a velvet gown, picture hat, 
 and party coat to market, or a discarded reception 
 dress to go shopping. Such an exhibition of mis- 
 placed elegance is a manifestation of ignorance of 
 beauty and appropriateness. 
 
 Another form of inappropriate dressing arises 
 from imitation, which is found everywhere and in 
 all classes of society. Growing out of a desire 
 to appear to be what one knows only too well that 
 she is not, imitation is lacking in both sincerity and 
 truth. Women are guilty of it when they sacrifice 
 quality of material to the style seen in cheap and 
 inferior suits, cheap jewelry, and other cheap wear- 
 ing apparel. A woman manifests a degree of native 
 coarseness when she wears a cheap reproduction of 
 beautiful animal forms, as for example, a wreath 
 of birds on her hat, tiger skin furs with dangling 
 heads, and an alligator purse with realistic claws. 
 / An honest, frank use of plain, inexpensive material 
 worth the price paid for it reflects more credit on 
 the wearer and the community in which she lives 
 than all the showy finery and shoddy jewelry that 
 she can wear.^ An offensive form of imitation is the 
 
68 Costume Design 
 
 attempt of the home-dressmaker to copy with in- 
 ferior line, color, and materials an elaborate gown 
 designed by an expert dressmaker. Lack of appre- 
 ciation of the way lines are formed, lack of skill in 
 draping and manipulating materials, lack of knowl- 
 edge of laws of design and color to which the ex- 
 pert is obedient, all are factors in the failure of the 
 unskilled workman to copy the production of one 
 who has made a life study of design in dress. It 
 is impossible for all to produce work of equal merit, 
 but we can at least bring to our task some measure 
 of understanding and appreciation which will be 
 the outgrowth of sincerity. Work never rises above 
 the ideal of the worker. A high ideal makes im- 
 perative the rejection of every kind of inappropriate 
 dressing as well as the legitimate search for and use 
 of materials suited to the occasion and in keeping 
 with one's position in life. 
 
 Psychologists tell us that there are two periods 
 in the lives of girls when their interest in dress is 
 greatest from eight to ten and from fourteen to 
 seventeen. At these periods most girls form their 
 standards of dress. It is essential, then, that they be 
 given proper direction and that there be instilled 
 
Appropriateness 69 
 
 in their minds the fundamental facts of appropriate 
 dressing, namely, that, in order to dress well it is 
 necessary to dress inconspicuously; that it is neces- 
 sary to have ideals higher than the mere dictates 
 of evanescent fashions; and that beauty is based on 
 principle, is governed by principle, and is the result 
 of principle. Girls so taught will easily see that 
 it is possible to express beauty and good taste 
 whether the pocket-book be very full or nearly 
 empty. Girls should learn that simplicity is not 
 plainness, stupidity, nor poverty, but the very foun- 
 dation of beauty and refinement. It is not money 
 but mind which produces good taste. \ Intelligent 
 selection and discriminating choice are the expres- 
 sions of qualities of the mind.\ Without these quali- 
 ties no amount of money will make a dress beauti- 
 ful. A girl should create for herself a standard 
 which is distinctive and characteristic. When she 
 has done this, the girl of fine taste will avoid all 
 ludicrous expression because her choice is based 
 upon her silent obedience to art principles. 
 
JO Costume Design 
 
 ACCESSORIES 
 
 No matter how well a dress is chosen and de- 
 signed, unless the accessories are in keeping with 
 it, it will not be complete and harmonious. 
 
 Girls need to know that the style of dressing the 
 hair out of relation to the size and shape of the 
 head is another example of the bad taste of the 
 wearer. Not only the bad lines and proportions, 
 but the use of colored hair ribbons that do not har- 
 monize with the color of the hair shows ignorance 
 of the basic principles of art. The types of faces 
 and heads are as varied as those of the human 
 figure. Each type of face the oval, the round, the 
 oblong, the hatchet, and the square has its own 
 peculiar characteristics. Two features, the nose and 
 the chin, give prominence or flatness to the silhou- 
 ette of the head. The nose may be pug, pointed, 
 flat, broad and round, small, hooked, or Roman, 
 while the chin may be protruding, retiring, square, 
 oval, pointed, or broad. The pointed nose and 
 angular face will appear more angular if the hair 
 is dressed in pronounced angles, instead of being 
 arranged loosely and yet close to the head. The 
 round, plump face requires that the hair be built 
 
Appropriateness JI 
 
 high, and not low and broad along the neck. The 
 girl with the long, thin face should not arrange her 
 hair high on her head nor low with drooping lines, 
 for both arrangements tend to make the long face 
 look longer. The manner of dressing the hair so 
 as to cover important features of the face, as well 
 as the use of "headache" bands of ribbon, tends to 
 caricature ugly features. In every case the hair 
 should be dressed to throw into the background 
 any pronounced feature or defect, and at the same 
 time to supplement or heighten those traits which 
 make for beauty. The principle of the use of the 
 horizontal and vertical lines should be applied to 
 the dressing of the hair as well as to the costume 
 itself. The choice and use of colored hair-ribbons 
 should in no way detract from the color, texture, 
 and lustre of the hair, nor should the quantity of 
 the ribbon be out of proportion to the size of the 
 head. No girl should adopt a prevailing style in 
 hair dressing unless it conforms to the type and 
 character of her head. 
 
 Fashion at one instant may obscure one part of 
 the body and at another time emphasize it. In the 
 ballroom bare neck and arms may be displayed 
 
J2 Costume Design 
 
 without attracting attention, but upon the street 
 this fashion becomes offensive because obedience 
 fo it makes such an exhibition inappropriate whether 
 one is fortunate enough to be beautifully formed 
 or is the unhappy possessor of bones and unpleasing 
 angles. 
 
 A better and more appropriate selection of shoes 
 and their use needs to be considered. The wearing 
 of white or light shoes with dark suits in any kind 
 of weather is a display of ignorance. Light shoes 
 are intended for light dresses and for dress occa- 
 sions. When combined with dark suits they call 
 attention to that part of the figure that should be 
 kept quiet and unobtrusive. Silk hose and dancing 
 pumps on the street on stormy, snowy days are a 
 violation of the laws of common sense as well as 
 good taste. Shoes too small for one's feet give the 
 appearance of shoes having been stuffed, as is also 
 the case with gloves that are too tight. French heels 
 worn by one required to stand long periods of time 
 are evidence of failure to understand fitness to pur- 
 pose. Girls who are fitting themselves for commer- 
 cial occupations need to know that comfort and 
 health will increase their efficiency, and that the shoe 
 
Appropriateness 7J 
 
 that is broad and flat enough to give comfort and 
 ease should be used for business and the street, and 
 the dressier shoe be reserved for home and social 
 occasions. 
 
 An accessory that might properly be omitted by 
 the young high school girl is powder. Powder is 
 intended for people who have lost their youth and 
 freshness. As one grows older the planes of the 
 face become complicated. Powder simplifies them. 
 The planes and blemishes become less apparent and 
 the main features are emphasized by the use of 
 powder. A young girl glowing in color and fresh- 
 ness has no need of anything to enhance the charm 
 she already possesses. 
 
 In art the caricaturist emphasizes through ridi- 
 cule certain facts which drive home a truth where 
 language fails. So in the classroom, the making of 
 decorative drawings or posters of various phases of 
 inappropriate dressing, treated in a manner similar 
 to that of the initial figures of the chapters of this 
 book, helps to awaken the younger student and 
 sometimes the one of riper years to the realization 
 that our clothes often make caricatures of us. When 
 students realize that principle is the underlying ele- 
 
7^ Costume Design 
 
 ment of good taste they will find through observa- 
 tion no end of topics which illustrate the many 
 phases of inappropriate dressing. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 DESIGN IN DRESS FABRICS 
 
 In the days of the guilds 
 the mass of craftsmen 
 made no effort to gain 
 any definite style. Their 
 sole aim was to produce 
 something beautiful. 
 Being the essential mo- 
 tive power, beauty be- 
 came the commonest 
 and most useful thing 
 in their daily lives. 
 Since those days, there 
 has been no improvement in the main processes; 
 what improvement has come has been merely in 
 the direction of reduction in cost, not in that of 
 design or texture. 
 
 In textiles and fabrics, the kind of material, its 
 texture, and the process of its weave govern the 
 character of the design. The process of the weav- 
 ing sets up its own capacities and limitations, which 
 the designer has to consider. A good designer 
 
 75 
 
jf) Costume Design 
 
 knows how to turn into capital not only these 
 capacities but the limitations as well. He achieves 
 through limitation a breadth and richness in de- 
 sign and a judicious alternation of light and dark 
 even in one tone contrasts, and depends upon the 
 sheen of the silk to relieve any flatness of pattern. 
 If the pattern be rigorously drawn, the real beauty 
 of the line and the play of light and dark in the 
 sheen give all the variety necessary. If he is design- 
 ing velvet brocade, the designer depends upon the 
 sumptuousness of the pile to supplement the ex- 
 quisite simplicity of his pattern. In the hands of 
 a true designer, the limitation as well as the capacity 
 of weave increases his own inventive and creative 
 power. 
 
 The same fundamental principles which underlie 
 other phases of art will be found here the domi- 
 nant with the subordinate, repetition, and sym- 
 metry. In the dominant with the subordinate, 
 power is felt through the organization and con- 
 centration of the subordinate forms to enrich the 
 dominant. To arrange subordinate forms which 
 are attached or related to produce a single domi- 
 nant form gives character and a structural element 
 
Design in Dress Fabrics 77 
 
 to the whole. Most designers use forms remotely 
 suggesting flowers or simplified nature forms ar- 
 ranged in balance to express length and breadth, 
 but never depth. Leaves, stems and vines may be 
 twisted or bent into lines conforming to ideas of 
 growth. If floral forms are used there must always 
 be consistency in the character of growth. The 
 worst designs are those which are attempts to imi- 
 tate or portray nature in form or color. When 
 designs lack inventive power, they imitate nature 
 with disastrous results. 
 
 Another element to be considered in the principle 
 of dominant with subordinate is the contrast of 
 light and dark in forms. Some designers who know 
 the technique of weaving use a judicious alterna- 
 tion of light on dark background or dark on light 
 to give contrast values. One or the other must 
 dominate, but if one overbalances the other it fails 
 in the same degree as do equal divisions of light 
 and dark. One method employed breaks up the 
 broad mass with an introduction of smaller detail, 
 involving an intermingling of the light and dark. 
 This does away with any possible appearance of 
 baldness or emptiness, and adds to the interest. 
 
7<? Costume Design 
 
 The great element of design in textiles is repeti- 
 tion in a new form which repeats the unit at regular 
 intervals over a surface. The unit itself may be 
 rhythmical and symmetrical in form, or may be 
 repeated rhythmically and symmetrically, or both. 
 The method and manner of repeating a unit varies 
 but slightly. To insure regular repetition a geo- 
 metric construction basis has been accepted which 
 places the unit at stated intervals over the surface 
 in a systematic, organic arrangement. In an inter- 
 relation of lines the original basis may or may not 
 appear. This method of repeat becomes necessarily 
 mechanical, but it is infinitely more desirable than 
 the disorderly, inorganic, disjointed arrangement 
 recently found in new fabrics. No amount of fine 
 color will compensate for the absence of either 
 organization or coherent and consistent construction. 
 
 Repetition in surface patterns is inevitable from 
 both the economic and the artistic side, for neither 
 machine nor man can go on forever producing new 
 designs. The recurrence of a unit at intervals adds 
 enrichment. The oftener a form is repeated, the 
 greater the need for simplicity and for the removal 
 of all imitation of nature. The charm of the 
 
Design in Dress Fabrics JQ 
 
 simplest flower is lost when seen in endless repe- 
 tition. 
 
 Luster and color in silks often lead one to forget 
 form, for the artist has reveled in color at the 
 expense of the design; but if we translate the pat- 
 tern into light and dark values to discover the de- 
 sign, the design and charm both disappear. Color 
 and texture often hide bad design. In order to 
 disguise the shabbiness of texture some designers 
 use confused, over-crowded patterns which fill every 
 particle of space. Highly elaborate, self-assertive 
 patterns will bear repetition in neither production 
 nor use. The real object of a good design is at- 
 tained when it grows more beautiful the more 
 one contemplates it. With no attempt to produce 
 designs, understanding and appreciation may be 
 gained from a study of various examples of fabrics, 
 old and new. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 DESIGN IN DRESS 
 
 The practical use of ma- 
 terials and the construc- 
 tion of a dress can in no 
 way be separated from 
 the design. The principles 
 of design never change, 
 but once learned they be- 
 come the primary factor 
 in all phases of art. It is 
 only the new form of ex- 
 pressing a principle that 
 is disturbing. The one 
 who has an understanding of the principles of design 
 has a working basis upon which all dresses may be 
 designed unhindered by ever-shifting styles. 
 
 The beauty of design in dress depends first upon 
 the structural lines. The placing of these lines in 
 a dress is as important as the placing of framework 
 in^ house, requiring that each line be thoughtfully 
 adjusted to make it perform its function in the 
 
 80 
 
Design in Dress Fabrics 8l 
 
 harmony of the whole. Certain essential forms re- 
 main, regardless of the style in vogue at any given 
 moment. A sleeve is a sleeve, a waist, a waist, and 
 a skirt remains a skirt though the structural lines 
 controlling their shape vary in position, proportion, 
 and direction. In addition to these essential struc- 
 tural lines we have the lines of accessories, such as 
 draperies, flounces, panniers, trimmings, etc., which 
 determine the character, design, and style of the 
 garment, and usually influence and change the sil- 
 houette of the figure. The direction of these lines 
 is what gives order, grace, and symmetry, or dis- 
 order, confusion, and instability. There are hidden 
 force, vivacity, and life in the lines of a dress that 
 come with a long, upward sweep, while there is 
 disorganized weakness in lines that droop or sprawl 
 awkwardly, displaying disjointed movement, or that 
 divide the figure into sections. When the drapery 
 falls in long folds few in number and pure in curve, 
 each movement of the body creates in the material 
 a new set of graceful folds which follow the con- 
 tour of the body, as in the initial figure, page 31. 
 The true strength of design will be found when 
 the structural lines express vitality, force, and 
 
82 Costume Design 
 
 directness, and present a unity and simplicity which 
 make for enduring satisfaction. 
 
 If drapery is drawn upward instead of being al- 
 lowed to fall, the points of support, the number of 
 folds, the method of arrangement, and the texture 
 of the fabric all influence the character of the lines. 
 Lines formed by a zigzag arrangement more or less 
 angular, caused by the weight of V-shaped festoons 
 or transverse creases or folds descending and diverg- 
 ing to make room for others, give confusion, unrest, 
 and awkward movement, and disturb and even 
 distort the silhouette of the figure, as in the initial 
 figures, pages 45 and S3. The eye habitually con- 
 nects similar things and follows the course of a 
 line. The flow of light over a surface or down a 
 told aids the eye in passing from one to another. 
 The eye is compelled to make an unpleasant ad- 
 justment when it has to pass across instead of down 
 lines and is further troubled when many cross lights 
 are caught upon transverse folds and broken curves 
 which have no rhythmical connection with each 
 other. If lines are crossed and multiplied, the design 
 becomes confused and difficult to follow. Rhythm 
 in line which comes through regularly recurrent ac- 
 
Design in Dress 83 
 
 cents either through folds as in second and third 
 figures, Plate A or trimmings, or points of support 
 as in initial figure, page 80 is important. When 
 these accents are irrelevant, the proper relation and 
 interdependence of parts is lost. Long, graceful 
 lines and complete curves will produce unity and sim- 
 plicity from complexity, and the directness and vigor 
 of structural lines organically arranged will bring 
 order out of confusion. Power is secured through 
 the leadership of main or dominant lines which are 
 clear, coherent, and readily seen. 
 
 By the different adjustment of lines, forms and 
 areas are gained which produce proportion. Good 
 proportion means a balance in good spacing which 
 gives a sense of equilibrium without equal divisions. 
 A one-line division in a dress expresses meagreness. 
 Equal divisions in a dress produce monotony, as in 
 1, Plate XL Redundance of division subordinates 
 the person to the dress, as is seen in a superfluity 
 of flounces or in tiers of trimmings. Good propor- 
 tion is a comparative relation of parts to the whole, 
 which when secured produces harmony and beauty. 
 The sense of proportion is not wholly a natural 
 gift, but neither is it wholly the result of knowl- 
 
84 Costume Design 
 
 PLATE XI 
 
 1. Equal divisions. 
 
 2. Balance of unequal spaces. 
 
 3. No rhythmical relation of spots. 
 
 4. Conflicting elements and self-assertive spots. 
 
 5. Related accents showing unity. 
 
 6. Unity and coherence. 
 
 7. Strong lines having vitality. 
 
 8. Weak structural lines. 
 
PLATE XI 
 
86 Costume Design 
 
 edge of drawing or of experience in designing. It 
 is a combination of all. It is an acquired power 
 which results from a persistent effort to choose 
 properly balanced spaces and to exercise accurate 
 critical powers, so that one becomes delicately 
 sensitive to finer forms, shapes, and proportions. 
 
 The dominant lines of a dress mark certain neces- 
 sary big spaces. Within these big spaces, the de- 
 tails must be disposed of through the use of light 
 and dark or of tone in the materials employed, 
 to give the dominant and subordinate masses. Color 
 adds charm and enrichment. The dominant mass 
 is more frequently placed at the center front, some- 
 times involving waist and skirt, as in the second 
 figure, Plate XII; or it may come in the horizontal 
 divisions, as in the first figure, Plate XII. If the 
 big space is left untouched and remains dominant, 
 certain other spaces become component parts of 
 the design, as in the sleeves of the third figure, 
 Plate XII, and in the initial figure, page 80. Oc- 
 casionally a successful design has been found where 
 the dominant mass came in transverse bands or fes- 
 tooned flounces at the bottom of a dress. However, 
 the normal position for it is in the waist. 
 
Design in Dress 8j 
 
 Power and beauty will be expressed through the 
 organization and concentration of the subordinate to 
 the dominant mass. The orderly arrangement of 
 subordinate forms which are attached or related 
 to the dominant mass is what gives structural unity 
 and consistency as well as character to the design, 
 as in the central figure, Plate XII. There should 
 be similarity in form, but subordination in size and 
 proportion. The repetition of forms and colors 
 sympathetically arranged gives variety and coher- 
 ence. Absence of coherent, organized, or consistent^ 
 relations of spots or masses makes ugly and awk-/ 
 ward spaces with no rhythmical connection with the 
 dominant mass, as in 3, Plate XL There must be 
 reason for each line, tone, and form employed, for 
 their position, proportion, and shape determine their 
 fitness. The whole must be made up of parts so 
 organized and related to each other and to the whole 
 that no one can be removed without affecting the 
 unity of the whole. 
 
 Unity is a consistent relation of all forms with a 
 reason for each that keeps the right accent in the 
 proper place. Unity holds the attention to the main 
 mass and does not permit the eye to jump from one 
 
88 Costume Design 
 
 place to another, as in figure 3 and 4, Plate XI, but 
 leads it through all the details of the design in 
 orderly movement. Unity involves rhythm. If a 
 subordinate surface asserts itself either by size, bold 
 pattern, or strong color it becomes the only part of 
 the figure which is seen. If a dress expresses unity 
 there will be no opposition of parts or accents, no 
 elements of conflict or divisions, no inconsistent in- 
 troduction of self-assertive spots or patches of color, 
 and no lavish or unintelligent use of ornaments, even 
 if the materials introduced are marvels of beauty in 
 themselves. There will be nothing to disturb the 
 harmony. A dress is satisfactory only when all the 
 details of which it is composed disappear in the 
 general harmony of the whole. 
 
 When dresses are designed with lines suited to the 
 wearer's individual figure, thus accenting the grace- 
 ful contours of the body; when they are fashioned 
 in obedience to principles of art and express origi- 
 nality in design; when they utilize colors that en- 
 hance and enrich the complexion and add to the 
 harmony of the whole, then women and girls will 
 be contented with what is permanently beautiful, 
 and will cease to follow every fleeting change of 
 fashion. 
 
PLATE XII 
 
Tlome 
 ploraiingf 
 
Gvery Trains "proper mansion, 
 hous, oral home, , being the-f 
 theatre- of his hospitality,* 
 the, secrte/of his sefe-fru, 
 
 A. ^ - ^^ ^^ - ^^^ -^^ 
 
 partr 
 
 1^> the.- noblest 
 in/ie 
 
 lance., 
 
 thereof 
 an. 
 
 coorui rmqy TuelL deserve? 
 these^ attributes accord* 
 
 tnastar 
 
 to" be deHgh^ully adorned.? 
 
 by * 5ir'*llenry * 
 
 ujrittcn. in 1600 
 
The letter written by Sir Henry Wotten is from Litchfield s Ilhtstrated 
 History of Furniture, and is reproduced by the courtesy of the owners 
 of the copyright, The Page Company. 
 
PLATE XIII 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE HOME 
 
 The primary cause 
 of the existence of in- 
 dustries, of commerce, 
 of every form of man- 
 ual and mental labor, 
 is that men and women 
 desire to maintain a 
 home. They subject 
 themselves to all man- 
 ner of toil, endurance, 
 and sacrifice in order 
 that they may realize 
 in a degree, at least, the fulfillment of some cher- 
 ished ideal of a home. Though not the boundary; 
 the home is the vital center of all life's activities. 
 It is the place where the wholesome spiritual, in- 
 tellectual, and physical growth of all members of 
 the family may be fostered. It is a place where 
 beauty is as vital to true happiness as is convenience, 
 and where the friendly recognition of individual 
 rights is vital to the comfort of the family. Its in- 
 
 96 
 
The Home 97 
 
 fluence is the most enduring that can be brought 
 into the life of a being, whether for good or evil. 
 Out of it have come disastrous failures, and out 
 of it men and women have developed strength 
 of character, honor, integrity, and understanding 
 of ideals. The mission of the home is to teach the 
 value of the ideal combined with the practical, and 
 to cultivate the heart. 
 
 Home making is a profession, and needs the train- 
 ing necessary for the pursuit of a profession. The 
 homemaker has to deal with artistic merit and with 
 the ingenuity of invention in industrial and com- 
 mercial products, which include everything from 
 house-building, paint, and glazing to furniture- 
 making, textile-weaving, pottery, and fine arts. A 
 comprehensive knowledge of the industries involved 
 is important to the welfare of the home, since every- 
 thing used or fashioned is either beautiful or ugly, 
 and has or has not economic and artistic value. No 
 problem in life requires a higher grade of intel- 
 ligence in management, selection, and arrangement, 
 or a broader sympathy and understanding of every 
 phase of industry and art than that involved in 
 the establishment of a home. 
 
gS Home Planning 
 
 As a consumer, the homemaker must take her 
 responsibility in spending an income no less earn- 
 estly and seriously than the man takes his as a 
 producer. She must face the same problem that 
 the man of affairs faces in his business, that of the 
 estimation of cost, qualities, and values, both eco- 
 nomic and artistic, and the relation of expenditure 
 to income. The homemaker must awaken to the 
 realization that the energy and steadiness of the 
 father in earning an income must be met with equal 
 wisdom and care in the spending. For it is as 
 important to produce an intelligent consumer as it 
 is to develop a capable producer, and the ethical, 
 artistic, and economic success of a household 
 depends as much upon the care and intelligence in 
 spending the income as it does upon the earning. 
 
 Suppose that you were unexpectedly to come 
 into possession of a limited sum of money, perhaps 
 $5,000.00 or $4,500.00, or even only $4,000.00, with 
 which to purchase a lot and build and furnish a 
 house, with the stipulation that the finished product 
 should be beautiful and harmonious in arrangement 
 and free from all debt. What would you do with 
 it? Has home any significance to you other than 
 
PLATE XIV 
 
IOO Home Planning 
 
 its appearance and location? Have you some hid- 
 den ambition which you long to embody in definite, 
 practical form? Can you maintain such an invest- 
 ment upon the present income of your family? 
 
 The solution of this problem confronts every 
 student of Home Planning. While it is wholly 
 an imaginary one, it may be made so practical as 
 to lie well within the range of ordinary experience, 
 and may be developed in every way in which an 
 actual one is developed. The sum stipulated in the 
 course is limited for two reasons: first, the average 
 wage-earner seldom has more than $5,000.00 to 
 spend on such an investment; and second, while it 
 requires no particular amount of intelligence to 
 spend money, as the over-abundance and noisy 
 self-assertion of some furnishings testify, to spend a 
 small amount discreetly and discriminately requires 
 a marked degree of knowledge of what consti- 
 tutes beauty and good construction. To spend 
 money lavishly is not necessarily an indication of 
 good taste, but often betrays a complex state of 
 mind which desires accumulations usually of the 
 commonplace, and rarely of the beautiful. We are 
 told that "the chief use of art is to sharpen our 
 
The Home 
 
 dulled senses," that is, to bring into practical exer- 
 cise our discriminating powers in choosing and 
 using what is beautiful and harmonious in form 
 and color. 
 
 The problem which confronts the student is how 
 to obtain the greatest amount of beauty and con- 
 venience with the least amount of actual expendi- 
 ture; how to be adequately housed so that artistic 
 simplicity may go hand in hand with economy. 
 Beauty in common and familiar things must be 
 secured, artistic merit must be attained in the 
 arrangement of all furnishings, and a knowledge 
 of principles governing good construction and pro- 
 duction of furniture and floor-coverings must be 
 exercised. In short, there must be ability to select 
 with economic and artistic comprehension all things 
 that go into the house, from the humblest articles of 
 utility in the kitchen to the fine arts. 
 
 As the shrewd man of affairs makes careful cal- 
 culations of every detail of a proposed business 
 venture before he enters into it, so the student of 
 this problem must carefully consider all things 
 pertaining to the location, the building, and the 
 furnishing of this house. The vital question which 
 
V -Home Pla nnlng 
 
 the investor faces is the maintenance of this invest- 
 ment upon a limited salary. Can a $4,000.00 
 investment be maintained upon a $900.00 salary? 
 Is it possible to maintain a $4,500.00 investment 
 upon an $1,100.00 salary? Or a $5,000.00 invest- 
 ment upon a $1,200.00 or $1,500.00 salary? What 
 are the actual living expenses of a family of five 
 for one year upon any one of these stated salaries? 
 This should be worked out, not from statistics, but 
 from the actual living expenses of the student's 
 own family. The main items may be considered 
 under two heads, living expenses and pleasures. 
 Enumerating the living expenses, we find the main 
 items to be food, clothes, fuel, light, water, laundry, 
 taxes, insurance, assessments, medical attention, car- 
 fare, church, and charities, besides many other items 
 under the head of miscellany. Under pleasures, 
 the expenditures cover books, amusements, enter- 
 tainment, hospitality, and travel. The final esti- 
 mate of the distribution of the cost of living will 
 vary according to the locality of the home, the 
 family tastes, and their methods and manner of 
 living. 
 
 Should any one still remain in doubt as to the 
 
The Home 103 
 
 amount of human effort or sacrifice required to 
 maintain a home, let him carefully itemize the 
 expenditure for food for a family of five for a 
 year, and also the individual budgets for clothing 
 for each member of this family for one year. 
 Then he will realize how little comparatively is 
 left for books and amusements; what members of 
 the family can travel and how far. There will no 
 longer be any question of the need of giving students 
 knowledge and skill in the successful selection and 
 management of the home, for they are soon to 
 become the homemakers who are to select the food, 
 the clothing, and the common furnishings as well 
 as the fine arts, every phase of each of which should 
 minister to the highest welfare of the home. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 CHOICE OF SITE 
 
 The most important 
 thing after the decision 
 to build is the selection 
 of the site. Many times 
 through a combination 
 of circumstances only 
 one locality has been 
 available to the pros- 
 pective purchaser, and 
 n o opportunity has 
 been given to gratify a 
 cherished ideal. The 
 best results will be attained when the preliminary 
 questions can receive careful and mature consid- 
 eration. 
 
 The purpose or ideal around which this home 
 is to be built determines the type of house and its 
 location. One desires a modest home. Another 
 may choose an income property, a building to be 
 rented, a double or duplex; or a small shop in 
 
 104 
 
Choice of Site IO$ 
 
 which the owner maintains a residence and at the 
 same time carries on his business. One's love for 
 nature may lead to the choice of a produce farm 
 to raise poultry, truck, small fruits, flowers, mush- 
 rooms, or bees. Whatever the decision, the actual 
 setting for the house must be critically investigated. 
 Desirable and inexpensive sites suitable for the 
 modest residence can be found in the outskirts of 
 a city or near a small park or along some of the 
 water-courses to be found in every city and town. 
 There are to be found in every city irregularly 
 shaped lots of uneven, rolling land which can be 
 secured at a minimum price. This type of site, 
 overlooked or ignored by the real estate man whose 
 sense of beauty has been dulled by the regulation, 
 smoothed-down, artificial lawn, can be made dis- 
 tinctive and beautiful. A specially designed house, 
 recessed to fit the possible irregularity and thus 
 skillfully retaining the natural beauty of the land, 
 relieves the monotony of the regular building-line 
 of the street. iThe site commanding fine views up 
 or down stream, across valleys or lake, or down 
 city streets must not be overlooked, for a site with 
 a vista is likely to increase in value, j Every avail- 
 
IO6 Home Planning 
 
 able resource should be employed in seeking a 
 desirable location for the permanent dwelling 
 place. 
 
 The site which will bring the largest income 
 for the investment determines the selection of the 
 location for the rental property. In every city 
 and town the proximity to the best residence dis- 
 tricts will bring the best return upon an investment, 
 but the valuable frontage makes it impossible in 
 this project to purchase a lot facing any of the best 
 residential streets. The cross streets in or near 
 these districts frequently offer sufficient space at 
 the rear end of a lot for the construction of a com- 
 pact double or duplex house without a yard. Those 
 persons desiring yards or kitchen gardens for their 
 rental property can secure locations in the less 
 fashionable parts of the city. The residence section 
 of the manufacturing district offers an opportunity 
 for good rentals at varying rates of interest on 
 investment, according to the character of improve- 
 ments. The little shop must be situated in an acces- 
 sible thoroughfare in an outlying district where 
 large numbers of workers pass its windows daily. 
 
Choice of Site IOJ 
 
 The limited sum to spend makes it impossible to 
 select a central location. 
 
 The locality chosen, the prospective owner is 
 brought face to face with the consideration of con- 
 ditions, either detrimental or beneficial, to be found 
 in the community in which he intends to live. It is 
 necessary to acquaint himself with innumerable 
 facts related to the health, comfort, and happiness 
 of the family. He must investigate the source of 
 water supply, the manner of sewage disposal, and 
 the source and efficiency of the lighting system. 
 He must learn whether street-widening and other 
 improvements and assessments fall upon the pur- 
 chaser, and also the possibility of future increase 
 or depreciation in the value of the land. The 
 character of the neighbors, both present and pros- 
 pective, and the accessibility of schools, shops, 
 churches, and social activities must also be consid- 
 ered. The lot must be in close proximity to satisfac- 
 tory lines of transportation, but not so near that the 
 noise of traffic can disturb the purchaser's rest and 
 relaxation. His home must be amply protected 
 against fire, and must be protected by law against 
 the encroachments of saloons and other detrimental 
 
IO8 Home Planning 
 
 influences. Such considerations may make slight 
 difference to a transient dweller, but to a possible 
 purchaser they are of the utmost importance. 
 
 All this settled to his satisfaction, the prospective 
 owner may be surprised to find that he can not 
 build the kind of structure he wishes. He will 
 find that local building committees have adopted 
 regulations and restrictions controlling the construc- 
 tion of all buildings. It will be necessary to ascer- 
 tain what legal guarantee the community offers as 
 to the quality, kind, and value of the buildings 
 permitted on this and on adjacent land. 
 
 The desire to live in the country may lead to 
 various choices. To those with abundant resources, 
 who care little for society and its affairs, the selec- 
 tion of a location may depend on natural beauty, 
 for example, a bluff near a river or lake, or pines 
 or beech woods. They may give no consideration 
 to other advantages or disadvantages aside from 
 the proximity to the railroad station and the ease 
 with which necessary supplies can be obtained. 
 The one who develops this location has ample 
 opportunity to make it into a picture which will 
 delight the eye all the year around with its har- 
 
Choice of Site IOQ 
 
 monious relation of contours, trees, roads, and 
 vistas. 
 
 To the one who desires a produce farm, the con- 
 siderations will be very different. The natural 
 beauty of the setting will receive little attention, 
 for in this case the nature of the soil, the drainage 
 of the land, and its water supply are of primary 
 importance. The influence of soil upon vegetation 
 as well as upon health is apparent, and a prospective 
 purchaser must know whether it be loam or clay, 
 gravel or sand, fertile or sterile. Rich loam is 
 best for vegetation. Loam with a substratum of 
 gravel and sand is usually found in low lands near 
 a river and is excellent for drainage because it is 
 porous and allows the water to disappear quickly. 
 Clay, the commonest soil in the country, holds 
 water and fosters dampness. It is usually found 
 on high land and frequently is water logged, thus 
 making the air damp and cold. It is possible to 
 change the condition of soil by a system of subsoil 
 drainage and sometimes by the removal of trees. 
 The subsoil drainage can be carried out by means 
 of tiles or pipes placed two or three feet below 
 the surface of the ground. It is also possible to 
 
HO Home Planning 
 
 change the condition of the soil by the carting of 
 leaf-loam and the use of various kinds of fertilizers. 
 This is expensive and not always satisfactory unless 
 there is a proper condition of soil to receive it. 
 A rocky subsoil with a top layer of clay will grow 
 a kind of vegetation which is sometimes desirable 
 for poultry, but this the small fruit or truck farmer 
 will not choose. Where water trickles through the 
 rocky strata sufficiently to form ponds there will 
 be a good location for duck or frog farms. "Made" 
 ground should be avoided, for it consists of animal 
 and vegetable refuse which frequently ferments 
 and putrifies. 
 
 The expense of building varies a good deal 
 according to the nature of the foundation. If built 
 upon a clay site the foundation needs to be placed 
 deep enough to avoid shrinkage from atmospheric 
 changes and thereby to prevent walls from settling 
 and cracking. A stiff clay makes a good foundation 
 if there is a porous subsoil. There is a possibility 
 of movement of sand or gravel from the action of 
 water which may cause walls to crack unless the 
 foundation of the house is very stable and well 
 placed. 
 
Choice of Site III 
 
 The best site for any house will be on raised 
 ground, which slopes away in all directions, thus 
 giving natural drainage. A generous distribution 
 of trees which will give sufficient shade and sun- 
 shine permits free circulation of air. Such trees will 
 also serve as shelter from prevailing winds, for the 
 direction of winds on a bluff, across a plain, or 
 down a street makes a screen of some sort neces- 
 sary in exposed places. In case of dampness, no 
 trees should be nearer the house than the length 
 of the tallest tree, thus permitting a circulation 
 of air and sunshine. The value of the latter as a 
 disinfectant can scarcely be overestimated. 
 
 Water supply as well as drainage and soil should 
 be considered and settled before the site is perma- 
 nently fixed upon. The little stream that babbles 
 along so peaceably may be an outlet for some 
 polluted body of water higher up stream. It may 
 also develop surprising results after a heavy rain- 
 fall. Drinking water from shallow wells, springs, 
 or streams is likely to become contaminated or to 
 fail in times of drought. Where it is possible one 
 should take advantage of public mains. Driven 
 or artesian wells are often the only available source 
 
PLATE XV 
 
Choice of Site 113 
 
 of supply. A private water plant, which can be 
 installed for a reasonable sum, furnishes a sufficient 
 storage supply and also a high enough pressure for 
 
 fire protection. This plant consists of a compressed 
 air and water pump, run by an electric motor or a gas- 
 oline engine with an underground, an on-ground or 
 an overhead tank capable of containing several thou- 
 sand gallons of water. This makes it possible to 
 
 equip the house with running water for kitchen 
 and bath, to supply drinking water for stock, and 
 to irrigate gardens. 
 
 The desire for an ideal location quickens the 
 imagination, deepens thoughtfulness about expendi- 
 tures, and awakens a consciousness of personal 
 responsibility in the matter of good citizenship. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE APPEARANCE OF THE HOUSE 
 
 The actual plans and 
 elevations of the house 
 are so intimately con- 
 nected that they can 
 scarcely be treated in- 
 dependently. If 
 beauty and economy 
 are to be found in the 
 home, the exterior 
 must be a direct and 
 straightforward out- 
 come of internal re- 
 quirements. The qualities which make for economy 
 will add to artistic appearance. Simplicity, good 
 structural lines, the pitch of the roof, and the 
 grouping of windows and doors which produces 
 good proportions, these are the qualities which 
 create beauty without adding to the expenditure. 
 It is a mistaken idea that crude and ugly dwellings 
 are necessarily less expensive than those of artistic 
 merit. The charm of domestic architecture owes 
 
 114 
 
The Appearance of the House II $ 
 
 nothing to richness of materials or abundance of 
 applied ornamentation, but comes through the 
 thoughtful use of good proportions to secure grace- 
 ful balance and pleasing grouping and to eliminate 
 extraneous ornamentation. 
 
 The character and purpose of the chosen house 
 require that it be beautiful and artistic and at the 
 same time substantial and modest, and that it be 
 the expression of good taste and hospitality. It 
 must have such comforts and conveniences as will 
 meet the needs of each member of the family for 
 which it is built. The welfare of the family is not 
 to be sacrificed for the pleasure of a chance guest, 
 however welcome. Strict economy necessitates a 
 square, compact house, for every break or departure 
 from the square or rectangular house means addi- 
 tional expense. A square-shaped house makes 
 possible a simple roof, which is not only less expen- 
 sive but more beautiful and dignified than one of 
 many hips and gables. 
 
 The beauty of the facade depends upon the 
 proportions of the width and height of walls to 
 the amount of roof which is visible. A common 
 failing in many houses is that they appear like 
 
lid Home Planning 
 
 boxes, the breadth being less than the height 
 or repeating the height of the facade. The breadth 
 should be considerably greater than the height, and 
 the windows should be so grouped and distributed 
 within the space as to leave empty wall spaces. 
 The first story should be higher than the second. 
 This naturally will make necessary shorter windows 
 on the second floor than on the first. The systematic 
 grouping of windows in balance with the empty 
 wall space gives order and symmetry. When wings 
 or projections are necessary they should be at right 
 angles to the house and should be small in propor- 
 tion to the actual width of the elevation to which 
 they belong. Otherwise the building will not 
 appear as a unit. The main structural lines, form- 
 ing one complete unit, must be clearly defined and 
 must serve as an outline of the house as a whole. 
 Architects have always depended upon the use 
 of the horizontal with the vertical line to break 
 spaces, and upon a certain distribution of shadow, 
 which emphasizes form and structural lines, thus 
 relieving the monotony of a flat surface. This is 
 especially true in Greek temples, French cathedrals, 
 and many other noted buildings. In our modern 
 
The Appearance of the House /// 
 
 dwellings the recessed places, ells, porches, pilasters, 
 and hooded doorways cast shadows which empha- 
 size structural forms and add greatly to the appear- 
 ance of the building. The principle of the vertical 
 line emphasizing height and the horizontal increas- 
 ing the apparent width is unfailing in architecture 
 as in dress. This is readily seen when vertical 
 columns are used in a circular porch and extended 
 to the top of the second story, thus emphasizing 
 the height of the house and dwarfing the entrance 
 and windows. The height of -the column is still 
 more exaggerated and sometimes distorted when 
 such a house is placed upon the top of a hill with 
 the only avenue of approach from below. This 
 house with its pronounced vertical lines requires 
 spacious level ground with a repetition of vertical 
 lines in tree trunks. Vertical lines can be used 
 upon a hill or bluff only when they are subordi- 
 nated to pronounced horizontal lines. A long, 
 horizontal line expresses stability and conforms 
 better to the character of a bluff or to the flatness 
 of a plain. 
 
 A dwelling exposed on all sides must be inter- 
 esting and presentable from every point of view, 
 
Il8 Home Planning 
 
 having no "back." Simplicity and the effect of 
 strength are essential. It is not enough for a wall 
 to be strong; it must look strong. In other words, 
 it must be well-outlined in long unbroken lines 
 extending to well-proportioned eaves. If the main 
 outlines and proportions of the house are bad, no 
 amount of ornament will hide the ugliness of the 
 design. There should be an entire absence of 
 applied ornaments, by which is meant features 
 which are introduced only for effect, with no struc- 
 tural significance. If decoration is used, though 
 it may be safely omitted, it must rise directly out 
 of the structural lines of the house. The sacrificing 
 of permanent principle to temporary fashion will 
 in a short time cause depreciation in value. Many 
 modern houses are soon left vacant because they 
 are built after a caprice of fashion and not from 
 principle. 
 
 The next important feature after the general 
 proportions of the body in relation to the roof, is 
 the entrance, which must express hospitality. No 
 matter how plain or how small the house, the 
 doorway must receive considerable attention. It 
 has the first claim to adornment and gives the key- 
 
The Appearance of the House IIQ 
 
 note to the whole design. It may be plain, but it 
 must be prominent, well-proportioned, and digni- 
 fied, and must be in harmony with the rest of the 
 house. The use of steps as a means of approach 
 to a doorway adds dignity and prominence. With- 
 out steps it would be difficult to make an entrance 
 express all that is expected of it. Sometimes a porch 
 serves as a direct passageway to the entrance, as in 
 second house, Plate XIII. The approach to the first 
 house, Plate XIII, is placed at the end of the porch 
 so that the covered space in front of the entrance 
 door can be used for chairs, table, and swing, 
 instead of being used as a passageway. The other 
 end of the porch is an open terrace which admits 
 ample light into the living-room. Some entrance 
 doors are treated like a range of windows, the only 
 difference to be seen being that the central one is 
 continued to the floor. The danger in choosing 
 this type of entrance lies in the superabundance of 
 glass, for a door should express privacy and pro- 
 tection. A cottage with a smaller door may be 
 given a charm of its own by placing above it a 
 simple hood which serves as a protection from sun- 
 shine or rain. The design of some entrances 
 
I2O Home Planning 
 
 includes the door, the porch, and the windows 
 above, which together form one complete unit and 
 are the dominant feature of the exterior of the 
 entire house. When the windows directly above 
 the entrance are not planned to be in harmony 
 with the entrance, they become the discordant fac- 
 tor of the exterior. The doorway must be kept in 
 keeping with the style of the house. A colonial 
 doorway is not suited to the craftsman's house or 
 vice versa. There must be fitness in the style of 
 the door and its relation to the house. A study of 
 doorways of early colonial houses with their slender 
 graceful columns or fluted pilasters, pointed or 
 curved pediments, broad, well-proportioned mould- 
 ings, and well-spaced panels helps one to appreciate 
 beauty and purity of line and finer proportion. 
 
 Windows require attention to the demands of 
 the interior as well as to the appearance of the exte- 
 rior. While the chief requirement is sufficient 
 light and air, it is as easy to over-light as to under- 
 light a room. The grouping of windows aids in 
 the concentration and distribution of light and pre- 
 vents cross-lights, which are detrimental to people 
 as well as to pictures and furnishings. By the 
 
The Appearance of the House 121 
 
 massing of windows, larger areas of wall-space 
 are gained, thus adding to the appearance of both 
 interior and exterior. Casement windows are well 
 adapted to grouping and concentrating, and in some 
 houses are more desirable than single double- 
 sashed windows. The double-sash windows, when 
 used in regular grouping, should be tall and narrow 
 to be well-proportioned. When used singly, they 
 break the wall into too many small spaces. French 
 windows and doors are useful, for they make an 
 easy approach and command good views. On the 
 other hand, they admit draughts and quantities of 
 light to that part of the room that should be kept 
 warm and quiet, the floor. A good plan in the 
 arrangement of windows in any house is to reserve 
 one space for the principle group of windows, 
 usually those of the living room, and to keep all 
 others in the house subordinated. 
 
 There should be evenness in the height of win- 
 dows on each floor, though they may vary in length 
 along the lower line. Where it is possible, a rela- 
 tively uniform size of windows should be kept 
 throughout the building. The harmony and sym- 
 metry are lost when windows of various sizes and 
 
122 Home Planning 
 
 irregular shapes are used. If the wall space 
 between windows seems barren and empty, it can 
 be relieved by the use of shutters. It is true, these 
 add to the cost, but they often add to the con- 
 venience, shelter, and comfort of the inhabitants. 
 The hanging of casement windows is important. 
 Three things are essential: ventilation of the room, 
 resistance to the elements, and hanging of blinds. 
 The double-sash window is in two parts, sliding up 
 and down by means of pulleys and weights, and 
 requiring heavy mullions. For convenience in use, 
 simplicity in construction, and artistic arrangement, 
 casement windows are most desirable, when side- 
 hung and opening out. They require no weights 
 to balance, and thus make possible the use of very 
 slender mullions which add to the artistic effect 
 if the windows are arranged in groups. When 
 they open outward they act as a screen to catch 
 and deflect a breeze. The entire window is avail- 
 able for ventilation, if desired, doubling the amount 
 the double-sash window furnishes. 
 
 It is generally admitted that window panes of 
 medium size are more satisfactory than many small 
 panes or one large one. The chief objection to many 
 
The Appearance of the House 123 
 
 panes is the divisional bars, which interfere with 
 the view, diminish the light, and make difficult 
 the work of cleansing. Very large panes of glass 
 look heavy and uninteresting, and give a feeling 
 of lack of protection. 
 
 The proportion of the roof that is seen is deter- 
 mined by the pitch and must be considered in 
 relation to the width and height of the walls. The 
 long slope of the roof of some bungalows over- 
 balances the facade of the house. Too small a 
 proportion of roof to the facade is rarely seen. 
 Simple, unbroken roofs of good proportion are more 
 beautiful than roofs broken by windows or dormers, 
 many elaborate gables, and expensive hips and val- 
 leys. These latter entail increased labor and mate- 
 rial, and constantly need repairs, since it is difficult 
 to build them waterproof. Nothing should be 
 permitted to complicate the construction of the roof. 
 The appearance of the roof depends somewhat 
 upon the ridge, and for this reason, effort should 
 be made to secure a good sky line, which excludes 
 all sharp angles, abrupt changes in direction, and 
 ornamentation. Wide eaves well-proportioned give 
 shadows and are desirable for protection from sun- 
 shine and rain. 
 
PLATE XVI 
 
The Appearance of the House 12$ 
 
 A bold, solid chimney stack well placed adds to 
 the appearance of the skyline, and makes a marked 
 difference in the appearance of the house. From 
 a distance the silhouette of the roof and the chim- 
 ney is practically all that is seen. In so small 
 a house as is here considered, there can be but one 
 chimney, which must be placed near the center of 
 the house. However, it may have several flues to 
 do service not only for the furnace and kitchen, 
 but for the open fire-place, if there be one. Eco- 
 nomically, one central stack is best for heating pur- 
 poses, for cost of construction and building mate- 
 rials, and for artistic effect. 
 
 The question of kind of material to be used is 
 easily disposed of, since the construction of con- 
 crete or brick is out of the reach of anyone with 
 so limited a sum of money to spend as that specified. 
 In some localities, frame construction or part timber 
 and plaster is least expensive and is therefore 
 chosen. One material should predominate. The 
 effect of elevation where many different materials 
 are employed is unrestful and inartistic. The use 
 of timber or plaster for the walls, and another 
 material for the roof gives sufficient variety. When 
 
126 Home Planning 
 
 a veneer of red brick below, timber and a patch of 
 plaster above, concrete porch with wooden columns, 
 and shingles are used in same building, the unity 
 of the whole is lost. In the first house, Plate XIII, 
 the exterior should be rough in texture. It may 
 be constructed of wide siding with the rough side 
 out or of shingles, and may be stained either warm 
 brown or silver grey. The exterior of the second 
 house, Plate XIII, can be of either stucco or siding 
 painted white, with green shutters and roof. 
 
 In working out his individual problem, the stu- 
 dent begins by determining the character and style 
 of his house. He should choose the design and 
 material suited to the locality, but it should in no 
 way conform to the ugliness which may prevail 
 there. Following such suggestions as are to be 
 found in the best books, magazines, and good 
 photographs, a student may make perspective draw- 
 ings or elevations of his house in its actual setting, 
 in whatever medium is best suited to his purpose, 
 that is, in lead pencil, pen and ink, colored crayons, 
 or water-colors. In these drawings every law of 
 balance and good spacing essential to structural 
 beauty must be emphasized. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 COMPACT ARRANGEMENT: A SURVEY 
 
 The fascinating prob- 
 lem of making floor 
 plans calls for fore- 
 sight and thorough 
 understanding of the 
 requirements of the 
 every day life of the 
 family which is to live 
 in the house. The con- 
 venience of a house in 
 which the mistress and 
 maid are one depends 
 upon compact arrangement, which is essential for 
 heating purposes and for economy in construction, 
 and at the same time upon the avoidance of an 
 awkward or cramped arrangement of rooms. The 
 judicious placing of partitions and stairways, the 
 concentrating of flues, the doing away with all 
 needless passages, the skillful and economic arrange- 
 ment of rooms, and the securing of thoroughfares 
 for convenience and comfort, all require the deep- 
 
 127 
 
128 Home Planning 
 
 est thought and consideration. Every foot of space 
 must be assigned to a use which can not be so well 
 served by any other apportionment. 
 
 Some published plans make no provision for any- 
 thing but the construction of the house, thus leaving 
 the house only a skeleton when completed. With 
 keen disappointment the owner is compelled to sup- 
 ply furnace, electric wiring, fixtures and bells, gas 
 piping, plumbing and drain pipes, equipment for 
 the bath and kitchen, screens, cistern, sidewalks, 
 fences, and grading of the yard. In order that no 
 essential equipment may be overlooked, the neces- 
 sary requirements of each room should be itemized 
 before the floor plans are begun. 
 
 An ideal plan for even so small and so simple 
 a house is a complex one, for the scheme of the 
 house as a whole must be kept in mind. A square, 
 compact house or one rectangular, nearly square, 
 having five or six rooms is most desirable from the 
 viewpoint of economy, convenience, and heating. 
 The house must be so placed on the lot as to secure 
 privacy, to command views, and to admit light and 
 air into the largest number of rooms. Settings that 
 are picturesque require a plan that utilizes to the 
 
Compact Arrangement I2Q 
 
 best advantage the natural beauty of the ground. 
 In order that the living-room may command the 
 best view, the kitchen may be faced toward the 
 street. There must be no "backs" to the house, nor 
 should there be a "line up" with the houses of 
 the neighborhood unless there is a distinct advan- 
 tage to be gained in doing so. 
 
 The division of spaces in the floor plan requires 
 a careful adjustment of the proportions to fit the 
 specific purpose of each room, and to conform to 
 its relation to the other rooms. There is economy 
 in choosing stock lengths and sizes in the timbers 
 of a room, which economy need in no way detract 
 from the appearance of the house. Floor joists and 
 rafters are obtainable in 14'-, 16'-, and 18'-lengths, 
 and rooms and roofs should be planned to these 
 dimensions to prevent waste in cutting. The same 
 advantage is gained in choosing stock sizes in doors 
 and windows, without in any way sacrificing artistic 
 merit. 
 
 The entrance has its influence upon the aspect 
 of the house. It may repel, invite, or display osten- 
 tation. It admits heat, cold, sunshine, and storm 
 alike. For these reasons a small vestibule or pas- 
 
Home Planning 
 
 sageway with sufficient space to pass through, 
 though not to tarry in, is desirable, for it serves as 
 a transition from the outside to the inside without 
 waste of floor space. 
 
 The living room is the most important room in 
 the house, and should be the most cheerful and 
 inviting. The modern living room abolishes the 
 parlor, the sitting room, and the long dark passage- 
 way known as a hall, with its cramped stairway. 
 It is a room in which the family gathers for recrea- 
 tion, for quiet, or for good comradeship. The living 
 room should be well supplied with windows 
 grouped for the concentration and distribution of 
 light in such a way as to keep the lower part of 
 the room in shadow, to prevent the crossing and 
 recrossing of lights, and at the same time to leave 
 plenty of wall-space for pictures and large pieces 
 of furniture. The windows of this room should 
 be the dominant windows of the house and should 
 be so placed as to command vistas and good venti- 
 lation. This sometimes makes an enormous differ- 
 ence in the cheerfulness and artistic effect of the 
 house. The living room fireplace should be ample 
 and well-located, near the center of one wall, and 
 
Compact Arrangement 
 
 may be flanked OR either side by bookcases. If 
 placed in or near a corner, it loses its charm, and 
 appears not to be an organic part of the room. If 
 one chimney with several flues must serve for all 
 purposes, it should be central and should be 
 studied in connection with the kitchen as well as 
 the living room. 
 
 The placing of the pantry for convenience be- 
 tween the dining room and kitchen saves steps and 
 prevents the odors of cooking from penetrating into 
 the house. For obvious reasons the dining room 
 should be easily accessible from the living room. It 
 must be large enough to allow easy passage around 
 a large, long table and to accommodate any heavy 
 furniture that may be in the room. The grouping 
 of windows adds cheerfulness to the room. This 
 room may be shut off from the living room by a 
 pair of glass doors. 
 
 The kitchen placed in a corner of the house with 
 door and windows at right angles gives cross venti- 
 lation, which reduces the heat and carries off the 
 odors of cooking. The kitchen is the work shop 
 and should be convenient and sanitary. The placing 
 of the stove near a window with the sink and drain- 
 
Home Planning 
 
 ing board at right angles to it and with shelves 
 within easy reach adds to the ease and comfort of 
 preparing meals. Most kitchens have neither 
 enough light nor cupboard space. There should 
 be two good cupboards with narrow shelves, for 
 deep ones hide needed articles. A small kitchen 
 10' by 10' is desirable for a family of five, and 
 one of 12' by 12' for a larger family. Plainness, 
 simplicity, convenience, and compactness are to be 
 sought in this room, where most of the heavy work 
 is done. 
 
 Doors need to be placed to give convenient access 
 to thoroughfares and to serve as a means of ventila- 
 tion, and must avoid striking each other, the fire- 
 place, or any piece of furniture. Doors in the 
 pantry should not be directly opposite each other. 
 It is desirable sometimes to hinge a door so as to 
 screen the larger half of the room. The doors in 
 the house should be limited in number and should 
 open clear of the main portion of the room, leaving 
 the larger amount of wall-space unbroken. The 
 large unbroken areas of a room add dignity and 
 give an impression of roominess. 
 
 Since stairways are a most important means of 
 
Compact Arrangement 133 
 
 communication, considerable attention should be 
 given to their placing, breadth, and accessibility, 
 if both comfort and beauty are to be assured. The 
 placing of stairs without wasting space or cramping 
 is not always an easy task. They may lead out of 
 a living room in a picturesque and convenient man- 
 ner, or from the vestibule, or from a corridor 
 between the living room and dining room. They 
 should be neither narrow nor steep. A shallow 
 riser with a tread twice its width keeps the stride 
 nearly equal and natural. A landing adds to the 
 ease of the ascent. It is desirable for the upper 
 end of the stairs to open near the center of the 
 second floor into a small corridor connecting all 
 the rooms with the bath. This reduces the amount 
 of waste space which is sometimes found in an up- 
 stairs corridor when the stairs open at one end of 
 the building. 
 
 The partitions of the second floor should be 
 directly above those of the first floor wherever 
 it is possible to place them there. A bedroom 
 need not be large, but should be sufficiently so to 
 contain necessary furniture. It should be well- 
 ventilated with a concentration of windows for 
 
Home Planning 
 
 sunshine and air, and should have sufficient wall- 
 space lengths for the furniture necessary for the 
 convenience of the occupant. The bed is the domi- 
 nant factor and may be shown in the plan, with 
 wall-space parallel to its width and length. The 
 placing of the chimney near the center of the house 
 throws the flues in the corners of upstairs rooms, 
 thus making it possible to provide ample closets 
 along the inside walls, equal in width to the chim- 
 ney. Where it is possible to do so, a small window 
 should be placed in a closet for ventilation and 
 light 
 
 The bathroom may be small and compact, but 
 large enough for easy movement. The location of 
 the tub, stool, and washstand, with a shallow cup- 
 board for toilet articles, completes the plan for the 
 bathroom. 
 
 In making plans for the first and second floors, as 
 well as for the basement and attic, allowance should 
 be made for the thickness of outside walls, the par- 
 titions, the stairways, and the chimney. These should 
 be thoughtfully developed and drawn to scale. Pro- 
 vision should be made for any built-in furniture, 
 such as book shelves, seats, cupboards, or buffets. 
 
Compact Arrangement 
 
 The main outline will be found susceptible of 
 infinite variations and modifications suited to differ- 
 ent requirements and conditions. 
 
 The floor plan, Plate XV, is for the first house,* 
 Plate XIII, and has been simplified in every way 
 to reduce cost. This house has been well built for 
 $3,500.00. The price includes a good furnace and 
 good plumbing, wiring, electrical fixtures, and 
 screens; a cellar under the entire house and a good 
 floored attic; oak floors, and fumed oak finish for 
 the woodwork of the first floor in the main hall and 
 living room and dining room; and yellow pine and 
 red gum woodwork for the second floor, with floors 
 of finished pine. This plan has some advantages 
 worth noting. The main entrance leads into a hall, 
 and the front door can be reached directly from the 
 kitchen, which is shut off by two doors in a side 
 hall so that odors from cooking cannot enter the 
 main part of the house. This side hall contains a 
 coat closet easy of access from the main hall, and 
 has a stairway to the basement. There is also an 
 outside door so that the laundry or ashes from the 
 basement may be taken directly into the yard. 
 
 The entrance from the kitchen to the dining room 
 
 *Courtesy of Lee Burns. 
 
Home Planning 
 
 is through a serving pantry, which contains cases 
 for china and glassware and a large serving shelf, 
 below which are drawers for silver and table linen. 
 By a slight change in arrangement an ice box can 
 be put in this pantry in such a way that the box 
 may be filled through a door opening from the 
 rear porch. The kitchen has two closets, the smaller 
 of which can be used for brooms, mops, table-leaves, 
 etc., while the larger serves as a pot closet. The 
 dining and living rooms are of good size, with 
 good wall spaces for furniture and pictures. Three 
 bed-rooms on the second floor are of good size, with 
 closet arrangements carefully worked out, the main 
 room having two. A linen closet is placed at the 
 end of the hall, and a small closet in the bath room 
 larger than the usual medicine cabinet is an unusual 
 convenience for such a house. A sleeping porch 
 could be built over the serving pantry and back 
 porch with little additional expense. Care has been 
 used in the placing of doors and windows through- 
 out the house. The floor of the attic is entirely 
 finished, making the house warmer in winter and 
 cooler in summer than it would otherwise be. The 
 attic thus furnishes considerable space for storage, 
 
Compact Arrangement 
 
 and has windows at either end for light and ven- 
 tilation. 
 
 Sound construction is essential. The true test of 
 economy will be shown in the absence of repairs. 
 Inferior construction is only temporary. In most 
 localities it is cheaper to build up than to spread 
 over a large area, for the masonry of the foundation 
 and the roofing are the heaviest items of expense. 
 The cost of building materials changes with each 
 season and with different localities, and the price 
 of labor varies considerably, but an approximate 
 cost can be found, and with sufficient accuracy to 
 make it possible for one to keep well within the sum 
 he has to spend. One method of estimating the 
 cost of a house is based on the cubic contents of 
 the house. Figure the height from the basement 
 floor half way through the attic, and count porches 
 at one-fourth of their cubic contents. On this basis 
 the first house, Plate XIII, would contain 27,000 
 cubic feet, which at 13 cents a foot makes a total 
 cost of $3,500.00. This is a low price per foot. 
 The average cost per foot over the country will 
 be several cents higher. Another way to secure an 
 approximate estimate is to obtain separate estimates 
 
Home Planning 
 
 from two reliable contractors who have made care- 
 ful calculations of the entire cost of the building 
 and have found the average per room. In central 
 Indiana, a plain, substantial house may be built 
 for an average per room of $425.00, allowing 
 $500.00 for each bath and kitchen. This includes 
 everything from the foundation to the finished 
 painted house. 
 
 A plan for the garden or door yard should not 
 be neglected. There should be no stereotyped 
 designs, but there should be order and system to 
 produce unity. The controlling factor in the plan- 
 ning should be an effort to make the most of the 
 natural and picturesque features of the land. The 
 most picturesque gardens are never all visible from 
 one point of view, but consist of parts screened 
 by shrubs, bushes, or vine-covered trellises, each 
 part different in character from the other. It is 
 safer to use a curved line than a straight one in 
 paths and lines of shrubbery. Straight lines lead 
 the eye directly to the destination and appear to 
 shorten spaces, while curved lines always suggest 
 distance. In a small garden an effort should be 
 made to secure the effect of spaciousness. The 
 
PLATE XVII 
 
Home Planning 
 
 Japanese can teach us much in the way of garden 
 planning. In Japan the working classes have 10' 
 by 12' yards, which they transform into gardens 
 suggestive of vast spaces. There is no point on 
 which the eye fastens, no dominant form to attract 
 or hold attention, and this very absence of any- 
 thing striking gives a feeling of boundlessness. 
 They use a broad scheme of infinite detail, some- 
 times embodying a tiny mountain with a tiny lake 
 at its base, and a bridge over a tiny brook, in the 
 waters of which flash tiny gold fish. Stepping 
 stones well-selected and carefully placed lead to 
 another interesting part, while a winding path, 
 partly concealed, leads to dwarfed pines. So the 
 eye is led from one thing to another, resting at no 
 point, and the beholder has a sense of vastness and 
 serenity. In this plan are many valuable lessons. 
 We need not copy their gardens bodily, but we 
 should study them for their admirable following 
 of fixed principles, especially in avoiding straight 
 lines, planting in masses, conserving open spaces, 
 and avoiding points of dominance. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 WOOD-FINISH 
 
 Before the real 
 problem of apply- 
 ing p r i n c i p les 
 which govern 
 good taste in the 
 arrangement of a 
 home can be 
 solved, the prepa- 
 ration, color, and 
 finish of the wood 
 must be studied. 
 No part of the 
 modern, inexpensive home is more abused than the 
 wood-trim, for not infrequently one finds all the 
 natural beauty of the grain lost in an overdose of 
 stain, paint, varnish, or shellac. The wood-finish 
 of any home should be quiet and unobtrusive, and 
 never self-assertive. 
 
 The purpose of finish is to produce color and to 
 preserve the wood. Wood may be finished in many 
 ways, by the use of paint, stains, fillers, wax, and 
 
 141 
 
1 42 Home Planning 
 
 varnish. A series of experiments will aid in dis- 
 covering the advantages and disadvantages of the 
 various finishes. Paints, which are formed of cer- 
 tain ingredients that give color, body, and opacity, 
 produce a hard surface which adheres to the wood 
 and protects it, making it impervious to moisture. 
 Some paints have a dull finish, while others give 
 a glossy surface. The wood should be carefully 
 prepared, that is, well-dressed and sandpapered to 
 a satin finish. New woods require two thin coats 
 and a third one for the finish. Unless the wood- 
 work in a house is beautiful in color and grain, it 
 is better not to leave it in its natural state, but to 
 paint it in modified hues, avoiding always pro- 
 nounced colors or cold greys. 
 
 The purpose of stains is to change the natural 
 color of the wood, sometimes slightly and some- 
 times radically, but always transparently. There 
 are four kinds of stains: oil, water, and spirit, and 
 a fourth produced by chemical change. The 
 advantage of oil stain is that it is easily made and 
 applied, and does not raise the grain of the wood. 
 Colors may be mixed to obtain any hue. There is 
 considerable waste in the use of oil stains. To 
 
Wood Finish 143 
 
 produce the right color and retain the texture of 
 the wood, it is necessary to put the stain on and 
 wipe it off at once. When oil stain is put on and 
 allowed to remain, the grain of the wood is lost and 
 the appearance is that of paint rather than of stain. 
 
 Water stains penetrate the wood deeply and are 
 transparent and inexpensive, but they are difficult to 
 apply easily and they fade easily and raise the grain 
 of the wood. Water stains are made from powdered 
 forms of analine and vegetable dyes mixed with 
 hot water. An excellent mahogany stain may be 
 made from an old formula of seal brown diamond 
 dye and hot w T ater. In order to prevent any evi- 
 dence of overlapping it is necessary that the surface 
 to be covered be thoroughly wet with water before 
 any application is made. 
 
 Spirit stains are easily applied but are not per- 
 manent. They are made by cutting the analine 
 dyes in alcohol and naphtha. The knowledge 
 gained in the study of the theory of color of the 
 effect one color has in counteracting another, may 
 be applied here. For example, yellow pine is 
 never stained transparently with any degree of suc- 
 cess, and the natural color of the wood is ugly. 
 
Home Planning 
 
 The orange-yellow in the pine may be counteracted 
 by blue in the stain. Many interesting experiments 
 in changing the color and retaining the grain of 
 the wood may be made with spirit stains. 
 
 Most woods contain a kind of acid which is 
 characteristic of the natural condition of the wood. 
 When this acid comes in contact with an outside 
 acid, a chemical change takes place. The process 
 of fuming penetrates the entire thickness of the 
 wood, and the color of the wood changes perma- 
 nently. It is possible to watch the process of 
 fuming wood when various kinds of woods are 
 suspended above a vessel filled with strong 
 ammonia, all in a large, airtight glass vessel. The 
 fumes of the ammonia ascend and penetrate the 
 wood thoroughly. White, red, burr, quarter-sawed, 
 or plain oak change to a deep rich brown. In 
 fumed oak the color is richer and the flecks of 
 wood are lost in the color; in stained oak the flecks 
 resist the color and remain light, while the grain 
 absorbs the color, making an uneven tone. Mahog- 
 any, walnut, chestnut, and cherry change by this 
 process to different degrees of a deep, mellow color 
 such as can otherwise be obtained only by old age. 
 
Wood Finish 14$ 
 
 It gives a mellowness of color which no manufac- 
 tured stain ever produces. Red gum changes 
 slightly, producing a warm medium grey, impossi- 
 ble to produce by the use of stains. Another way 
 to produce chemical change is to use bichlorate of 
 potash dissolved in hot water and applied to the 
 satin surface of the wood, hot acid penetrating 
 deeper than cold. Sulphuric acid applied to the 
 surface of cypress wood eats into the grain in much 
 the same manner as that in which acid eats into 
 metal in etching, thus emphasizing its outline. 
 This finish is suitable only for public places, not 
 for homes. 
 
 Fillers smooth the surface of coarse grain. 
 Unless mixed with colors they leave the flecks of 
 light over the surface of grain, which is often 
 offensive. Wax is a preservative and leaves a 
 desirable dull finish. One disadvantage is that it 
 leaves a soft surface to which dust readily adheres 
 and which will eventually wash off. Shellac pro- 
 duces a hard surface and is desirable when well- 
 rubbed down with old sandpaper and powdered 
 pumice stone till it gives a dull, smooth surface. 
 Observation shows that while varnish preserves the 
 
PLATE XVIII 
 
Wood Finish 147 
 
 color and grain, it also produces glittering masses 
 of high-lights which call attention to lines, grains, 
 and spots which should be obscured. In recent 
 years experiments have led to the discovery of a 
 dull mat finish in varnish, which can be obtained 
 at most paint shops. 
 
 Some woods do not need stains. To stain them 
 is to forfeit the beauty of their natural color and 
 grain. Walnut, red gum, mahogany, and cherry 
 are most beautiful in their natural state, with many 
 coats of dull finish of wax or shellac. Most mahog- 
 any furniture and finish is stained, and many woods 
 are substituted for mahogany. Birch, a hard, white, 
 close grained wood, when stained can scarcely be 
 distinguished from mahogany. Furniture made 
 from stained birch is comparatively inexpensive. 
 Red gum is substituted for Circassian walnut owing 
 to the remote and inaccessible districts from which 
 the latter comes. Oak can be stained many colors 
 golden, weathered, old English, Flemish (black), 
 and malachite green. Very dark wood makes a 
 room dreary and disagreeable unless brilliant scin- 
 tillating colors are used in decorations. Ash and 
 chestnut are similar to oak in grain and are some- 
 
1 48 Home Planning 
 
 times substituted for it. Elm and white gum, firm, 
 white, and almost grainless, are substituted for oak 
 by means of a process of a machine-printed imita- 
 tion of the grain and color of oak. In preparing 
 wood for the home, every effort should be made to 
 obtain a color which is neutral and which preserves 
 any desirable quality that the real wood may possess. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES I 
 
 The interior of the 
 home is the seat of 
 the real problem, the 
 place where the fine, 
 restraining hand of 
 the homemaker must 
 have free play. The 
 artistic arrangement 
 of a home is a prob- 
 lem in design which 
 calls for the prac- 
 tical application of 
 principles of beauty to the most familiar details of 
 domestic life. The furnishing of a room must be 
 neither accidental nor temporary. In spite of 
 changing styles or fancy, there must be a permanent 
 value in the things selected as well as underlying 
 principles of art in arrangement. 
 
 Beauty is the result of a more or less conscious 
 obedience to law. Whistler maintained that "the 
 fundamental principles of decorative art as in all 
 
 149 
 
Home Planning 
 
 art are based on laws as exact as those known to 
 science, and can be gotten only by laws of balance, 
 proportion, repose, and harmony"; that "art is a 
 science, the science by which the artist picks, 
 chooses, and groups, that beauty may result. The 
 artist can leave no more to chance than can the 
 chemist, the botanist, or the biologist."* With 
 these principles as a basis, it is possible that a home 
 of inexpensive and modest furnishings may be made 
 beautiful and artistic. 
 
 The first step in the production of such a home 
 will be an effort to create on paper a harmonious 
 arrangement of each room, so that the whole plan 
 and scheme may be thoroughly thought out before 
 the execution of it is actually begun. Wall-eleva- 
 tions, which are flat surface drawings representing 
 the space from floor to ceiling and from wall to 
 wall without receding lines, may be made to scale. 
 The exact measurements as indicated in the floor 
 plans should be accurately followed in placing 
 doors, windows, and fireplaces. The beauty of a 
 room will depend upon the proportion of its width 
 
 *Elizabeth and Joseph Pennell's Life of James McNeil Whistler 
 J. B. Lippencott. 
 
Fundamental Principles, I 
 
 and length to its height, and upon the balance of 
 empty spaces with the openings. 
 
 In these elevations the structural use of horizontal 
 and vertical lines in the wood-trim should be con- 
 sidered. Horizontal lines such as are found in 
 base-boards, plate or chair rails, picture mouldings, 
 and beamed ceilings, or in such accessories as bor- 
 ders in wall papers and curtains, emphasize the 
 breadth and decrease the apparent height of a room. 
 Vertical lines such as are found in pilasters, tall, 
 dignified door and window casings, and paneling, 
 or in long straight lines of draperies, emphasize 
 height at the expense of width. The long retreating 
 lines of beamed ceilings, seen in perspective, or 
 the crossing and recrossing of beams in the ceiling 
 call attention to a part of the room which, like 
 the floor, should be kept quiet and unobtrusive, 
 as in Plate XVII. The repetition of horizontal 
 lines in the wainscoting, in the rows of pictures, 
 and in the ceiling in this illustration, decreases not 
 only the apparent breadth but the height of the 
 room as well. No matter how attractive the fur- 
 nishing may be, when the repetition is thus empha- 
 sized the room has the appearance of a box. The 
 
I $2 Home Planning 
 
 height of a long, low room may be increased by the 
 use of long vertical lines in draperies, by placing 
 the picture moulding at the ceiling, and by the 
 right choice of wall papers in which modest designs 
 run perpendicularly, not diagonally. 
 
 Four essential things are to be considered in the 
 arrangement of every room: (1) the center of 
 interest, (2) the arrangement of the furniture, (3) 
 the balance of pictures with empty wall-spaces, and 
 (4) harmonious color. Beginning with the living 
 room, which is the largest, most cheerful, and most 
 inviting room in the house, the first consideration 
 will be to provide for the use of the room and for 
 the many types of furniture necessary for the com- 
 fort, occupations, and varying tastes of the different 
 members of the family. 
 
 The center of interest must be the dominant idea 
 not of one wall only, but the main idea around 
 which the entire room is arranged. It may be a 
 fireplace with a beautiful picture above it, as in 
 Plate XVI, for the ruddy glow of an open fire gives 
 a sense of cheer and comradeship which nothing 
 else can supply. One cannot enter this room with- 
 out being attracted by its beauty and simplicity, 
 
Fundamental Principles, I 
 
 153 
 
 PLATE XIX 
 
 and by the dignity of proportions and space- 
 relations. If the purse is too shallow for this luxury, 
 the center of interest may be a single picture to be 
 hung with plenty of wall-space about it, as in 
 Plate XX. Care and discrimination will be 
 required in choosing the picture, for it must give 
 character to the room and be the keynote for the 
 color scheme to be used. A prominent and beautiful 
 piece of furniture may be used, as a cabinet, a high- 
 boy, or a piano which is distinctive enough in form 
 and placing to attract and hold the attention when 
 
Home Planning 
 
 one enters the room, as in Plates XIV and XXI, and 
 in initial interior, page 160. Book shelves and mag- 
 azine closets, or a window with a row of shelves 
 beneath may serve as the center of interest. A win- 
 dow which commands a picturesque view may 
 become the center of interest, thus bringing the 
 charm and beauty of the changes of nature into the 
 room. Sometimes the space framed by such a win- 
 dow is broken by a group of tree trunks, or by 
 the bent trunk of some one tree as it cuts across 
 the window space, in the manner of the trunk of a 
 pine tree in a Japanese print. Such a room, beau- 
 tiful in its proportion and commanding fine vistas, 
 needs little embellishment. In every case, the domi- 
 nant idea as the center of interest gives the keynote 
 to the entire room, and to this all furnishings are 
 subordinated. 
 
 The second essential in the planning of a room 
 is the selection, the balance, and the proper placing 
 of furniture to give a sense of equilibrium without 
 necessarily equal divisions. A proper proportion 
 in the relation of the spaces of a room to its furni- 
 ture must be secured. If this balance is not secured, 
 no number of costly or rare articles will make the 
 
Fundamental Principles, I 
 
 room beautiful, or will be compensation for the 
 picture that the room might have been. In how 
 many houses do you get from a comprehensive 
 glance a thrill of delight or a sense of beauty? How 
 many houses do you visit which give you the impres- 
 sion that the pictures, rugs, furniture, and hangings 
 were chosen because of a scheme previously thought 
 out? Is each article of furniture chosen because 
 its height, shape, color, or line of construction is in 
 harmony with other objects in the room, and because 
 it performs a function in the harmony as a whole? 
 When a chair is added, its height and character 
 should be chosen with reference to objects near 
 which it will be placed, as in Plates XX and XXI. 
 A table should be selected because its height and line 
 of construction conform to the other objects about 
 it, as in Plate XIX. No matter how beautiful 
 an article of furniture may be in itself, if it is out 
 of proportion and harmony with other objects in 
 the room or foreign to their character, it detracts 
 from the beauty of the whole. 
 
 Richness of effect, even in simple, inexpensive 
 furniture, may be gained by the use of a few large 
 objects which balance empty wall spaces. Dignity 
 
Home Planning 
 
 PLATE XX 
 
 could not have been gained had the chair in Plate 
 XXI been low or broad, or had the top of the 
 cabinet been covered with many ornaments. Many 
 small objects placed on the top of a book-case or 
 on a mantel appear like so many spots which swarm 
 in an unrelated way. The over-crowding of a 
 mantel expresses vulgarity. Three or four well- 
 chosen objects varying in size, character, and color, 
 and carefully arranged, are preferable, as, for 
 example, a rare piece of carving, a piece of lacquer, 
 and some article of utility, such as a vase or candle- 
 
Fundamental Principles, I 757 
 
 stick having artistic merit. Exquisite small replicas 
 of old masterpieces of Greek or Roman sculpture 
 are inexpensive, and add dignity and character to 
 a room. In the placing of certain ornaments upon 
 the mantel, as in the arrangement of furniture to 
 fill certain spaces, one is confronted with a distinct 
 lesson in design that requires thought in line and 
 color grouping. No object should be placed except 
 in accordance with a well considered plan to secure 
 a balance of unequal spaces. It must not divide 
 the space into equal parts or help to form a group 
 of objects of the same height or contour. A few 
 large ornaments well chosen with reference to size 
 and color are as essential to a well-arranged room 
 as are pictures. 
 
 The house in which pictures predominate will 
 need very little other decoration. A picture may 
 be the center of interest of a single wall space or it 
 may be the center around which the entire room is 
 to be built. Many pictures of equal size hung side 
 by side give a repetition in size and form which 
 produces monotony, and each picture, no matter 
 how well chosen, loses something of the value which 
 it would possess if it were more discriminatingly 
 
I $8 Home Planning 
 
 hung, as Plate XVII. Pictures, like bric-a-brac, 
 are dangerous, for it is easy to overcrowd a wall 
 with them. Another essential consideration in 
 hanging pictures is the lighting. A great deal of 
 the beauty of a picture depends upon the way the 
 light falls upon it. Cross lights, reflected lights, 
 or the absence of lights may mar entirely the beauty 
 of the picture. A beautiful picture should be 
 beautifully shown with plenty of wall-space about 
 it and with adequate lighting. 
 
 Pictures should be hung neither too high nor too 
 low, with two vertical wires as invisible supports. 
 The prevalent manner of hanging pictures so that 
 their wires form many inverted V's about a room 
 is offensive. The center of interest of the picture 
 should be on the level of the eye except in the 
 case of a full length portrait. Another good custom 
 in hanging pictures is to hang all pictures in the 
 room so that their lower edges will be on a line, 
 except that of the dominant picture. This one should 
 be dropped a few inches below the line, thus break- 
 ing the regularity. Pictures having mats should be 
 hung to themselves. Gold frames and wood frames 
 should be hung separately. There should be no 
 
Fundamental Principles, I /59 
 
 violent contrasts either in the size or the color of 
 the frames, or in the pictures themselves. There 
 may be variety, but variety alone has no merit 
 unless it results in harmony. After the dominant 
 picture has been placed in its proper light, the 
 order of arrangement of other pictures may be deter- 
 mined according to importance, whether in tech- 
 nique, subject, color, or size and shape, reserving 
 the least important for the quiet, unobtrusive corner. 
 A few fine pictures well chosen and well-lighted 
 are preferable to many trivial ones. They will 
 grow in favor after a person has lived with them 
 for a time, and will bring a dissatisfaction with 
 less artistic productions. 
 
 In the living room, the student must express in 
 a concrete way the comfort, the rest, the hospitality 
 of the home. With chairs at angles, with tables 
 and books convenient but never in the way, with 
 the ruddy glow of a fire, with pictures hung neither 
 too high nor too low, this room must not give a 
 sense of either emptiness or over-crowding. It is 
 the place for good comradeship as well as for 
 privacy, a place to rest in, to work in, and to play in, 
 a place which one leaves with the desire to return, 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES II 
 
 The same principles 
 must be applied to 
 the arrangement of 
 the pictures and fur- 
 niture in a dining 
 room. In this room 
 the actual necessities 
 are the table and 
 chairs, as in Plate 
 XXII. A sideboard, 
 a buffet, or a serving 
 table add much to 
 the appearance and comfort of the room. There is 
 greater coherence and unity in dining room furniture 
 than in that of other rooms because there is but one 
 definite purpose in the room. This room also should 
 be light, airy, and cheerful, and should express 
 hospitality. There are large living rooms the cor- 
 ners of which are bays where meals are served, 
 as in Plate XXVIII. Between times there is no 
 
 160 
 
Fundamental Principles, II l6l 
 
 suggestion of a dining room. It is a delightful 
 plan to have a deft maid prepare the table quickly 
 and remove as quickly all traces of it after meals. 
 
 The plate-rail should be discarded, since it is 
 no longer an ornament, but resolves itself into a 
 series of spots which attract the eye to that part 
 of the walls that should be unobtrusive. Originally 
 its purpose was to display a few beautiful plates 
 of porcelain or pewter, so rare in shape and color 
 as to require placing beyond the reach of utility. 
 It then became an ornament, a bit of decoration 
 in the room. The selection and placing of porce- 
 lain upon the buffet or cupboard shelves is another 
 problem in design which is an unlooked-for test 
 of artistic knowledge of arrangement. It is said 
 that Whistler was as careful in placing his beauti- 
 ful blue and white Nankin china upon his cupboard 
 shelves or upon his table as he was in placing his 
 signature, the butterfly, upon his canvases. If you 
 remove the signature you lose the perfect balance of 
 the picture. 
 
 The problem of the kitchen is by no means the 
 least important. Convenience and sanitation are 
 the first two things to consider, but the question 
 
PLATE XXI 
 
Fundamental Principles, II 163 
 
 arises at once, "May we make it attractive also?" 
 for to many the very word sanitary implies ugli- 
 ness. The ideal kitchen is not large, and a square 
 room saves steps. Any device in the kitchen which 
 will save steps or time should be considered. One 
 must learn to discriminate between the elaborate, 
 complicated articles and those that are plain, simple, 
 and helpful, for anything bulky in a small kitchen 
 means additional work. 
 
 The beauty, convenience, and sanitation of a 
 kitchen depend upon the nature of the treatment 
 of walls, floor, and ceiling, more than in any other 
 room in the house. Tile floors, tile walls, and 
 other non-absorbent floor- and wall coverings are 
 too expensive for such simple homes as are here 
 considered. There is little choice as to the floor, 
 which may be of oak, ash, or some other hard wood. 
 For walls, in recent years several compositions of 
 wood-fibers and plasters have been used successfully, 
 put on in plastic condition and trowelled down to 
 a smooth surface which is almost fireproof and non- 
 absorbent. This furnishes a good surface for paint. 
 Oil cloth is also a good covering. Where the above 
 can not be used, paint is better than wallpaper. Any 
 
Home Planning 
 
 neutral color which possesses glow and warmth is 
 good, but cold colors are not. By a judicious use 
 of color in wall coverings, the kitchen may be trans- 
 formed from a commonplace room into a pleasing 
 one. 
 
 Most of the equipment of the kitchen, including 
 sink, ice chest, cabinets, and cupboards, is built 
 into the room. A stove, a chair, a stool, and a 
 table are the only necessary furniture. All kinds 
 of furniture have been invented for kitchens, only 
 to be discarded. Collapsible and convertible tables 
 and chairs which turn into stepladders or clothes- 
 horses are examples of this kind of furniture. After 
 all, plainness and simplicity are desirable. When 
 articles become complicated one loses more time in 
 operation than she saves through the use of these 
 novel devices. An elaborate kitchen table with 
 drawers, shelves, hooks, and sundry other devices 
 may look well and seem \ eoretically very helpful, 
 but a plain simple table w r *h a few drawers will 
 prove most advantageous. Peform is needed in 
 kitchen stoves, and an effort is being made to 
 improve them. Various types of stoves need to be 
 considered, and the one chosen should lift the ovens 
 
Fundamental Principles, II 
 
 well up from the floor. Where one can afford the 
 additional expense, a generous hood should be 
 placed over the range to ventilate and to carry 
 smoke and odors of cooking from the room. 
 
 In making wall-elevations, the student should be 
 careful to place the stove in the center of one wall 
 near a window, and the sink at right angles or 
 opposite with shelves and table between to minimize 
 labor, as in Plate XXIII. While kitchens are utility 
 rooms, there is no reason why they should not be 
 made attractive with oil cloth walls, built-in cup- 
 boards, and ells with breakfast tables, as in Plate 
 XXIV. The placing of shining copper and of blue 
 and white enamel cooking utensils upon the cup- 
 board shelves follows the same principles of 
 arrangement as govern that of other rooms in the 
 house. The student who chose white and orange 
 bowls and blue and white granite ware instead of 
 grey, and painted her r'jtern pump blue to be in 
 harmony with the cvpress wood finish and buff 
 walls, had a true aopreciation of beauty. Beauty 
 depends upon the harmonious relation of parts to 
 the whole, whether that relates to fine arts or to the 
 selection and arrangement of kitchen utensils. It is 
 
PLATE XXII 
 
Fundamental Principles, II 
 
 not the difference in cost but in appreciation which 
 brings harmony. 
 
 The bedroom is the place where liberality of 
 mind and character are displayed. It is the place 
 where directly personal things may be kept, such 
 as photographs, crayon portraits, keepsakes, and all 
 those things which relate directly to the sentiment of 
 the occupant and which have little interest to the 
 casual guest. No person of fine taste will have 
 articles that are conspicuous and crude in this, the 
 most intimate of all rooms in the house. 
 
 This room is to serve as a sleeping place, and 
 therefore needs large windows for ventilation, and 
 should be lighted and cheerful. The wall-spaces 
 should be adequate for bed and dresser and any 
 other piece of furniture necessary for the use, com- 
 fort, and convenience of the occupant of the room. 
 Well-proportioned, simply-constructed closets and 
 cupboards may be built into the room to provide 
 space for hats, shoes, and garments of varying 
 length and character, as in Plates XXV and XXVI. 
 A limited sum of money sometimes stimulates one 
 to exercise no small amount of ingenuity, invention, 
 and artistic activity in designing some well-planned, 
 
168 Home Planning 
 
 built-in cupboards, closets, and furniture. Every 
 detail should be considered from two points of view, 
 those of use and arrangement. The requirements 
 of a bedroom are few, and simplicity will add 
 dignity to the room. 
 
 As the designs of wall-elevations of the different 
 rooms progress, the student who has a working 
 knowledge of laws of balance and proportion will 
 express it in a straightforward, orderly way. He 
 will remember that rooms must ever serve as back- 
 grounds or settings for the drama of life. When 
 he permits the articles of furniture to dominate 
 the room and its occupant, he violates every law 
 of good taste. He must have rooms which once 
 arranged will give a thrill of joy and a sense of 
 satisfaction ; rooms which are fit to be homes in 
 the fullest sense of the word. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 CHOICE OF FURNITURE 
 
 The designing of good fur- 
 niture depends upon two 
 closely related require- 
 ments, the practical and the 
 aesthetic. The first deals 
 with comfort, utility, con- 
 struction, and materials; 
 the latter, with good pro- 
 portions, balance of related 
 spaces, unity of the whole, 
 enrichment, color, and fin- 
 ish. The good designer is 
 as much concerned with the one as with the other, 
 and makes no effort to consider them separately. 
 He recognizes that all ornament is the outgrowth 
 of construction and secondary to it; that there is 
 no place in good furniture for applied ornament. 
 The laws of good construction demand conven- 
 ience, strength, and security. For example, a chair 
 must be comfortable enough to sit in, strong enough 
 to hold its occupant, and light and convenient 
 
 169 
 
IJO Home Planning 
 
 enough to be moved about. A chair may be struc- 
 turally adequate for the service it is to perform 
 and still be wholly ugly and uninteresting in pro- 
 portion and line. The laws of beauty demand that 
 the structural elements be used in obedience to the 
 principles of good spacing, balance, and enrich- 
 ment, for beautiful proportions contribute to a dis- 
 tinctive and lasting quality in furniture. Solidly 
 constructed of firm, fine-grained wood, the chair 
 should combine simplicity in line and construction, 
 balance and restraint in ornament, and artistic 
 grace and comfort; but beauty can never be gained 
 when utility is ignored. These inseparable elements 
 require a well-related adjustment of one proportion 
 or part to another and to the whole. 
 
 When construction is sacrificed to ornament, fur- 
 niture becomes unsuited to its purpose. Machine- 
 stamped decorations and carvings are indicative of 
 display, frequently at the cost of construction and 
 workmanship. Beautiful carving, which can be 
 done only by a master, is the continuation in detail 
 of the thought expressed in construction, an enrich- 
 ment of refined construction which is an outgrowth 
 of the design as a whole. Applied ornaments, as 
 
Choice of Furniture 
 
 well as over-ornamentation and high polish, are 
 generally used to hide blemishes in wood. Straight 
 lines and simple curves may appear plain and unin- 
 teresting, but they are never as likely to be so 
 objectionable either structurally or aesthetically as 
 over-ornamentation or as the restless unending 
 spirals and concave curves of debased rococo. 
 
 One's own personal taste is exhibited in the selec- 
 tion of furniture more than in that of other features 
 in home furnishing. In our own houses, the houses 
 of our friends, and the houses that line our street, 
 thoughtful examination shows that the over- 
 crowded, artificial conditions, produced as they are 
 by no end of things ugly, useless, and artless in 
 their arrangements, are due to the lack of a definite 
 standard, a want of restraint, and an unwise expendi- 
 ture. Through constant contact with the* forms 
 of furniture prevalent about us, our senses become 
 blunted and we fail to appreciate their mediocrity. 
 The deplorable tendency to consider that everything 
 that is in vogue or is recommended by the salesman 
 is in good taste, leads us to purchase furniture which 
 is not exactly what we want, but which must do 
 after it is once purchased until we have more leisure 
 
PLATE XXIII 
 
Choice of Furniture 
 
 to devote to a more careful search or more money 
 to invest. It does not take long to outgrow these 
 tasteless purchases, but our limited means prohibit 
 our discarding them. It would be better to select 
 one piece which has permanent value than three 
 of flimsy construction, cheap finish, and ugly design 
 for the same price. It is our lack of care in selection 
 that causes the manufacturer to put on the market 
 articles so bizarre, so striking, so loud as to arrest 
 the eye at once. There is an abundance of beautiful 
 things upon the market, but there is also an abun- 
 dance of ugly things, things made with no other 
 thought behind them than an intention to sell. The 
 measure of success in selecting beautiful and har- 
 monious furniture for the home is the measure of 
 one's appreciation of what is fine in line, construc- 
 tion, and design. 
 
 In order that the homemaker may choose furni- 
 ture intelligently, he must study the best periods 
 of furniture-making, not that he may have a super- 
 ficial knowledge of the history, nor that he may 
 fill his home with period furniture, but that he may 
 have a better understanding of what constitutes good 
 lines and good proportion; of what distinguishes 
 
IJ4 Home Planning 
 
 solid, honest, direct construction from weak; of 
 the adaptability of certain woods to construction, 
 and of the appropriateness of their finish; of the 
 breadth and simplicity of design which is an out- 
 growth of structural lines; and of the value of 
 recurring lines which give enrichment, such as are 
 found in delicate mouldings, skillful turning, inlays 
 of various woods, and tooling which repeats struc- 
 tural lines. The past may influence one strongly, but 
 there are many unworthy, positively ugly creations 
 as well as many beautiful pieces of furniture in 
 even the best periods of furniture-making, many 
 evidences of decadence as well as of true growth. 
 To gain a helpful knowledge of good construction 
 and beauty, one must learn to recognize these qual- 
 ities and to distinguish the good from the inferior. 
 In the brief space allotted to this important sub- 
 ject, only an outline of study can be suggested. 
 Beginning with the Italian Renaissance, analyze the 
 structural elements, lines, proportions, and shapes 
 of spaces in each article of furniture, and the logical 
 process of building in ornament. The changes 
 wrought in the line of construction and in the shape 
 and design came gradually, and furnish the keynote 
 
Choice of Furniture /75 
 
 to the principles underlying all good, honest, solid 
 construction in the centuries of furniture-making 
 which followed. Generations of work along one 
 line led to the development of manual dexterity 
 and of the ability to design. Decades elapsed before 
 chests were elevated to sturdy cupboards or 
 armoires, and the credence, conspicuous for its well- 
 balanced proportions, to the cabinet with its nest 
 of drawers and compartments within folding doors. 
 It is not the charm of ornament alone that is essen- 
 tial, but the structural element in the comparatively 
 simple form of the "carcass" or foundation of cabi- 
 nets, sideboards, and other pieces of furniture. 
 Trace the influence of these elements upon the 
 cabinet-makers of France, Flanders, and England. 
 Follow the influence of the Flemish designers upon 
 the best periods of furniture-making in England, 
 when the designers were artists as well as masters 
 in architectural art. Such men as Hogarth, Van- 
 dyke, and Rubens not only influenced the style, 
 but also designed the furniture. Good design and 
 construction in furniture reached its culmination 
 in the best work of Adams, Chippendale, Hepple- 
 white, and Sheraton. 
 
PLATE XXIV 
 
Choice of Furniture 7 77 
 
 The influence of the adaptability of wood upon 
 design should be considered. The slow departure 
 from the early Gothic and perpendicular, because 
 of the nature of the grain of the wood, brought a 
 direct, straightforward construction, sometimes lim- 
 ited in execution and clumsy in form. This gave 
 way to graceful, shapely, sinuous curves, with pro- 
 portions and materials lighter in weight because 
 of the use of woods of finer, firmer grain. During 
 the classic period of Adams and Chippendale in 
 the reign of George III, the designers for the first 
 time combined strength and delicacy by the intro- 
 duction of woods characterized by these qualities. 
 
 The use and abuse of these ideas should be fol- 
 lowed through the decadence of the Victorian 
 period in England and a similar period in America. 
 To the revival inaugurated by William Morris and 
 his followers we are indebted for an aesthetic move- 
 ment which has spread far and wide over many 
 countries. The student should trace this movement 
 in Germany and France, where it began with a 
 movement known as L'Art Nouveau; and through 
 this transitional stage to the development of a new 
 style which promises to be one of great restraint, 
 
/7<? Home Planning 
 
 beauty, and harmony in line and proportion. All 
 this knowledge will give a student an understanding 
 which materially strengthens his power of apprecia- 
 tion and his ability to recognize and choose good 
 form and design in present day furniture. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 PICTURES AND FLOOR COVERINGS 
 
 A. PICTURES 
 
 The one who 
 has complete 
 control over 
 the choice of 
 pictures 
 which are to 
 hang upon the 
 walls of the 
 house design- 
 ed, finds that 
 his very free- 
 dom in the 
 matter increases his responsibility in making the 
 selection. While he is in no way compelled to 
 use any picture he does not desire, he is held 
 accountable for his mistakes in judgment in the 
 same degree as he is given credit for his successful 
 choice. 
 
 A picture is judged from many points of view. 
 The untutored accepts and discards lightly because 
 
 179 
 
I So Home Planning 
 
 of his unformed taste and in harmony with his 
 whim of the moment. He is attracted by that which 
 is obvious and often conspicuous, while the artist 
 judges a picture by its technique, its composition, 
 the manner of lighting, the method in which color 
 is used, and the artist's conception of his subject. 
 He recognizes many classes of pictures, and judges 
 each according to the class to which it belongs : the 
 decorative picture by the balance, grace, and beauty 
 of the pattern and by the harmony of color; the 
 representative picture, not only by its technique 
 and composition, but by the artist's concept and 
 interpretation of nature; the portrait by its deco- 
 rative merit, masterly execution, or special sig- 
 nificance, whether historic or artistic; the inter- 
 pretative picture not alone by its technique, 
 but according to the vision of an ideal which the 
 painter awakens in others; the purely sentimental, 
 which he condemns because their subjects are trivial 
 and commonplace and their composition and tech- 
 nique without merit; and the literary picture, which 
 has for its main object the telling of a story and 
 therefore has as little claim to the name of art as 
 the one which portrays with the literal truth of 
 
Pictures and Floor Coverings l8l 
 
 a camera. The person who chooses the pictures for 
 a home must recognize all of these classes and 
 select those of permanent value to serve a definite 
 purpose in a definite place. 
 
 There is no fixed rule by which one may come 
 to know what is essentially good. Understanding 
 and appreciation of pictures are a matter of growth. 
 They can not be bought or sold, nor can they be 
 passed on at will from one person to another. They 
 must be evolved through intimate association with 
 good works of art. The story-telling pictures, the 
 sentimental pictures, the pictures readily compre- 
 hended, those that are self-assertive or insipid in 
 subject, color, or technique, never give lasting satis- 
 faction. Sooner or later the homemaker becomes 
 weary of them and discards them or, what is worse, 
 allows them to remain ignored on the walls, merely 
 to fill space. 
 
 Pictures of real merit require time and effort to 
 understand them. They never assert themselves nor 
 in any way seek you. They yield their subtle qual- 
 ities by degrees, growing steadily upon you and 
 awakening a sense of deep reverence for the beauti- 
 ful which is expressed through form, color, and 
 
1 82 Home Planning 
 
 quality. The work of the master leaves no trace 
 of effort in workmanship and needs no explanation 
 for its presence. It has no mission to fulfill but 
 that of being a joy to the artist, the musician, the 
 writer, and the layman alike. 
 
 There is no surer way to increase love for the 
 beautiful than by daily association with a few fine 
 works of art. After a person has lived with them 
 for a time, a few good pictures, well chosen and 
 well placed, will grow in favor and will bring about 
 a dissatisfaction with pictures which are without 
 lasting merit. Many people give less thought to the 
 selection and spend less money in the purchase of 
 pictures for their walls than they do on their floor 
 coverings. May not the message which comes to 
 us across the centuries "to sell bread to buy hya- 
 cinths to feed the soul" be applicable to the pic- 
 tures in the home? The constant association with 
 a good color reproduction of an old master, or a 
 plaster replica of the best of Greek or Renaissance 
 marbles is of necessity uplifting. There is but one 
 thing in the home that adds more to its dignity and 
 culture than a fine work of art that is, books that 
 are used. 
 
JL 
 
 PLATE XXV 
 
184 Home Planning 
 
 Good oil or water-color paintings by good local 
 artists are sometimes within the reach of one with 
 limited purse. No home need be void of color in 
 pictures, for recent processes of reproducing with 
 wonderful accuracy make it possible to secure at 
 low cost reproductions of both old and modern 
 masters. The variety of subjects gives ample 
 opportunity for a wide range of choice in selection. 
 Take for example, the long list of portraits. Rem- 
 brandt's Women, the Scribe, the Man 'with the 
 Helmet, all marvels in their richness of color and 
 light; Franz Hals' more jovial and human people; 
 Velasquez's dignified, courtly people; and Vermeer 
 of Delft's Lady with the Pearl Necklace, Girl 
 Reading the Letter, with their simplicity of com- 
 position and glow of quiet color, will be found more 
 than restful in the home. The more modern por- 
 traits of Manet, the Boy with the Sword and the 
 Woman in Grey, and of Whistler's Girl at the 
 Piano and Little Rose of Lyme Regis are quiet and 
 harmonious in color. If desired, more sparkling 
 color may be secured in the portraits of Zorn and 
 other Scandinavian painters. There are many other 
 inexpensive reproductions that can be secured in 
 
Pictures and Floor Coverings 185 
 
 both color and carbon, as for instance in the Braun 
 and the Guerin prints, in the Baumann wood-block 
 color prints, and in the Maxfield Parrish prints, all 
 excellent in artistic merit and in execution. The 
 charm of color and the decorative quality of good 
 Japanese prints are enhanced daily in the eyes of 
 the one who lives with them. These are especially 
 satisfactory and restful in a bedroom. Holbein's 
 red crayon drawings of Jane Seymour, Anna of 
 Cleves, Duchess of Suffolk, and others are also 
 desirable for bedrooms. 
 
 The examples quoted above are only a few of 
 the many representative pictures of excellent quality 
 suited to the home. It is my desire to call attention 
 to the opportunity one has of choosing inexpensive 
 pictures of marked individuality for homes where 
 original works of art cannot always be possessed, 
 and to the possibility of wider divergence from the 
 popular and routine choice of trivial and common- 
 place subjects. What is of supreme importance is 
 that the picture chosen shall be good of its kind, 
 that it shall be a perfect piece of decoration on the 
 wall, and that it shall be chosen because it is in 
 harmony with the other pictures in the room. 
 
186 
 
 Home Planning 
 B. FLOOR COVERINGS 
 
 Before a homemaker 
 can make a selection 
 of floor coverings, it 
 is wise to consider 
 rugs and carpets from 
 the point of view of 
 their manufacture 
 and distinguishing 
 characteristics, in 
 order that she may 
 acquire sufficient in- 
 telligence to judge 
 them on their merits and to make a rational choice 
 among them. 
 
 Carpet-weaving preceded the making of rugs and 
 arose among a people who lived in tents. Carpets 
 were first used as ornaments, such as hangings and 
 coverings. They were made by hand by people 
 who had time, patience, and love for the beautiful 
 in common things; the designs, elementary in form, 
 were suggestive of leafage, flowers, beasts, and birds. 
 The beauty of these carpets came through the fas- 
 
Pictures and Floor Coverings 
 
 cinating combinations of colors in contrasts, used 
 in an ingenious arrangement of patterns that lie 
 absolutely flat without modeling or shading, and are 
 carefully outlined. The charm of these hand-made 
 products lies in their expression of human imagina- 
 tion and in the passing inspirations that are recorded 
 in the designs and the modulations of color. 
 
 The hand-made rug follows the same design as 
 does the hand-made carpet. The plan consists of 
 a series of narrow borders varying in width and 
 design, with a principal one, wider than the others, 
 surrounding a field. The field is seldom empty. It 
 is broken in various ways, sometimes by one or more 
 medallions which vary in shape and size, and some- 
 times by the repetition of floral or geometric pat- 
 terns. It is frequently broken at the corners by 
 angles, or, as in the prayer rug, by the conventional 
 arch of a Mosque. This general plan of the oriental 
 rug has become the customary plan for all modern 
 domestic and machine-made rugs. 
 
 The wool required for rugs and carpets must 
 have a firmness and strength to give weaving and 
 wearing qualities, entirely different from that of 
 the soft, fine wool required for cloth. Wools for 
 
188 Home Planning 
 
 carpets are chosen from mountain sheep that are 
 exposed to the rigors of severe climates, because 
 their wool gives strength and toughness that cannot 
 be secured from sheep in a warmer climate. This 
 wool is washed repeatedly in clear running water 
 to remove all animal oil, and is spun, carded, and 
 dyed in vegetable dyes which give subdued richness 
 and glow in color. In the western countries, the 
 chemical and mineral dyes which are generally 
 used give harsher and sometimes cruder colors. In 
 machine-made carpets and rugs, the wool for the 
 warp is spun tight and the weft fine, and when 
 spun, it is put into skeins and dyed; the pile is 
 heavy and loose. 
 
 In spite of the fact that machine-made rugs al- 
 ways lack the charm of invention and the individ- 
 uality of the oriental rug, artistic merit and beauty 
 are to be found in many of them. The colors and 
 designs are sometimes similar to those of the hand- 
 made, except that the colors are limited to six or 
 eight hues, and the patterns are mechanically accu- 
 rate, and are repeated at regular intervals. The 
 Hand Tuft rugs are made after the method of the 
 oriental, with knots tied by hand, in any color or 
 
Pictures and Floor Coverings l8q 
 
 design, without seams, and with a deep pile. These 
 are luxurious in texture and are high priced, pos- 
 sibly because of the cost of labor in European 
 countries as compared with that of the Orient. The 
 more commonly used Axminster has a loose weave 
 similar to that of Chinese rugs and can be procured 
 in Chinese patterns and in a few oriental designs. 
 It is made of the finest of wool, with cut pile, and 
 in every color. For many years the Wilton has 
 been a serviceable rug because of its wearing quali- 
 ties and its design. It is made of an excellent grade 
 of wool, which is first dyed and then closely woven 
 over wire. A knife at the end of the wire cuts the 
 loops as the wire is withdrawn, giving a close, full 
 pile. The Wiltons are popular because of their 
 close reproductions of a few designs in oriental 
 rugs. However, they are mechanically correct in 
 detail and shape, and their color lacks the charm, 
 richness, and strength of the oriental. The velvet 
 rug is an imitation of the Wilton. Body Brussels 
 wears well, is easily cleaned, and is not expensive. 
 The pile consists of uncut loops, and the pattern is 
 limited in the number of warps used and to the use 
 of six colors. Body Brussels can be obtained in 
 
IQO Home Planning 
 
 quiet colors and in good modest designs. Tapestry 
 Brussels, an imitation of Body Brussels, is printed 
 by machine after it is woven, therefore often having 
 a blurred appearance. The Smyrna is double-faced 
 and reversible, has a thick cut pile, and is woven 
 in one piece. The best grades follow oriental designs. 
 Rugs or carpets which have no pile are made of 
 double cloth with the face pattern reversed on the 
 back, as may be seen in ingrain, Scotch Art, and 
 others. Excepting a few designs by William Morris 
 and a few others, the ingrain carpet has much pat- 
 tern and little artistic merit. Terry or Fillings are 
 plain ingrains in solid colors, and like the Scotch 
 Art rugs, wear well but spot easily. Jute, mattings, 
 and grass fibres are desirable for summer and are 
 adapted to all surroundings. They have proved 
 a practical covering for rooms which are little 
 used, sometimes even for a living room, library, 
 or bed room, and are clean and inexpensive. The 
 rag rug has no pile, the body being formed by a 
 thick weft. The simple, plain rag rug is especially 
 desirable and serviceable in bed rooms and bath- 
 rooms. It is inexpensive, is easily cleaned, and may 
 be artistic. 
 
1 
 
 PLATE XXVI 
 
IQ2 Home Planning 
 
 Purchasers are attracted more frequently by color 
 and design than by durability. The same care should 
 be exercised in choosing a floor covering as in 
 deciding upon all other furnishing; that is, its 
 relation to the walls, the room, and the furniture 
 must be considered. A rug may be beautiful in 
 itself and yet out of harmony in color, design, or 
 quality with all other articles of furnishing in the 
 room. It is a safe plan to choose a rug with a 
 quiet field and a design small, simple, and unob- 
 trusive in shape, color, and value. Restless, vigor- 
 ous, and pronounced designs; naturalistic forms 
 such as animals, birds, or flowers, modeled and 
 shaded ; or strong contrasts in color in the floor- 
 coverings, become the center of interest of a room : 
 that is, they are so pronounced that they attract and 
 hold the attention. A rug should be the lowest 
 value in the room, and should attract least 
 attention, though it may have a glow of color like 
 a mosaic, quiet and subdued. When a sense of 
 economy prohibits the discarding of a self-assertive 
 rug, it may be dyed black or a quiet neutral color, 
 as in Plate XXVII. 
 
 The size of the rug has a great deal to do with 
 
Pictures and Floor Coverings 
 
 the appearance of the room. Many small rugs 
 make a room appear smaller and chopped up, 
 while one large rug or carpet increases the size of 
 the room. Floor coverings which give a quiet 
 glow in color and are inconspicuous in design and 
 low in value will hold the furnishings of the room 
 together and add dignity to the whole. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 COLOR IN THE ROOM 
 
 Bismarck declared that 
 he could make no 
 plans in a room where 
 the colors were inhar- 
 monious. Most peo- 
 ple realize that a room 
 is cheerful or depres- 
 sing, inviting or re- 
 pellent, but few are 
 aware that these quali- 
 ties are directly de- 
 pendent up the kind 
 and intensity of the color used. The beauty of a 
 room depends upon its color, which includes the 
 walls, wood-work, carpets, rugs, draperies, furni- 
 ture, pictures, and ornaments. 
 
 The principles of color correspond to those of 
 melodious sound. It is impossible to produce the 
 best effect with one tone, and just as impossible to* 
 produce the most melodious sound by harsh con- 
 
 194 
 
Color in the Room 
 
 trasts. It is the skillful manipulation of tone con- 
 trasts in harmony, even the judicious opposition of 
 tones, that produces the greatest harmonies in color. 
 But color tones, unlike music, are permanent. They 
 are not lost with the passing moment, but remain a 
 constant delight or discomfort. If colors are not 
 balanced in the same big way in which we balance 
 contrasting forms, the scheme will be lost. 
 
 The first impression of a room depends upon 
 the walls. No amount of richness and beauty in 
 rugs, pictures, furniture, and draperies will redeem 
 a bad wall. It is easy to distinguish a very good 
 or a very bad design in wall-paper. But the manu- 
 facturers produce quantities of paper that are "al- 
 most good." How is one to discriminate and dis- 
 card quickly all mediocre designs? There are three 
 types of bad wall paper. The first type is found in 
 papers that suggest different planes, as if one part 
 of the wall were nearer than another. This type 
 of bad design appears in many forms. It is found 
 in all designs of leaves and foliage expressing planes 
 which give an undulating, wavering appearance 
 to the surface of the wall, and should be discarded 
 no matter how beautiful the color. Landscapes 
 
I()6 Home Planning 
 
 portraying distant fields, forests, streams, and clouds, 
 or set in fantastic scrolls, or those in broad decora- 
 tive masses of different values, all expressing planes, 
 should be avoided. Designs of trellises with trail- 
 ing vines and fruits, festoons and garlands of 
 flowers, bow-knots of ribbons, self-assertive stripes, 
 and baskets of fruits must be avoided for the same 
 reason. One is deceived by the beautiful colors, the 
 play of light and shade, and the naturalistic clusters 
 of flowers and fruits, forgetting that the literal por- 
 trayal of any nature form on a wall is a direct 
 violation of design here just as it is in lace or tex- 
 tiles. A decorative form suggesting a flower, in a 
 value almost imperceptibly removed from the back- 
 ground, may be used. But the charm of the simplest 
 flower is lost when it is seen regularly repeated at 
 short intervals over yards of surface. 
 
 The second type to be discarded is made up of 
 conventional, geometric, and heraldic designs, which 
 are pronounced in form, value, or color, or in all 
 three. The units may be faultless so far as design 
 is concerned, but when placed upon paper so that 
 they run vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, 
 they become intolerable. They appear like so many 
 
Color in the Room IQJ 
 
 spots when repeated hundreds of times over a wall, 
 and are offensively obstrusive and often nerve- 
 racking when they peer from behind pictures, and 
 above and around furniture. A good design is often 
 ruined by being printed in values too strong for the 
 background. This is not noticed in a small sample, 
 but is objectionable when repeated without relief 
 over the four walls of a room. 
 
 The third type of paper to be discarded is that 
 having the mottled effect suggestive of a water-color 
 wash put on unevenly, as if by a bad workman. 
 Walls are flat surfaces expressing only length and 
 height, and must remain flat, no matter what is put 
 on them. There must be no suggestion of depth 
 or distance, no self-assertive shapes, values, or color, 
 if pictures are to hang against them. All paper 
 characterless in design and neutral in color, ap- 
 proaching a flat, even tone, is a safe one to choose. 
 Walls must remain as backgrounds, not only for 
 pictures and furniture, but for people. When we 
 permit wall and floor coverings to dominate the 
 room and its occupant by means of their pronounced 
 designs and strong colors, we are violating every 
 law of good taste.. 
 
I()8 Home Planning 
 
 Wall papers should be in harmony with the color 
 of the wood-trim in the room, as well as with the 
 color in adjoining rooms. They should have some- 
 thing of the same warmth or coolness of color that 
 is found in the wood-trim. For example, cafe-au- 
 lait colored paper will be in harmony with soft grey 
 brown, natural walnut, and red gum, but will be 
 out of harmony with yellow pine or golden oak, for 
 the cool grey of the paper emphasizes the yellow 
 in the woods. On the other hand, the yellow in 
 pine or golden oak can be neutralized and properly 
 subordinated by the use of a soft brown paper of 
 the same hue as the pine, only slightly greyed, for 
 the yellow in the one counteracts the yellow in the 
 other. All wall-papers appear several values darker 
 when put on the wall in unbroken masses. For this 
 reason, it is wise to choose a paper very high in 
 value. Any color above middle value reflects light 
 and increases the apparent size of the room, while 
 all values below middle absorb light and make a 
 room appear smaller. Sharp contrasts between side 
 walls and ceiling are rarely pleasing; for example, 
 a strong red wall and a cream ceiling. There is a 
 truth in the statement that a light ceiling makes a 
 
Color in the Room IQQ 
 
 lighter room, but the contrast between it and the 
 wall should not be aggressive. 
 
 Draperies have a three-fold purpose: to exclude 
 sunlight, to provide privacy, and to give color to 
 a room. One needs to consider not only the quality 
 and flexibility of the drapery, but its durability 
 and the manner in which it can be cleansed. Cer- 
 tain English chintzes, Austrian linens and cretonnes, 
 French chambrays, Japanese crepes and towelings, 
 and other materials of fast colors are washable, 
 and by means of their transparency transmit color, 
 light, and glow into the room. They are appro- 
 priate for both dining rooms and bed rooms. They 
 are inexpensive and can be obtained in good designs 
 with a wide range of colors from quiet, neutral tones 
 to sparkling colors. Heavy silks, brocades, and 
 tapestries which are flexible and yield to graceful 
 folds are desirable for living rooms. Materials 
 that are stiff and wiry, and wools which attract 
 moths are not desirable. Figured, plain, or striped 
 draperies are pleasing with plain walls, but the 
 balance is lost when figured draperies are used 
 with figured walls. 
 
 Draperies are most pleasing when hung straight, 
 
2OO Home Planning 
 
 without valance and without draping. A horizontal 
 flounce or valance across the top of the window de- 
 creases the height of the window and should be 
 avoided in a low room or on a low window. A 
 valance may be used only on windows of great 
 height, as in Plate XIV. The problem of hanging 
 draperies in the bay window in this illustration is 
 worth considering. Three sets of lines were plainly 
 visible from all parts of the room: the horizontal 
 lines at the top of the semi-hexagonal bay-windows, 
 which were eleven feet high, the pronounced verti- 
 cal lines of the deep casings, and the curve of the 
 arch leading into the bay. The conjunction of these 
 structural lines as seen from the room was distract- 
 ing. The use of the deep valance not only shortened 
 the great height of the window but hid the objec- 
 tionable lines of construction. 
 
 As stated, there should be a similarity in tone 
 between wall-papers and wood-trim, but there must 
 be contrast in color between wall paper and draper- 
 ies. For example, suppose one chooses a light, 
 grey-brown drapery to be used with light grey- 
 brown walls and wood-trim. This produces a 
 dominant harmony which is monotonous and will 
 
Color in the Room 2OI 
 
 require some very pronounced and assertive color 
 elsewhere to relieve it. The beauty of a harmony 
 in contrasts could be secured if contrasting colors, 
 such as a sap green, a green-blue, or an apple green 
 approaching emerald, were used in the drapery. 
 The fewer colors one uses in a room the better the 
 harmony. A successful room is one which is kept 
 almost neutral in the color values of the large 
 masses of furniture and walls, and is given charm 
 and glow by the use of one or two notes of con- 
 trasting color. Let the pronounced color come in 
 draperies and be echoed in small quantities in dif- 
 ferent parts of the room, as in page 202. 
 
 Which rooms need subdued colors, and which 
 require bright ones? Warm colors intensify heat 
 and reflect warmth. A room facing north may be 
 made to glow by the proper use of warm colors. 
 Yellows verging to orange, orange-reds, poppy reds, 
 transparent ambers, brilliant red-browns, and golden 
 browns, which are highly desirable in a sunless 
 fcom, would be unendurable in a sunshiny room 
 on a warm day. Joseph and Elizabeth Pennell in 
 The Life of James McNeil Whistler describe a 
 room that Whistler decorated as "one of those prim- 
 
PLATE XXVII 
 
Color in the Room 203 
 
 rose yellows which seemed as if the sun were shin- 
 ing, however dark the day." To provide refreshing 
 contrasts to the glare or heat of the sun, a room with 
 a southern exposure needs cool colors, such as pea- 
 cock blues, heliotropes, blue-violets, dull lavenders 
 with blue shadows, olive or emerald greens, dull 
 blue-greens, and deep blues and grey-blues. Colors 
 at their fullest intensities should be used only in 
 small quantities. 
 
 There are many schemes of brilliant colors which 
 when discriminately brought together will enrich 
 and add charm to a room. A room of striking con- 
 trasts of color daringly used is one with walls of a 
 soft brown not unlike the tawny color of the sun- 
 burnt bloom of bluegrass. The floor is of a darker 
 value than the walls, and four large-paneled colonial 
 doors are painted an apple green, brilliant but not 
 crude. The chairs are ebony, with mellow purple 
 velvet cushions. The only pictures on the walls 
 are Japanese prints with vigorous lines of black 
 amid their coloring. The scheme is daring and suc- 
 cessful. A room of quiet contrasts is that in which 
 the walls are cafe-au-lait, with mulberry draperies, 
 dark grey rugs, and ebony furniture. Still another 
 
204 Home Planning 
 
 has walls of a soft grey, dark grey and violet floor 
 covering, blue-green upholstery on walnut furniture, 
 and heliotrope figured draperies. The use of 
 painted furniture brings color into a room. A room 
 has recently been completed with grey-violet walls, 
 walnut wood-work, cream net curtains with an over- 
 drapery of deep violet-blue velour suspended from 
 a copper rod, and most of the furniture painted with 
 vermillion enamel, one or two pieces being painted 
 in a complementary color, a grey-green. This room, 
 which is subdued and rich in its color, opens into 
 a room aglow with mellow buff. 
 
 There is a certain quality in a room which can 
 be designated only as glow. It is the result of 
 perfect balance in the neutrality of the background, 
 and the use of softened yet vivid color. Sometimes 
 we find this glow in stained glass, more often in 
 oriental rugs. For this reason oriental rugs of good 
 color are more necessary in a living room than fine 
 furniture. Such a rug all by itself can give tone 
 to a room with any kind of furniture, from ma- 
 hogany or rattan to golden oak, provided the lines 
 of the furniture are unimpeachable. With strong 
 color in rugs, furniture and walls must not intrude, 
 
Color in the Room 2O$ 
 
 but must retire to a dim background. 
 
 We sometimes see rooms with a glow of color 
 in which no oriental rug is used. A specific ex- 
 ample of such a room is one which has wood-work 
 stained dull grey, waxed, not polished. The walls 
 are also dull gray. The windows have over- 
 draperies of dull blue hung straight. Around a dull 
 red brick fireplace is a mantel of grey wood. The 
 pictures in dull gold frames are faded in tone. The 
 furniture is grey brown, and some open bookcases 
 run along two walls. So far with a single exception 
 of the red brick fireplace there is nothing that counts 
 for color, yet the room is aglow. Nothing gives 
 a richer effect in actual color in a room than the 
 variegated colors of the backs of books. They are 
 as charming as an oriental rug, and the open 
 shelves add to the charm. 
 
 The main thing, then, in the arrangement of a 
 roo'n is the striving for the best, the most har- 
 monious result that can be obtained. One way to 
 accomplish this is to arrange continually, building 
 one experience upon another, in an earnest effort to 
 secure finer relations, finer proportions. Let us have 
 rooms which once arranged are always beautiful; 
 
206 Home Planning 
 
 rooms which can form backgrounds that are fitting 
 and dignified not only at the time we see them, but 
 later in our memories; rooms fit to be homes in the 
 fullest sense of the word; "rooms that shall in no 
 way embarrass our friends, ample enough to contain 
 them, simple enough to leave them unoppressed, 
 yet with artistry to please, and to lead them, if they 
 would, to do likewise." 
 
TO THE TEACHER 
 
 The need today is to give art its proper place in 
 the life of every individual and in the community. 
 We need to make art so real, so vital that the stu- 
 dent, not only while he is with us but after he has 
 left us, works both consciously and unconsciously 
 from principle as well as from a sense of beauty. 
 We need to help the student to establish within 
 himself a sensitiveness to beauty in proportion, form, 
 color, and balance, which shall serve him as a 
 working basis not only in the problem at hand but 
 in the discriminating exercise of good judgment in 
 whatever direction his calling may lead. We need 
 to help fix in his mind the fact that "beauty is the 
 most useful thing," and should be the commonest, 
 not the costliest, thing we know. 
 
 Give the student a practical experience in arrang- 
 ing a room. A collection of furniture, pictures, 
 casts, rugs, books, and pottery may be placed in the 
 classroom. With these materials each student should 
 have the opportunity to arrange a wall beautifully 
 in accordance with the laws of balance, good spac- 
 ing, and harmony. The result may then be criti- 
 
 207 
 
PLATE XXVIII 
 
cised and discussed by the class, and necessary 
 changes in arrangement may be made. Plates XIV 
 and XVIII show two views of a room in an old 
 mansion which was decorated and furnished by 
 students in a competitive contest. The best design 
 was chosen and carried out in every detail. Such 
 work may extend to the actual rearrangement of a 
 room in each student's home, though this, of course, 
 can not have the teacher's direct supervision. 
 
 The student should make repeated visits to the 
 different dealers in furniture, pictures, domestic and 
 oriental rugs, wall papers and draperies, bed and 
 table linens, chinaware, pottery, and kitchen uten- 
 sils. He should endeavor to choose for his project 
 materials, utensils, and furniture, the quality, useful- 
 ness, and beauty of which should determine their 
 fitness. Each student should keep a carefully item- 
 ized account of each supposed expenditure. He 
 must place nothing in his elevations or in his item- 
 ized accounts of expenditures that he has not found 
 in the stores. As he enlarges his experience and 
 trains his judgment, he finds the limited sum allotted 
 to him to spend a stimulus rather than a detriment. 
 The solution of the problem of maintenance and 
 
 209 
 
the preparing of budgets of clothing and food for 
 the family of five for one year, mentioned in the 
 first chapter, should be an organic part of the course. 
 So closely allied to the real problem of life is this, 
 that a student goes beyond mere representation in 
 this concrete expression of his ideals. Whatever 
 the outcome for him in the future, his mind is 
 aroused and his imagination quickened to the true 
 usefulness of art. 
 
 210 
 
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