layers of thick paper and cotton wadding usually interposed between the floor and the carpet by way of lining. The floor should be inlaid, or at any rate laid in hard woods, and should be frequently polished with wax. One large carpet is used to cover the greater part of the room, or perhaps rugs are spread in different places, beneath tables, and before sofas, pianos, bookcases, and other articles of furniture, much as we are accustomed to lay them upon our carpets. This insures much greater cleanliness and a remarkable absence of dust. BENZINE. A colorless liquid, lighter than petroleum, and obtained from that oil in process of refinement. It is sometimes used as a burning fluid, but is extremely dangerous; also as a substitute for turpentine in mixing paints, but its chief value in the household comes from its power of dissolving fats, wax, and paraffine; every kind of grease spot on clothes may be removed by it. In using, saturate a woolen rag and rub over the spot, renewing several times. Benzine must never be used near a fire or light of any kind; for it is so inflammable as to take fire at a considerable distance. Keep it in a dark, cool place. OLIVES. The fruit of the olive tree, which is extensively cultivated in Italy, Spain, and the South of France, partly for the green fruit, and partly for the oil which it yields when mature. Olives are oval in shape, with a smooth rind, and closely resemble a small half ripe plum. For the purposes of the table they are gathered when immature, and are then pickled in salt and water, and barreled for exportation. The Italian olives are the best, then the French, and lastly the Spanish, which, though large, are not so well flavored. In choosing, select the light colored and bright looking ones; those which have a blackish cast are unfit to eat. Pickled olives are supposed to have peculiarly appetizing properties, but they are eaten chiefly with a view to remove the taste of food from the mouth, previously to enjoying the flavor of wine. They should be passed round after the soup. has only a very slight yellowish-green color, and but little smell or flavor, so that it may even be drunk by those who like oil; and it cannot be doubted that it is one of the most easily digested fats in food. Its use in cookery might properly be extended in this country, notwithstanding our excellent animal fats. The best quality of oil is that produced by the first gentle pressure of the olives, and this is at once bottled in the flasks peculiar to the article. Stronger pressure on the fruit breaks the kernels and produces an inferior grade of oil, which is exported in jars and barrels. Italian oil is superior to either French or Spanish, and is distinguished as Florence, Lucca, and Gallipoli oil. The first is most desirable. CURTAINS. Window curtains should be selected in accordance with the general principles of taste laid down in the article on DECORATION. According to their several purposes, and the nature of the apartments, the quality of the materials and the manner of hanging them must be determined. In this country particularly, window curtains are necessary to exclude the cold air which presses in from the windows in winter when the fires are burning, however closely the sashes may be fitted. But there is another cause for this which is not generally thought of. The warm air in a room, which always occupies the upper part near the ceiling, coming into contact with the glass, is cooled by it, and, descending immediately in consequence, diffuses itself through the lower part of the room and is felt as a cold current coming from the windows, though no outside air may actually have entered them. Curtains check this partly by preventing the warm air from reaching the glass, and partly by turning the current sideways. But though curtains help to keep air out, heavy ones may exclude it too much and also keep bad air in. They should therefore be hung on rings sliding on rods so that they can be drawn entirely away from the window. For the same reason lambrequins are very objec tionable, more so even than curtains, as they have no opening in the center, and are fixed obstacles to ventilating the upper part of the room where the air is most heated. As to taste, too, this arrangement is certainly inferior to others. The rod and rings are more "constructive" than the cornice, and the general This oil, sometimes called salad oil, is ex- effect conforms to the purpose in view. It is pressed from ripe olives. It is largely used in well that curtains are now so seldom used for the more delicate kinds of cookery, instead of shutting ventilation away from beds. In lowbutter, and is a useful addition to salads, pre-priced materials curtains are apt to be cheaper venting them from fermenting and from caus- than lambrequins because the latter require ing flatulency. When it is fresh and pure it more fringe. OLIVE OIL. ORANGE. There are many varieties of this most delicious, wholesome, and refreshing fruit. The largest and best are from Florida and California, and sell at the highest prices. The Havana oranges are equal in flavor, but have a thick and rough rind; the pulp of either is very juicy and delicious. The Maltese oranges have also a very thick and spongy rind, and are sometimes almost juiceless. The Sicilian fruit, commonly called Messina oranges, have a thin rind and a sour taste, but are usually most abundant and cheap. The Florida and West India oranges are in market from October till April, and those from the Mediterranean from January until May. California oranges possess a delicious flavor. The Seville or bitter orange is of the same variety as the sweet, but it cannot be eaten raw, and is used only in marmalades, candy, etc., and for the same purpose as the lemon. It is not brought to this country to any considerable extent. FURNISHING. The reader, if impecunious, need not be discouraged by the discussion here of points involving considerable outlay, for, in addition to these, the article contains much for his special benefit. The Hall determines the first impression on entering the house, and it is well worth while to economize elsewhere for the sake of effect here. Probably the worst possible step is to buy the stereotyped hat and umbrella rack. No matter how elaborate, they are always the same thing over again, and generally very ugly. If, however, one is needed, some simple arrangement honestly made of good wood, with "dead" finish, will probably give more satisfaction, in the long run, than the more elaborate designs in which the cabinetmakers delight. A mirror, large or small, of some original shape, framed in some durable way, with pegs for the hats and coats, can be made very effective. Under it, may stand a chair or table, either having a drawer; or a table alone will do, for hats and coats can be kept on plain hooks back under the stairs. Sticks or umbrellas can be disposed of in a cheap stand behind the door. If the hall be rather dark, a white cast or bust at the end will be very effective. A pair of horns, or several pair, can never be amiss, nor can any other decoration suggesting out of doors and the storied halls of the olden time. Where there is room for them, one should try to have the broad table, the clock, and the little cupboard for brushes, gloves, and other things that one needs on going out and com ing in. A hall should look as large as it can be made to look. Stair rods seem a ridiculous superfluity for poor folks. Let the stair carpet be long enough to shift as often as it wears out on the edges of the steps. The Parlor is usually the most Philistine of all Philistine American institutions. Where there is the usual ill-spent wealth, the room is filled with gorgeous upholstery in the cabinetmaker's style of art, has the horrible “cabinet rich and stylish," which usually figures on the furniture man's bills for enough to buy two respectable paintings, is either utterly innocent of all works of art but a few china or parian dolls and a French clock of a pattern turned out by the dozen, or has the walls covered with paintings which are simply good canvas spoiled. If such parlors were furnished in honest pine, and one tenth of the saving devoted to a few good engravings on the walls, their refinement would be vastly increased. There is no need of extremes, however, for the money usually spent would give honest hard wood furniture, luxuriously fashioned and cushioned, covered with good worsted reps or satines, and good photographs, engravings, or even, in many cases, paintings by deserving artists. In the few well-furnished parlors that we have, the most frequent lack is the suggestion of ease. There is generally too much wood shown in chairs and sofas, and too little cushion. Ladies are always complaining that sofa seats are too broad. Hence the advantage of cushions that can be piled against each other, or laid against the back of a deep easy chair. A good table is desirable, and a fitly colored jar, contrasted with the wood, in graceful position, is always very agreeable. There seems, in most parlors, too much reluctance to have anything around to indicate that the room is used. The parlor should suggest festivity rather than meditation. If colors be well chosen, Brussels carpet and worsted reps will produce really as good effects as richer material; though on account of the danger from moths, woolen upholstery and Brussels carpets are less economical for people upon whom the first outlay does not bear too heavily than silk fabrics, and the higher grades of carpet. Most parlors are oblong, with two windows at one end. The spot between them is the point in the whole room for effect; all living things turn toward the light. People of taste, if they have plenty of money for more important things, sometimes put mirrors in this spot; Philistines always do. Something bright and effective should go there always. There are worse things for the purpose than a light cabinet (if it is tasteful, which not one in a hundred is), laden with good bric-à-brac. Whatever is done, don't let the piano stand in front of this spot and obliterate it. The Library. The main economical question is, doors or no doors to the bookcases. Doors nearly double the cost, and the books will do very well without them, especially if a strip of leather depend over their tops from the shelf above. "Pinked edges on this strip will curl up, but gilt lines have a pleasant effect. Library furniture is best covered in leather - green or dark brown. Here one comes to read, and the eye should not be wooed from its work by any dashes of importunate color. The Dining Room.-Probably there is no better test of the refinement of a family than the relation of its dining room to the rest of the house. If the family meal is regarded as a mere feeding, the place where it is taken will plainly show the fact. If the meal be a cheerful household ceremony, where the best qualities of head and heart engage, and to which the most honored friends are gathered, these facts, too, will be indicated by the room. The piece of furniture that makes or mars the dining room is the sideboard, or buffet, as we seem to be in the way of calling it now. With a good substantial table and chairs (the latter cushioned if it can possibly be afforded), any amount of effect can be added to the buffet without its appearing to overshadow the rest, and every feature will tell. If you cannot have an elaborate one, you will not be in bad taste with one of simple outline. When people are at table, they see neither the table nor the chairs, but they do see the buffet. If you can cover it with ancestral plate, very good; but if you cannot, it may, perhaps, be made to look as well with bright china, glass, Japanese lacquer-work, and flowers (never artificial ones). Don't have a marble top, it will "chip" glass articles with angular bottoms. Many a fine piece has been thus gradually spoiled, and the cause not realized. look brass bedsteads. It is to be hoped that they will soon be cheaper than at this writing. Nothing need be better. Wardrobes are not generally included in bedroom suites; but if they cannot be found to match, may be made to order. Nursery. Don't have a carpet. It always will smell. Lay the floor in hard wood if you can possibly afford it; the cheaper wood carpeting can be made to do. In the middle of the room have a woolen drugget, fastened at the corners by movable nails, so it can be taken up and shaken daily, and washed often. Don't have curtains to the windows. The children while awake need every ray of light they can get. Have thick, dark-green shades, though, to shut out all light while they are napping. A low table, six or eight feet long by two wide, is a grand thing for a nursery. The children will handle many toys on it instead of cultivating round shoulders on the floor. Let its legs fold against it so that it can be laid against the wall when room for romping is needed. The height of your chair seats regulates the distance your children shall tumble from. Servants' Rooms.-Iron bedsteads are the thing. They are durable and do not make good nests for bugs. Bureau washstands economize space. The room is not to be occupied much; it ought to be comfortable though, and decent enough to attract servants who are decent. Bright, broad coloring in the carpet will do much to obviate a cheerless look. Gas Fixtures do more to make or mar a room than almost anything else. We do not mean that the chandelier should be so gaudy as to be the only thing visible in the room, but that it should cost enough to be good. This is too often lost sight of, and some people even economize on the gas fixtures which never wear out, rather than on the carpets and upholstery, which do. Most people do worse, however, by buying abominable angular cast metal concerns, or those with curved glass Bedrooms. As far as decorative effect tubes which threaten breakage if you look at goes, the thing of least importance in a bed-them. The basis of most good metal chanderoom is the bed. Generally, the more the cabinetmaker does to it, the uglier he gets it, and, even if he gets it pretty, those who lie upon it do not see it, and when not lying upon it, their attention is more apt to be directed to another article, which is the real center of bed- | room effect, namely, the dressing bureau. This generally stands in the same important spot – between the windows-that has been enlarged upon in treating of the parlor. Hence, if you are not rich, get a plain bedstead and spend your spare money on the bureau. Don't over liers is wrought tubing, and of most good glass or earthenware ones, vases, or plates around or through which the gas is conveyed in metal tubes. A room in Brussels and worsted reps with a good chandelier will have treble the effect of a room in moquette and brocatelle with a poor chandelier. Common gas fixtures can be refinished for about one third of their cost, and changed from gilt to bronze or steel or oxidized silver, if desirable. The better ones of honest brass are generally covered with lacquer, and need relacquering not oftener than once in ten or sharply contrasted stripes. If it is to be twelve years. DECORATION. With special reference to walls, floors, and strongly with the carpet, or the effect of furniture. It is always best to begin by first considering those things in which we have least room for choice. On account of the change and want of aim of "fashion," the least variety is to be found in floor covering, and the greatest in wall covering -- supposing we use wall paper, which is almost always the best where economy is a motive. The first step, it is true, that time dictates in preparing the house, is to color the woodwork and the walls. But this being done to suit the taste as far as it alone is concerned, trouble is apt to come in finding carpets to correspond. As the accessible variety of wall paper and tints for painting is so much greater than that of upholstery and carpets, it is best to select the carpets at the very outset. Then it will be comparatively easy to find appropriate furniture and, that being selected, to find appropriate wall paper and to paint appropriately, if the woodwork is to be painted. One strong argument in favor of unpainted woodwork, especially as compared with that painted white, is that it will tone in with a variably greater variety of carpets and wall decorations. White woodwork is constantly bringing to grief the best laid plans of wall and floor decoration. Pretty papers and carpets have more than once been sent home, and even put in place, before it has been realized that the uncompromising woodwork must kill them. For the floor of the entrance or hall, encaustic tiles are best in durability as well as in appearance. Combinations of these may be made good and harmonious in color if we will but be simple and not attempt display. Marble tiling, to be satisfactory, must be expensive, and demands the exercise of great taste and judgment. Next to tiling, hard wood, paint, or even oil cloth, if it can be had of moderately fair design and color, should be preferred to carpet. For other floors in the house a large rug, reaching to within about a foot and a half or two feet of the walls, is, for many reasons, to be preferred to a nailed-down carpet covering the entire floor. This may be made up of carpeting sold by the yard, with a border; or may be an Eastern carpet in one piece, which of course is very greatly to be preferred. For the floor itself hard wood is best. If it have a border, one of simple design should be chosen, avoiding conspicuous spots or zigzags, or painted, the carpet, furniture, and wall paper should first be chosen, then the floor color agreeably to all of these, contrasting not too breadth over the whole floor may be destroyed. In the carpet the contrasts and colors should generally be not too striking, because it is the thing most under our eyes when they often need rest. If the texture be a deep velvety pile, the contrasts of lights and darks and separate colors may be greater. Generally, it had better be inclined to the dark and warm in tone. Aggravating lessons in geometry, as well as roses, scroll, and pictures, as subjects of design in carpet, are things to be tabooed. There are to be found carpets of fair design copied from Eastern patterns, but their over preciseness and painfully small accuracies, and their inferiority of color, leave them far behind a genuine Oriental carpet, with its slight pleasing waywardness. In choosing furniture, consider the colors of the woods. Against a wall of dull red, black or dark oak will generally look well. And with a wall of sage or olive green, greenish blue or dull gray blue; mahogany, oak, walnut, or rosewood. Yellow with black and some kinds of gray always looks well. Rarely choose any wood lighter than oak. If the articles be of somewhat light construction, they may contrast rather strongly with the floor and walls; if large enough to make important masses in the room, the contrast should not be of a sudden and violent kind. The introduction of black in furniture is often of great value. Generally take the plainest and most reasonably constructed furniture that you can find. of shape; curving fronts to drawers, things made to imitate drawers, and doors, and lumps of carving glued on. Do not lightly, and without consideration, choose adjustable chairs, extension tables, and shutting beds. Avoid having a piece of furniture which is not quite sufficient for its uses, and so has to be eked out by other insufficient things; such as two or three inconvenient makeshifts for bookcases, cabinets, etc. Avoid in it extravagance Upholstery of chairs and sofas may contrast with floors or walls; there can be no rule; sometimes one plan will be found the best and sometimes the other; or a partial adoption of both. The larger the pattern in furniture, coverings, and curtains, the less conspicuous should be their colors. Curtains may generally harmonize pretty closely with the furniture upholstery. They may often be somewhat more lively, as, in the daytime the light does not fall on the surface the most in view, and at night they should not break too suddenly the general effect of pictures and furniture against the walls. They should always be suspended from rings on rods. Lace curtains, except where mere screens against the inside of the window sash, are not to be commended on any account, to say the least. The carpets being selected little difficulty need be experienced in properly coloring the walls and woodwork. If the doors and casings in a room be of hard wood, their color is of importance in connection with floor and walls. If they be painted, the colors may well be of such tones as will more strongly contrast with the walls than with the carpet, the doors themselves being more nearly like the wall than the casings around them are. to passages and staircases, where there is no wainscot, are good on account of their usefulness as well as appearance. They had best be made of paper of such a pattern that, where a piece is rubbed off, another may be substituted. It is not always the case, as is constantly said, that a wainscot or dado makes a low room look lower; for it is interrupted by doors and windows and large pieces of furniture. Entire blankness and absence of detail never make a space look larger. Detail is always good when sufficiently subordinated, and always bad when obtrusive. Simple treatment is what is required, that the space shall not be so cut up as to leave no leading feature. Border.-A border or frieze does often make a room look lower. It arrests the eye at a lower point than the top of the wall, and by its uninterrupted line carries it around the room at that level. Pictures. The walls may properly be allowed to furnish the key for the whole scheme of color; a not necessarily namable color, as red, green, or blue; but hue, tone, what might be called atmosphere. In proportion to the absence of pictures walls require a strong and elaborated treatment. If slight water-color drawings or prints are to be hung on them, walls should be light and delicate. If oil paintings are to be hung, the particular pictures should be consulted, as far as possible beforehand. It is often said that water-color and oil-color pictures, or either of them with photographs and prints, should never be hung together on the same wall. But it is as well not to make quite so broad a rule. We have seen a water-color drawing which erred by having too much of one particular color hung with good effect by a cool brown Liber Studiorum print, and a photograph of a painting made to glow with a warm hue by a neighboring blue. Ceilings cannot be left plain, unbroken surfaces of white plaster without sacrificing the harmony of the room, if the least degree of fullness of coloring be attempted in other parts. They may generally be made lighter than the side walls, and slightly contrasting with them. With the walls very light, they may be darker. In any case they should have as much gentle variation of light and dark and color as may be. A fashion of showing the construction of the floors and roofs above, is a thing to be wished by all decorators. It would add more to the effect of the rooms we live in than one half of what we now take pains to do to them. Papers. In choosing wall papers avoid over-brightness, display, sharpness, or angularity of pattern. It is not necessary that they should be precisely and accurately made out. It is as well that something should be left to the imagination. Prefer those of a general tone of warm gray, and but few detached broken colors; or creamy ocherish yellows; or sage, citron, olive, and tea greens; or dusky Remarks on the Various Rooms.reds. Blues are the hardest to choose; they The Hall it is well to have rather darker than should generally incline to green or greenish- the rooms opening from it, on account of the gray, or to the quality of blue of some kinds agreeable contrast. It is also well to have the of old china. Rarely or never choose stripes, coloring quiet and grave, without strong conwhatever your friends may say about their mak-trasts and never rising to positive color. ing your rooms look higher. Sometimes they do so, and sometimes they do exactly the reverse by calling attention to the shortness of the space they have to run. They more often than not produce a bad effect on a wall. 66 Dado. It will often be of advantage to have a plinth or dado around the room varying in height from one and a half to four feet, of a color of about the same degree of force as the color of the floor. It should be plainer in design than the wall above; and may often with advantage be absolutely plain. The line is invaluable where there are pictures. Dadoes The ornamental details should be very restrained, it being rather out of order in a place which is principally a passage, and more telling if kept for other parts of the house. Large, comparatively blank spaces are in place here, the incidents of light and shade often giving enough variation. Dining Room. Probably the fashion of having a dining room sober and rather dark in its coloring came about because of the table and those around it being the chief point of interest, and also of the pleasant contrast of the drawing room. |