(WOMAN'S HOME 700 FtJRNI^HIMG No. 6. BEDROOMS By HELEN MATHERS Continued from pas^e jSi, Part j The Useless Wardrobe — A Dutch Bsdroom— Some Charming Colour Schemes Tf a bedroom is primarily a place to rest, to ^ sleep in, it is also a place where clothes may be disposed to the best advantage. But in the modern wardrobe, which is built on the lines qf a linen-chest, clothes cannot be so disposed. Frocks were made to stand up, not to lie down, but the modern wardrobe provides us with a few shelves, a few drawers, and a small confined corner where we are expected to hang out frocks. Here the frocks have to be hung one on the top of another, and when in a hurry one often has to throw the whole lot on the floor before discovering the one required. The Ideal Wardrobe A fortune awaits the man who invents a long, narrow wooden frame, a shelf above, and rows and rows of pegs below, with, at the right-hand corner, a nest of narrow drawers, invaluable for gloves, veils, linen, and all sorts of indispensable odds-and-ends. He may build it of any wood, costly or the reverse, decorate it or not, as he pleases, call it imitation Sheraton, Empire, or any- thing he likes ; but women will call him blessed. It is a wonder that an intelligent trade has not supplied it before. If there is a recess of sufficient length in your bedroom it can be converted into a wardrobe ; only boards and white paint are required. But such recesses are rarely found. A Looking:-fi:1a58 Suj^sfestlon When buying a bed, buy a good one. Never economise on bed and bedding ; buy at the best house. For a looking-glass, I am very fond of the Sheraton (or modern Sheraton) ones, the same width as the table. Such a glass will show you all your native ugliness, or beauty, at a glance. It is a great mistake to have a small glass and peep at yourself in sections, especially with your back to the light. You go abroad then with a totally wrong impres- sion of yourself, and have only to consult the eyes of the first man you meet to be speedily disabused of your pretensions. The moral is : get as much glass as you can, and put it in the strongest light you can, and don't flinch from what you see. It is a good idea to have an unframed strip of glass fitted from floor to ceiling, and a small table placed against it containing your silver (which ivory is now superseding). This takes up less room than the usual toilet- table — an advantage when the room is not large. There must be a vallance at the top, and a strip of material at each side to match curtains. The very newest things in bedrooms is the Dutch room — white walls, Dutch n:iarqueterie furniture, ewers and basins of plain glass. The market is full now of Dutch stuff ; and, what is still more important, you can get everything you want easily, instead of huntmg for a piece here and a piece there, as with some styles. A sideboard makes a capital toilette-table — the glass for standing in it can be either oval or square, a long table with a slab of glass on it makes the wash- stand, and a chest of drawers is easily enough found. But an adequate wardrobe is a more difficult matter. A high, wide cabinet, with all the inside and most of the drawers, taken out, fitted with pegs, is the nearest approach to that modern Sheraton one I hope to see produced in the near future. Marqueterie chairs, pedestals for plants, and a mirror for overmantel, are plentiful. A couch, writing- table, and bookcase also will be wanted. The cushions for couch, easy-chair, and curtains should be of green and white chintz, with a sparing note of orange, the floor parquet if possible, with plenty of rugs — Persian for preference, if no tiger skins are available ; the vases should be stacked with green. Such a room is a joy to behold and to live in. The Pink Bedroom For a simple room, within the reacn of almost everyone, and which certainly will not breed depression, I will describe a pink one — the colour par excellence ; it is pleas- ing, becoming, and on pink firelight is cosier than anything. The walls are of striped dull pink satin paper, the curtains exactly match the walls in a plain material (not chintz), the carpet is a black Persian with dull pinks and drabs on it, the bedstead and all the woodwork of the room and the ward- robe are white, so is the ceiling paper and the overmantel. The latter is of Chippen- dale pattern, a long, narrow glass below, shelf above, bordered wdth lace, with copper jars and engravings on top, and the china is yellow. Few people realise how charming the combination of yellow and pale pink is. There are recesses on either side of the fire- place made into hanging cupboards, and with more of the yellow china on top. A long glass reaching from ceiling to floor, draped with pink. The washing apparatus is placed on a round table, with a bookshelf on wall above to hold water-bottle, glass, and toilet necessaries. 1
