Part 4 (1/2)

85. It is a safe rule to do a small or narrow room in harmonies of a.n.a.logy or related colors, colors of a light tone and of receding character. Apart from any effect which color may possess decoratively or pictorially, its value cannot be overestimated in its application to the laws of proportion.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

86. Borders may be safely used on the wall or on the carpet of any large room with high ceiling, but wall friezes should be avoided where the ceilings are low, for they foreshorten the height effect.

87. We would avoid borders on the floor of a small room to make it look larger, and we would use wide borders in a large room with a low ceiling so that the floor may be foreshortened.

88. One may utilize in a large, poorly lighted room ma.s.ses of luminous colors to give artificial sunlight to the room deficient therein, but in the small, poorly lighted room this treatment should be avoided.

-COLOR SCHEMES FOR ROOMS UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS-

(TN: left page of two page table) KEYNOTE -B- -B- COLORS -B- -A- -Drapery- -A- -A- -Furniture- -Floor- -Border- -Wood Trim- -Wainscoting- -Side-Wall- -Coverings-

(Brown and gray tones) (Full tones)(Wood tones)(Deep tones)(Soft tones)(Soft tones)

Brown Yellow Mission Green Red Green Deep oak brown Orange Mission Blue Orange Blue Light oak Green Light oak Violet Yellow Violet Deep olive Blue Oak Red Green Red Mission tones of Violet Mahogany Orange Blue Orange slate Deep plum Red Violet toned Yellow Violet Yellow or tulip

(TN: right page of two page table)

-A- -B- -A- -B- -A- -Furniture- -Frieze- -Draperies- -Ceiling- -Cornice-

(Wood tones)(Soft tones)(Full tones)(Pale wash tones)(Pale wash tones)

Mahogany Pale green Red Palest green Pale yellow Deep oak Blue Orange Palest blue Pale green Gold, gray or Violet Yellow Palest violet Pale blue yellow Walnut gray Grayish red Green Palest red Pale violet Mission brown Gray orange Blue Palest orange Pale orange Gold or violet Yellow Violet Palest yellow Pale pink tone

Exception 1. The ceiling, where there is no p.r.o.nounced cornice or cove, should follow the wall tint.

Exception 2. Independent of rule, a low ceiling should be in receding color.

It is impossible to tabulate directions for using color without an understanding of the conditions, the size, light and height of a room.

(See pages 34 and 35.) The above tables relate only to normal conditions.

White woodwork can be used effectively in the trims of a room and give greater light and size. The darker the wood trims the smaller the room appears. We have left out of consideration the window treatments which, as a rule, should be of white lace, perhaps overdraped in colored stuffs. If the room is poorly lighted, it is obviously undesirable to cut off any light from the window by even laces; the curtains, therefore, in a poorly lighted room should be draped back. Colored laces, grenadines or madras stuffs are frequently used to give period style or color tone, and wherever they are used, such curtains should harmonize with the wall. So also with the overdraperies to the lace curtains.

89. Luminous or advancing colors make a small room look all the smaller; therefore in small rooms we suggest the use of white woodwork, and in the color treatment we would avoid contrasts, but would suggest harmonies of a.n.a.logy in receding colors, soft grays, greens and blues.

These are not luminous colors and will make a small room look the larger, while the white will give light effects, and if the room appears a trifle somber it can be easily relieved by the bright colors of the bric-a-brac and by a touch of gold here and there on the wall. (See -- 66 and -- 85.)

90. There are cases where a small room has a northern exposure, and while apparently expedient to treat such a room in warm colors to supply the deficiency of sunlight, such a course would make a room look smaller.

91. Under the circ.u.mstances treat the room in light hues, gray preferred, and get the deficiency of sunlight through some warm isolated details and in the lace curtains.

-THE WALL THE KEYNOTE COLOR-

92. Our theory of color as applied to room furnis.h.i.+ngs provides always that the side-wall is the keynote and this keynote is usually fixed for practical reasons in sympathy with the furniture; above to the ceiling's center the note ascends and below to the floor center it descends; it goes into tints as it ascends and into deeper shades of gray and brown as it descends.

If, for instance, blue is the keynote, by adding black you have drabs, slates or grays for the floor, while if the keynote be red you have ecrus and browns for the floor light or gray, according to the color scale of the keynote.