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Relation of Furniture to Decoration.—So much for the treatment of floors, walls, and ceilings. We may now turn to the more special consideration of those objects of use or beauty that are to be associated with these backgrounds—furniture, pictures, lamp shades, and small ornaments. That these are closely related to decoration has been implied in all that has been said. They are, in fact, in themselves elements in the decorative scheme and as such must obey the same laws. Their value, however, depends more or less upon their utility, and for this reason they seem to require consideration somewhat apart from their merely decorative functions. This is especially true of furniture, which would have very little reason for being if it were not for its usefulness.

In designing the furniture for the model house the questions that constantly suggested themselves were: What is this piece of furniture under consideration to be used for? What form, construction, and finish will enable it to give the best service? What features of design are needed to render it suited to its surroundings? In considering the furniture for the model house it was most natural to apply these tests to the various rooms in order.

A library desk in fumed oak

A hall chair

Hall of the Model House.—First, there is the hall. This is the room into which a visitor is first admitted, and from its atmosphere he gets his first impressions. But in this house it is a very small room and designed to serve not merely as a place for the formalities of welcome but also as an expansion of the rooms on either side. Its furniture must consist largely of the fireplace. There is no room for a hall settle nor even for a chair. A mirror, simply but richly framed, might hang on the wall near the front door, balanced by a picture on the opposite wall behind the door. An umbrella rack should stand outside on the porch.

A hall settle—simplicity, strength, dignity

Hall Furniture in General.—The halls of modern houses vary greatly in their relative importance. In some the traditions of the old English manor houses seem partially to survive. In mediæval England the hall was the principal room, if not the only one comfortably furnished. When modern houses combine the living room and library or reception room with the hall, there is need of something more than hall furniture of the formal kind. The requirements of comfort must be met. But, generally speaking, hall furniture is of little real use. Odd chairs, attractive by reason of their oddity, the richness of the materials used in their construction, or some other assertive quality, but not fit to sit in, are suitable or at least excusable in the hall. The hat and coat rack of our fathers has been declared insane and no longer appears in well-regulated houses. In place of it is found the hall settle, which is of real use. It should be designed on simple lines and give the impression of strength and dignity. If the hall is to be used as a waiting room for guests, a few good chairs, conveniently placed, will be needed for their comfort and a choice picture or two on the walls will add greatly to their pleasure.

Two Morris chairs that invite to solid comfort

A satisfactory writing desk

Living Room Furniture.—In furnishing living rooms there is bound to be a wide range for the exercise of good taste because of the variety of needs to be met and the large facilities afforded in the markets for meeting these needs with due regard to artistic requirements. It will be quite impossible to go into detail in discussing so large a topic. The important thing is to keep in mind the central idea of a living room—the place of all places where the freedom, comfort, and protection of home life are to be enjoyed. The very atmosphere of the room should suggest simplicity, sincerity, and good cheer. Every article of furniture should be there to serve a genuine need, and it should be strong enough to do its full duty. Spider-legged, top-heavy tables; light, weak chairs; chairs on casters or rockers; sofas with carved backs or couches with none at all,—these have no place in the living room. The long, straight lines of the craftsman or mission style of furniture are in the right direction; but if these be used at all they must be made quite general, since few other styles harmonize with them. Wicker or reed furniture is a notable exception. When well designed it will fit in almost anywhere.

An ample library table

A plain but useful magazine stand

The frequent combination of the library with the living room requires a suitable adjustment of the furniture to this use. A plain, serviceable magazine rack, which may be easily made, will relieve the tables of an accumulation of weeklies and monthlies. Moderately low bookcases, with or without doors, are to be preferred to the more ordinary high ones because this form harmonizes better with the lines of a room, which are generally longer horizontally than vertically. If doors are used, it is well to break up the glare of the glass by heavy sash, the spacing of which may be arranged in a very pleasing manner. Good design in library tables calls for ample size. Firmness and convenience as well as satisfactory proportions should control the choice of a writing desk.

A low bookcase with sash doors

Dining-room Furniture. Only a few elements enter into the design for the furnishing of a dining-room; but they are evident and should have a controlling influence. The table and chairs are for a definite purpose and this should show itself in good design. Heavy construction is permissible since the chairs are to be moved but little and the table is practically stationary. Moreover, weight and generous dimensions are suggestive of bounty and good service. The rectangular extension table is most readily adjusted to varied demands, but the round table is preferable for the family circle; and for a company of twelve or fifteen a large, round, temporary table top, placed on an ordinary extension table, has been found very attractive.

A round dining table

A sideboard of good proportions. Convenient and generous but not overdone

As comfort is the chief result to be obtained in furnishing a living room, so richness, within one's means, is an appropriate aim in furnishing a dining-room. The history of sideboard design might be cited in proof of this statement, if proof were needed. Probably no single article of furniture has been subjected to greater elaboration; but the desirable suggestion of plenty with convenience may be secured without overdoing it. The unique purpose of the sideboard makes it an interesting study for one who wishes to design and construct his own in conformity with the architecture of his dining-room. The buffet or serving table furnishes an equally interesting, though simpler, problem.

A buffet of simple but effective design

For the care of the china, the built-in cabinet as a feature of the architecture of the room is to be preferred to the movable cabinet designed for this purpose, because of its richer decorative possibilities. Large, glazed doors are desirable in either case, not for the full display of china and glassware but to give a suggestive glimpse of it. As this cabinet is for decoration and not for show, it is well to avoid plain glass doors unbroken by sash. Leaded panes are frequently employed with good effect. The decorative effect of old and odd pieces of china—not too many of them—is most appropriately employed by the use of the plate rail; but it is better to leave the plate rail bare than to load it with commonplace crockery and inappropriate ornaments.

A china cabinet. A part of the finish of the room

Chamber Furniture.—The bedroom speaks for itself. A dainty freshness in all its appointments is conducive to sleep and rest, which it is the distinctive purpose of this room to provide. The necessary articles of furniture are a bed, a dressing table, a bureau or chiffonier, a few chairs, and, if there be no bath room attached, a commode or wash stand. A couch is an appropriate addition; and here, if anywhere, rocking chairs are allowable. When the bedroom must be used more or less as a living room or sewing room, as it too often unfortunately is, furniture to serve such uses must be provided. In selecting or designing all this furniture, lightness, and simplicity of design, combined with strength, should be allowed a controlling influence. The recognition of this idea has given great popularity to the brass or iron beds; but it is possible to design and construct beds of oak, maple, or other woods that harmonize with the rest of the furniture, carry out the idea of daintiness, and have sufficient strength for service.

Leaded panes

Many of these suggestions on furniture design are being carried out in fitting up the model house described in our introductory chapter. A small house like this, limited to one story, does not permit great variety in its furnishings. Certain standard conditions, however, were to be met here, as everywhere else, and the young designers found much pleasure and great profit in working out the furniture problems. Some of the construction details will be given in the later chapters.

A Duxbury chair