Since Flowers are so Beautiful in Themselves, is it not Worth While to Arrange Them with Judgment?
It is by such simple means that all color combinations are brought into line and rendered satisfactory. No rule can be given for mixing or choosing the actual colors, but it is a safe rule to select those of a kind in some respect. The popular belief in low-toned (grayed) color schemes is a sound one, and the principle can be used very comfortably by the amateur decorator in furnishing a home. She can have any colors she wishes, and make them pleasing, if she will unite them by some harmonizing tone. Of course, all grays even are not rich and beautiful, but they are better than unadulterated color. Mr. Irwin in one of his breezy skits quotes the æsthete as saying: "Good taste should be like the policeman at parade; he should permit the assembled colors to make an orderly demonstration but not to start a riot." The moment the unskilled amateur tries to use white woodwork, red wallpaper, and gilt furniture in combination, he or she courts failure simply because the choice lacks the pervading tone which would modify the three. There are ways to secure harmony even under the most adverse conditions, but the technical details are not pertinent here.
Another characteristic which stands in the way of harmony is emphasis. The moment any one tone becomes greatly different from its neighbors in value or otherwise, it stands out, attracts attention, just as in material objects, unusual, curious shapes and sizes invite notice, often beyond their just dues. Hence a brilliant yellow house, a bright green gown, large figured wallpaper, are over-emphatic. Clothes, which by their color and style are loud in their clamor for inspection, are out of key and bear the same relation to surroundings which foreign, exotic manners and customs bear to domestic conventions. And ordinarily one does not seek such prominence.
This question of taste is a vital one to children, and these books about "Needlecraft," "Home Decoration," "Outdoor Work," "Gardening," etc., are indirectly most useful because they put the child in a position to choose. The girl who sews and helps run the home is bound to cross the path of design a dozen times a day. She is faced with problems of arrangement, color and utility at every turn. Her own clothes, her room, the porch and garden, whatever she touches, are inert, lifeless things which await artistic treatment. It is when the child is faced with the problem of personal interest and pleasure that these elementary conceptions of design may be proposed.
Form and Line. Each year fashion decrees for both men and women certain "correct" styles. At slightly longer intervals the shops offer new models of furniture, hangings, jewelry, pottery, etc. Have these new things been devised to meet a change in public taste? Not at all; they are inventions to stimulate trade. Most of such productions are out of place, incongruous, in company with present possessions. One must have a pretty sound sense of fitness and selection in order to use them to advantage or to resist their lure. As single examples, many of the new things are beautiful in color and line, though they may have nothing whatever in common with what one already owns.
One chooses a given pattern in furniture first, because of its utility; second, because of its harmony in line and size with other furniture already owned; and third, because of its intrinsic beauty. It is much less difficult to furnish a house throughout than to refurnish an old room in consonance with others already complete. All the household things need not be of one kind, though the closer one clings to a clear-cut conception of harmony (relationship of some kind) the better the result. Hence clothes may either beautify or exaggerate personal physique, and the garden may attach itself to the house and grounds or stand in lonely, painful isolation. Down at bottom design aims to assemble elements and parts into proper groups, and in the common questions of home decorations and dress the student can usually work on just that simple basis. It is usually the incongruous, over-prominent, conspicuous, or isolated factor in decoration which causes trouble.
This fragmentary discussion will perhaps suggest some of the benefit which may come from the pursuit of crafts and occupations. The illustrations here given are in some detail because it is so easy to overlook design at home and in common things. Everything is so familiar there, one is so accustomed to the furniture, rugs and their arrangement, that it never comes to mind that the situation might be improved. It must be remembered that, when children begin to apply design to their own handicraft, their fundamental conceptions of beauty originate in the home. Either the children must lose faith in home taste, or, as they grow and learn, be allowed to bring their new-found knowledge back into the home and "try it on." This is where the craft does its real work. The true privilege conferred upon children by the possession of such books as these on various special occupations is a chance to obtain, first-hand, individual standards of perfection and beauty. Before this they have merely accepted the home as it stood, with no thought of what was choice or otherwise.
Since taste and design are merely implied, or indirectly included in the several volumes, save "Home Decoration," the latter should be used as a supplementary reference in connection with the others. As has already been said, it is not possible or advisable to systematically teach good taste. It will be better and more effective to just include taste in the several activities the child undertakes. When the girl begins to make things for herself, help her to select materials which are appropriate in every way. Have her seek materials for the purpose. Have her choose decoration and color rather than take the first handy suggestion or copy the plans of another. She would do well to experiment independently. The girl should create her own room down to the last detail, not make everything herself, but plan it, plan its arrangement, its color (tone) if possible, and make those small decorative articles like pillows, runners, curtains, etc. But before beginning such a comprehensive experiment in decoration have her look about a bit and note the conditions imposed. The light and exposure, size of the room, furniture which must be used, treatment of hangings—these are all stubborn factors, but they respond to gradual treatment. Then the room is hers in reality. The boy's attitude toward taste is totally different. He cares less than the girl for the charm of tone and arrangement; he is quite willing to despise the niceties of decoration. He must approach the question obliquely through interest in the efficiency of a given effort; he appreciates the utility phase of design most of all. The boy will come to see gradually that his pets and chickens should be decently housed, and that it is good business to do so. He should not be allowed to impose upon his own family or their neighbors a slovenly yard or garden. He will find that those tools work best which are sharp and clean and always in place. His final lesson in design grows out of association with his mates. When he begins to go to parties, to enter the social world in a small way, a new body of conventions in taste appear and he must be taught to appreciate them if he would be well liked. But the real training in design arises from manual work—the playthings, toys and utensils the boy makes for use. They need not be beautiful nor is there excuse for clumsiness in construction. One cannot expect even the mature child to take much interest in design in the abstract, but when he meets the subject on a common-sense basis, as a part of some personal problem, design—even taste in color and form—acquires definite standing in his esteem. It has earned the right. Hence a liberal contact with youthful amusements and occupations encourages both boy and girl to build ideals of working, and among these ideals taste is bound to appear in some guise—usually unbidden. The book on design or decoration is but a reference, an inspiration, a stimulant, never a text of instruction. The ability to choose, to secure appropriate, beautiful, accurate results, is largely a by-product of judicious reading combined with persistent effort. It remains for the parent to skim off this by-product as it appears and infuse a little of it into each problem the child presents for inspection.