Subscribers enjoy higher page view limit, downloads, and exclusive features.
THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY.- CALL. ) ATy e S paper to de- hould be com- side ns would it question gs of the pictures that are to er made or marred is quite necessary water colors and much better in a on a small dé- sign, and to remember, too, that the color of frames often makes a marked e in the tone of the room. »u are ever in doubt play trumps; then only burden youf ie one thought that trumps but one thing: and exceedingly shing means d styles simple witbal. la the majority of cases this is the best idea to follow out, for the res nearly always satisfactory. In fact, could it very well be otherwise? It is somett like a tailor-made frock. Its very plainness obviates all possibility of displaying bad. taste. But remember that while the ingrain paper will keep out an immense amount of bad decoration, it in itself is not any more a decoration than is a plain cal- cimined ‘wall. It is immensely useful and can very easily be made exceeding- 1y pretty by merely adding an ingrain freize, which, by the way, has been fashioned for the very purpose of add- ing a decorative quality .to the some- times too plain wall While plain walls are always pretty and soothing and useful, they are not always the fad of the hour, though there is no getting away from the fact that they never go out as forcibly and as quickiy as elaborate designs done in striking effects with the figures in bold relief. Rut be that as it may, the fact remains that just at present all sorts of Contrasting shades and all condi- tions of quaint bangings are not only /Deing used but are the fad of the hour. e 00} S A& = Expensive? Exceedingly so, craze for novelties has reached the place where anywhere from two . to twenty dollars a roll is not considered, a design is exclusive and made it easily runs into the s for a single room. uld, perhaps, be ecasier to tell s beew eliminated’ from the than what has been chosen, precious little from the expensive tapestries used in old-time castles to our own ®ld-fashioned colonial days has been stricken out as valueless and useless. One’thing more startling than another has been devised until even the rag carpets of our grandmothers have been carefully and faithfully copied and hung on the wall as a bright and shining example of a quaint and charming effect. Everything and anything seems to be fit. The massive weathered oak dining set is framed in an old-time mission setting and the solid mahogany of our forefathers is set among knights brave in their armor, prancing off on high- stepping steeds to break a lance with the first foe. The castle with its his- toric moat is there, and so faithfully have these beautifil hangings and papers been made that even the lady fair has been placed in 2 window wav- ing a dainty kerchief to her sworn lord and master. ’ Unfortunately there are few, if any, old painted walls in this State, for California was not out of swaddling clothes when it was all the rage to fill the manor houses with hunting sceney or to decorate the walls with curious paintings that represented trees, rivers, houses," people, in fact anything that caught the fancy of the illustrator. But there are a few such homes left and 3 but the ATID ANGINGS FOR, SMare DEW /S TEN DESIGN TOR A DEN L1 _Z - ) e e e /3 tne manuracturer is hurrying and scur- rying to them, praying every inch of the way that the energetic scraper and pastepot have not been there before him. Once he bas seen it, the pattern is carefully guarded in his mind's eye, or better still, he takes a bit to. make certain and then rushes home as fast as he can get there to duplicate it be- fore ary one else cap place it upon the market. > The average person who walks idly into a shop and asks to see draperies and hang- logs little realizes what an amount- of time, patience and skill is, expended to obtain the patterns that are so quickly placed before him and what an immense amount of money it takes to gain posses- sion of a few new designs. The poppy pattern that is hung up for inspection, for instance, is done in beautiful olive greens, delft blues and a dull, deep red. And, mind you, these days one thing calis for another, and wall paper is rarely if ever exhibited alone. There must be a cretonne to match, for too many charm- ing effects have been produced in the line of window drapery, counterpanes and fur- miture coverings to permit its decorative Qunlities to be forgotten for a moment. bines all these colors? They don’t grow on bushes ready to be picked off at pleas- ure; neither do they come from set fash- lons that are sent over from the Continet by the shipload. No. The manufacturer reaches out for the very best that he can lay -his hands on,.and that very best means artists who stand at the head of applied art and who are known the length and breadth of the land for thelr origin- ality and individuality. Who but a man of skill and sechooling could turn out the beautiful papers that are such an exact imitation of old brown leather? The picturesque Spanish and Moorish scenes are represented, and even the ravages and wear and tear of ages are added so deftly that it takes one well versed in papers to tell whether they are real or only a clever copy. The old Dutch, with its lively blues and its quaint bits of landscape, found visiting with gorge- ous . and even Marie Antoinette has st down and is to be found in a delicate flowered Louis XVI room. Instead of growing scarcer and scarcer. such hangings are to be seen more and more, for they are daily becoming cheap- er and more within the reach of the or- dinary householder. Of course, those large decorative designs are onmly for OV./TILLS CAM N WAL DA ASMALL DESIGN, IXHTOR CURTAINS! o / / /Z/// SCENE TCR A DINING § . oo™ enough pattern to'show itself off at its best, but there are scores and scores of pretty hunting and golfing scenes that are made for the cottager ‘who revels in a 2x4 den. For a reception-room and a boudoir Louis XVI hangings and draperies seem the most appropriate, for if you will re- member, they had their origin in the court life of the day and were the ex- pression of the philosophy that was try- ing to vent itself at that time. Louis XIV was a King in every sense of the word, He ruled to tife best of his abflity and tried to make his domain as prosperous and his name as great as the Caesars of antique Rome. As a on- sequence his style was solid and.substan- tial, patterned more after the classical standards of the Romans than anything else. N % The next King was Loais XV and he ‘was known the world over as a spend- homes whose ,rooms are large to permit the/ . thrift’ His every act was an extrava- gance and he surrounded himself with Recoco style, which is about as elaborate and showy as one would expect it to be. Following him came Louis XVT, a King ‘with good intentions, but withou: the will power to back them up. France ) it IR T U : N ‘was overburdenmed with taxes and hoth the aristocracy and the commons were that the simple iife of the Greeks beots. Out of this mew pastoral piay came the dainty Louis XVI furniture. Dainty, I say, because no other word seems to fit it half as well. To be sure, it is a combination of the old and the new, but such a charming one that it has iived quettes and flirts as it did in the time of Louis and his dainty Queen Marie, Of charming effects there is no end and dull must be your wits if you cannot dis- ONVENTIONALN ?A-vé_relzr« 7 TOR. & [\ traeawse Answers to Correspondents COUNTRY GIRL (Photograph Busi- ness)—THere are many gaileries in this city and. they will take new hands to learn the profession. As a rule, i takes from six or eight months to a year to learn retouching, mounting and all the little cks that make one ekilled at it, bul if you can afford it you can make rapid advances and be rushed along in the business by paying $25. This includes a course of three months’ training, and if you are not proficient in that length of time you may remain longer until you are ready to take a position. Many times the galleries are glad to retain the girls they have trained, for they knmow the .ins and outs of that particular gal- lery and ecan work In harmony with it I would not advize you to take up the profession of a model for it is very trying and does not pay well, either. One month you might make a fair living and go hungry the next, for there are not enough positions mnor enough call for mode:s In this city to really make it worth while. If you lived at home and used your earnings for pin money it would be another guestion, but as it is I should advise you to give up the idea enmtirely. A SMART COSTUME (Cecile).—If you want something quite new and un-_ usually smart in shirt waist costumes, suitable for many occasions, get a heavy white Shantung or natural eol- ored pongee silk and trim with stitch- ed bands of violet taffeta and just a touch of point de venise lace on the collar and cuffs. Cut the skirt on the new seven-gored, box-plaited order, which has a plait over each seam and in the center of each gore. The shap- ing gives a most perfect fit about the hips without unnecessary bulk. Stitch each plait, near the edge, to flounce depth and let the plaits flare out pret- tily in round length at the foot of the skirt. A clever idea is expressed in placing a band of taffeta ome inch wide even with the edge of the skirt, for it affords a pleasing trimming as well as protecting the white silk from soiling. Three more bands, each a trifle narrower than the ome just be- low, are placed above the one on the edge of skirt with a space of ove inch between each. The fourth or top band is only one-half inch wide. As- sociate a box-plaited shirt waist with this skirt and stitch the plaits in waist and sleeve to match the akirt Make the deep cuffs and collar of point de venise lace, having narrow graduating bands of taffeta to corre- spond with the skirt decoration and complete the waist with a crush belt of heavy white ribbon. Get a hat of pale violet straw and trim with white roses and a smart touch,of violet and black ribbon to give character to the whole. Of course, a violet silk para- sol is indispensable, with medallions of lace to match that used on the cos- tume. Don’t forget to have the shoes and hosiery of just the softest shade of tan. The clever girl will embroider violets on the Instep of the damty hese.