Furniture and Decoration
Furniture and Decoration.—Obviously half the benefit to be derived from good sanitary arrangement of the house itself will be lost if the internal fittings are not arranged with similar regard to healthy conditions. Good drainage and ventilation are thrown away if every corner is to be a receptacle for accumulated dirt and every carpet and curtain a resting-place for dust. Yet that is just the condition of ninety-nine houses out of every hundred. Existing systems of furnishing and decorating are faulty to a degree in this respect, and have called down the strictures of many sanitary reformers. Foremost among them is Edis, who has made this branch of sanitary science a special study. His suggestions for improvements in furnishing and decorating our homes are worthy the attention of every housewife. The following remarks are mainly culled from his paper in one of the Health Exhibition handbooks, and deserves to be more generally known.
Kitchen Walls.—Commencing at the bottom of the house, Edis advises lining the whole of the scullery walls, and, as far as possible, those of the kitchen also, with glazed tiles, so that there be no absorption and retention of the smells, which must necessarily accrue with the ordinary work of this portion of the house. For a large house, he strongly advocates finishing all the walls in a London basement, so far as the working portion of it, together with the passages, are concerned, with glazed tiles; they are cleanly, absolutely non-absorbent, reflect and give light, are easily washed, and tend to make the house sweet and healthy. The pantries and larders should be so arranged that they have continual ingress of fresh air, and should in all cases be lined with glazed tiles or bricks, so that the smells arising from the contents should not be allowed to be absorbed in the distempered walls, and to render them stuffy and unhealthy. The shelves should be of slate, or better still, of polished marble, so as to be absolutely non-absorbent and easily cleaned.
In every basement a comfortable room for servants should be provided: some small sitting-room fitted up with book-shelves and cupboards, and, if possible, facing the street, so that the workers of the house may have some sort of spare room, in which they may be at rest from their ordinary duties; for, if we want good servants, we must treat them as ordinary beings like ourselves.
Floors.—It is particularly desirable to counteract as far as possible the deleterious influences which are brought about by the absorption of offensive odours in the common deal floors of the various rooms, by having all the joints carefully stopped in, and the whole surface painted over with three or four coats, so that the pores of the wood may be effectually closed, and the crevices, through which dirt and filth of all kinds can enter, and lodge in the spaces between floor and ceiling, practically sealed up. Or the floors may be stained and varnished all over, for varnish of the cheapest kind, whether made with resin in place of hard gums, or petroleum in place of turps, is not only healthy in its application, but cleanly and economical, as it can be readily cleaned of all impurities by a wet cloth, and lasts longer than a mere painted surface, if done properly at the onset, and every coat left to dry and become thoroughly hard before a second coat is put on. Good varnish will dry and be free from all stickiness in one or two days, if the general atmosphere is free from damp. (Edis.)
Boarded floors are at present much more fashionable than carpeted. Whether they are stained or not is a secondary consideration. In hospital wards it is, no doubt, desirable that the boards should be as closely laid as possible, and well waxed, to obviate the necessity of scrubbing, and the possibility of any organic matter sinking into the floor. But in private houses, so long as the carpets are loose and can be taken up, and the boards either scrubbed, dry rubbed, or waxed, we have all that health demands. Were it practised by some Continental nation, and not by ourselves, we should be horrified at the custom of keeping carpets nailed down for a year or more to collect all the dirt that falls throughout that time. Of course, a stained floor looks better than plain deal boards, and oak parquet looks better than either. But in a bedroom the appearance is of secondary importance, and staining, however it is put on, does not last long in a room where there are children or schoolboys. A strip of carpet by the side of the bed, and a square of matting or linoleum before the washing-stand, is sufficient for health. All carpets, of whatever kind, wear better if the boards are perfectly even, and if they are laid down over “carpet lining,” brown paper, or coarse canvas; but this plan is not feasible unless the carpet is fastened down, and a much better plan than nailing is to have loops on the carpet and nails in grooves on the floor, when it can so easily be unhooked, that there is no excuse for not taking it up frequently. Very often carpets and heavy furniture are left untouched because of the difficulty of getting a man in to help where a man-servant is not kept. Of the different sorts of carpeting, those that cost most to start with are certainly not the dearest in the end. Compare, for instance, a good Brussels with a tapestry of about half the first cost, and probably not a sixth part of the durability. The only rooms where tapestry carpets are admissible are where there is little or no traffic, and where the mistress desires much appearance for little money. Inferior floor coverings of whatever kind are dear. A small pattern cuts to greater advantage, usually looks better, and always shows dirt less than a large one,—looks better because the floor is not the part of the room where we wish all eyes to be at first directed; and, therefore, though a light ground often wears better than a dark, we cannot venture to recommend it. Kidderminster is now fashionable; it wears well and can be turned. Small patterns in Kidderminster, as in all double wool fabrics, wear best, because the threads decussate more frequently. Felt carpets wear much better if the colour runs through; if it is only stamped on the top, white patches appear long before the carpet is in holes, which, however, are not long in coming with even a moderate amount of wear. The cheapest carpets have cotton or jute woven in them, and very quickly fade. As to matting, it, too, is of many kinds. The coconut matting, with a coloured pattern or border, looks well on dark wood stairs, and wears better than any other, but it is too rough for most sitting-rooms, even if we do not experience its rapid fraying of skirts and wearing out of thin house shoes that walk over it. India matting of good quality wears a long time, especially if it is kept damp. It is made of grass fibre, and if it gets too dry it quickly splits. In hot weather it must be washed over with water once or twice a week and left wet, and the fibre will absorb enough moisture to keep it fairly tough. Oilcloth, kamptulicon, linoleum, and similar floor coverings, are made of canvas with layers of oil paint. It must be kept for some time after it is made, to harden the paint; if this is not done it splits, and soon wears out. The quality can be judged by the weight, and the heaviest is generally the best. It can be scrubbed with soap and water, and then polished with a dry cloth and a little oil; as little water as possible should be used, or it runs underneath, and causes the cloth to rot. In the country it is a good plan to wash oilcloth with a little skim milk, thus cleaning and polishing it at the same time. (E. A. B., in the Queen.)
Furniture.—It must be evident to common-sense people, that all furniture which collects and holds dust and dirt, which cannot be easily detected and cleaned; that all window valances and heavy stuff curtains with heavy fringes, which cannot be constantly shaken; and that all floor coverings which are fastened down, so that it is impossible to clear away the dust, that gradually, but surely, finds its way under them, and prevents the coverings themselves from being constantly shaken, are objectionable and unhealthy. Such people will therefore avoid all wall coverings which offer resting-places for dirt—such as the high-relief flock patterns, which, however good artistically, are certainly to be avoided on sanitary grounds; will not cover the whole of the floor surfaces with thick carpets, which absorb and retain dust and disease germs, and which cannot be easily removed and cleaned, or shaken, at least once a month; will do away with all heavy window-curtains and valances, which, in small rooms, add so materially to their stuffiness and unhealthiness; and will, as far as practicable, avoid filling their rooms with heavy lumbering furniture, which cannot easily be moved for cleaning purposes, and under and above which dust and other impurities may collect and remain. (Edis.)
Second-hand furniture is often preferable to new. The warps and started joints are plainly visible if bad wood has been some time in use; no more warping will take place, and the price, in comparison with that of new, is often much less than the amount of wear and tear would indicate. There are circumstances that give to old furniture a distinct excellence, quite apart from the existence of a fashion for buying it. It was made by hand; generally the same man worked on each piece throughout, acquiring a special interest in every detail, and thinking no trouble too great to make it more perfect. (E. A. B.)
In choosing chairs and tables for the drawing-room, the more varied they are in size and shape the better. Let the wood be all fairly similar, but the materials may be as widely different as possible, and a judicious blending of several colours is the one thing aimed at by those who have good taste. Let me warn my readers against cheap cretonnes; they wear atrociously, and only look well for the first few months. Plush and Utrecht velvet last for ever, but, as they are rather expensive, less costly material can be used for the sofa and a few of the chairs. Do not get one of those dreadful curved sofas that only admit of being sat on, for the primary object of a sofa is to allow of your reclining at full length when fatigued or ill. In a good-sized drawing-room a centre ottoman is allowable, but never in a small room, as it would take up too much space; it is a good plan to have the ottoman made to come to pieces, it will then form several small couches in the event of a large “at home” or dance being given.
With regard to dining-room furniture, get a suite of some light wood—ash or oak—and leather seats to the chairs, or American leather. Sideboards of the present day are very handsome and rather elaborate. You can sometimes pick up very good second-hand dining-room suites, upholstered in the best style, for half their original price. If you intend to have a mirror over your dining-room mantelpiece, see that it is framed in wood similar to your chairs and table, and eschew gilt mirrors in any form, as they are the very acme of bad taste and vulgarity. In choosing the dining-room curtains, bear in mind the colour of the wall paper, or they may clash most inharmoniously. The cheapest way of getting these curtains would be to buy some tapestry stuff by the yard, and make them up at home. Everything in a dining-room should match, see therefore that the curtain pole, bell handles, and coal scuttle are all of the same wood as the rest of the furniture.
If the drawing-room is on the first floor, with a small landing outside, cover the latter entirely with carpet, do not simply continue the stair carpet across it, it will look as well again covered. Should it be a good sized landing, put a square carpet down and stain the edges of the floor. By way of keeping out draughts, and making the hall and staircase look less bare than is usually the case, get some curtains and hang them outside the dining-room and drawing-room doors. Indian dhurries are useful, as they are so cheap, but the objection to them is that there are none made between 6 ft. 6 in. and 11 ft. in length.
There are no special rules to be laid down about furnishing a morning room or boudoir: the remarks made on drawing-rooms would apply to a great extent; the furniture should be suitably small, and only very cosy and comfortable chairs and couches allowed, and no great expense should be incurred. If the lady of the house cannot afford to have more than one bedroom handsomely furnished, it should be the one occupied by herself. Many advocate most strongly a “half tester” bedstead, as in the event of sickness, the hangings and curtains keep away draughts and shade the eyes from any strong light. Brass and black bedsteads look best, with some pretty coloured dimity hangings, and of course a spring mattress. Be particular about the stuffing of the pillows, and if you decide on feathers, have them of the very best, as the inferior ones are apt to have a slight smell, besides being hard and uncomfortable to sleep on. Choose a suite of some light wood, consisting of a wardrobe with a plate-glass door, a washstand with tiled back, and a toilet table with a fixed glass and with plenty of small drawers, the latter being invaluable for keeping light easily crushed articles, such as feathers, flowers, &c., which otherwise are apt to litter about the room in cardboard boxes. For the windows, Syrian curtains are the cheapest, and have the extra advantages of being fashionable and pretty, but coloured dimity to match the bed look the nicest, though of course they would never do in London. Buy (second-hand) a comfortable, old-fashioned armchair, covering it with some serviceable material; and a small table, the height of the bed. It is a good thing to have a small cupboard under lock and key, to hold medicine bottles, &c. You can get very artistic-looking oak ones, quite small, with a shelf above for books, and they form a handsome ornament to the walls.
The spare room or rooms need never necessarily have the “half tester” bedsteads, and so you are saved the expense of buying a quantity of bedhangings and what follows in their train—a heavy washing or cleaning bill. In the event of your not wanting to spend much money on the furnishing of your spare bedroom, remember that at sales very often good things can be picked up at a low price. If you will have a charming bedroom suite at a low rate, be on the look-out for some common deal furniture—never mind its being second-hand and the paint dirty, so long as the wood is whole. Perhaps a friend has an old toilet table or a chest of drawers that she wants to get rid of, or you come across a cheap lot at a broker’s; do not be dismayed at the paint being gaudy, perhaps, or dirty, for this is the secret—have them all painted some uniform neutral colour (grey, picked out with dark mouldings, looks well), and then varnished, and you will be delighted with the result. In conclusion, a good substitute for a wardrobe may be made in this way. If there is a small recess in the room (there very often is one by the chimney), put across it a deal board, stained or painted, and varnished, about 6 ft. from the ground, with an ornamental moulding depending from the front edge, and hang curtains in front, putting up underneath as many dress pegs as the width of the recess will allow. (C. H. D., in the Queen.)
Ceilings.—If the cornices of the rooms be deeply recessed and filled with heavy plaster ornaments, they must of necessity hold dust and other impurities, which are increased by the action of damp air causing decomposition, and by mixing with the air in the room, when stirred or blown away from their resting places by draught from opened door or window, must render it impure and unhealthy. In addition to this, they are more or less choked up by every coat of so-called distemper decoration, and this again, by absorbing damp and obnoxious exhalations, adds materially to the sense of stuffiness and foulness which can be appreciably felt on first opening up the room after it has been closed for some hours. It is better, if possible, to paint all ceilings and cornices than to distemper them, so as to render them as non-absorbent as possible; by painting, the plaster-work is covered with a non-absorbent coating, on which if desired a coat of distemper may afterwards be added.
Walls.—As a rule it is desirable as far as possible not to disturb the general flatness of wall surfaces, and to avoid all patterns which obtrude themselves too prominently upon the eye, or cause the space, whether covered with paper or painted decoration, to be broken into groups of ornament, or into distinct lines cutting it transversely or horizontally. The wall surface may be divided either by a chair or frieze rail and be treated in different shades of colour with good effect; or the upper portion may be covered with good artistic painting, which will add to the beauty and picturesqueness of the room. Where the upper space is covered with paper or distemper, the pattern or colouring should offer no startling contrasts, and the lower portion may be painted and varnished, so as to be readily cleaned. The colour of the wall surfaces of the different rooms must naturally depend upon the purposes for which the rooms are used, as the apparent warmth and pleasurable appearance of the room is materially enhanced or detracted from by the treatment of the wall-colouring; and while it is necessary to treat the surface of one room as a background for pictures, it may be desired to have another brighter and more decorative; but wherever possible, in passages, halls and staircases, it is desirable to varnish as much of the wall surface as possible, so as to render it non-absorbent and readily cleaned.
In the selection of paper or other hangings, and in the arrangement of all ornament in wall or panel decoration, it becomes a matter of importance to select none which shall have distinct and strongly marked patterns, in which the ornament stands out and repeats itself in endless multiplication and monotony. All staring patterns should be avoided. Almost all papers may now be considered practically free from arsenic; the largest printers of machine-printed papers now use little or no arsenical colours; the principal manufacturers of block-printed papers allow on colours with a known trace of arsenic to enter their factories; and, as the colours of this class of paper-hangings are more thoroughly bound with size than those which are machine-made, they are to be recommended for house decoration in preference to the cheaper kinds, as being to a certain extent more lasting.
Paper-hangings must enter largely into the decoration of all the wall surfaces of our houses; but, on sanitary grounds, all flock papers, however beautiful in design, are especially to be avoided, for, from the very nature of their design and treatment, they are detrimental to the healthy condition of the room. The patterns stand out in relief, and offer innumerable spaces for dust and dirt, while the generally fluffy nature of the material, practically powdered wool, renders it more absorbent and therefore more unhealthy; and the surface holds dust and dirt to a much larger degree than the ordinary printed papers, thus tending to a stuffy and unwholesome feeling, which is essentially at variance with all laws of health and comfort.
Stamped papers, in which the pattern is raised in relief, offer the same objections in a minor degree, as the surface is smooth and can be readily cleansed; and in the case of the imitation leather papers, the surface is varnished, and can be readily gone over with a damp cloth without injury. These papers can be well used for the dados of rooms or frieze decoration, and as such are exceedingly effective, although, of course, from the very nature of the manufacture, much more expensive than plain painting and varnishing. A good deal of illness often arises from the bad nature of the size and paste with which the ordinary wall-papers are hung, and great care should be taken that no such inferior, and practically stinking materials are allowed.
Cupboards.—In most houses it is common to have the store places for clothes and other household goods, practically self-contained in every room, and therefore we put therein furniture sufficient for our requirements; but we all know how soon our drawers and wardrobes get overcrowded, and the nuisance and annoyance it often is to have to take out coat after coat, or dress after dress, until we reach the particular one we want, which may be stowed away at the bottom of the drawers or chest, and it surely must appeal to ordinary common sense, to utilise in every way, with constructional fittings as far as possible, all spaces which, as a rule, are practically useless. If the cupboards are taken up to the ceiling line, that is to say an extra tier added to the ordinary wardrobe fitting, increased storeroom would be provided for clothing not immediately required. There would be less crowding up of the existing cupboards and drawers, and the ills of the flat exposed tops of the ordinary fittings, to which Edis before referred, would be done away with. Why not, in the window recesses of every bedroom, provide fixed ottoman boxes which can be used as seats, as well as store places, and if covered with stuffed tops, may thus not only be made useful, but comfortable; while in the sitting-rooms they might be used for store places for papers and magazines until bound up, and thus help to do away with the littering of our rooms, or the storing away of all such things in inaccessible places, where they are seldom dusted, and only help to breed dirt and disease.
Windows.—If instead of the usual heavy and ugly valances, which so many people still insist upon placing over their windows, as a top-finish to the curtains, we were to provide framed recesses constructed with the architraves, or mouldings, which run round the window-openings, with slightly arched heads, leaving room for a slight iron rod to be fixed behind and out of sight, with space for the proper and easy running of the curtain, we should have not only a much more artistic, but certainly a much more healthy and less expensive arrangement; and these arched heads would form part of the constructive finishing, at no more cost than the framed and panelled window linings and architraves, and if carried up to the ceiling, with the cornice returned round, would leave no spaces for the accumulation of dirt and dust, such as are now provided by the projecting boxed linings and the heavy valances, fringes, and poles, which the modern upholsterer provides.
Bedrooms.—The wall surfaces of bedrooms should be hung with some small and simple decorative paper of one general tone, but with no particularly emphasised design, so that we are annoyed at night with flights of birds, or symmetrical patterns of conventional primroses, daisies, or fruits, which might in any way suggest a countless and never-ending procession along the walls. Any pattern or design which shows prominently any set pattern, or spots which suggest a sum of multiplication, or which, in the half-light of night or early morning, might be likely to fix themselves upon the tired brain, suggesting all kinds of weird forms, are especially to be avoided. The design should be of such a description that, saving as regards colour, it should offer no specially marked pattern.
The general wall surfaces should be varnished if possible, so that they may be easily cleaned down and be made practically non-absorbent.
The general woodwork of the doors, windows, and skirtings should be painted in some plain colour to harmonise or contrast with the wall decoration, and the whole varnished; woodwork finished in this way can be easily washed or cleaned, and the extra expense of varnishing will be saved in a few years. The bedstead should be of brass or iron, the furniture of light wood, varnished or polished; and, now that good painted tiles can be obtained at small expense, they may be used in washing-stands with good effect, or the wall above may be lined entirely with them to a height of 2 or 3 ft.
As regards the general floor surfaces, let them be entirely painted, or stained and varnished, so as to present non-absorbent and easily cleaned surfaces, or better still, finished with parquet flooring, which is almost entirely non-absorbing, and which can be cleaned by a damp cloth every day; with rugs or simple homespun carpets laid down beside the bed, and elsewhere, where required, so as to be easily taken up and shaken every day without trouble. There is one objection to square carpets in a bedroom, and that is, if you are lightly shod, or, as is often the case, barefoot, the polished floor is very unpleasantly cold; and also, as it is not every one who can indulge in the luxury of a bedroom fire, a wholly carpeted floor tends to keep out draughts and make the room generally warmer.
If you do away with all resting-places for dirt and dust on the tops of wardrobes and hanging closets, and behind and under chests of drawers and other heavy furniture, there will naturally be much less labour required in cleaning and purifying the rooms. Heavy curtains should be avoided, indeed it is difficult to see why curtains are needed at all in bedrooms, if the window-blinds be of some dark-toned stuff sufficient to hide light, and to keep out the glare of the morning sun.
Nurseries.—In all the upper rooms of a house, which may be used as nurseries, Edis would, where practicable, construct semi-octagonal projecting bays, so as to provide for the greatest possible light and sunshine; and if this cannot be arranged, the windows should be as widely splayed inside as possible, and no light or sunshine shut out by heavy curtains or venetian blinds; and here, too, as in the best rooms of the house, should be thick plate, instead of the miserably thin glass, which is considered sufficient in the upper portions of so many houses; the thick glass gives truer light, is less penetrated by sound, and helps to retain the warmth of the room after the fires have gone out, and the house is left to cool in the long night hours.
The walls of the nurseries should be hung with some bright and cheerful pattern paper, varnished for health’s sake, while the upper portion should be distempered; the upper space or frieze should be divided from the general wall surface by a small deal painted picture rail, but the ceilings and frieze should be cleaned off and re-distempered every autumn, as nothing tends so much to sweeten the rooms as this annual cleaning off and re-doing of the ceilings, which naturally are more impregnated with the impurities of the shut-up rooms than any other portion of them. Paint or varnished papers are always more healthy than distemper, as they can be readily washed, and do not absorb and hold dirt and other impurities.
The walls of the night nurseries should be hung with a soft, general toned paper, varnished, so as to be sponged every week, or distempered all over, so as to be re-done at small cost at frequent intervals, for it is essential in the ordinary low-pitched upper rooms of town houses, generally devoted to nurseries, to wash out as often as possible, the peculiar stuffy bedroom atmosphere, which must be absorbed in the walls and ceilings of all low rooms. The tone of colouring or pattern on the walls should above all not be spotty or glaring, with strongly defined forms presenting nightmare effects to drive away sleep, or disturb our little ones in the hours of feverish unrest or sickness. But in the rooms they live in there is no reason why the “writing on the walls” should not be the earliest teaching of all that is beautiful in nature, art, or science, and by good illustrations of fairy lore and natural forms incline the thoughts of our children to all that is graceful and beautiful in nature or imaginative faculties.