All the frames described are best made of pine, as soft wood is easier to tack or pin to. Provided they are perfect in form, they need not be well finished, as they will be covered with puffings, pleatings and draperies.
These pieces may be added to by the preparation of smaller ones to be used as shown in the fourth and fifth illustrations. These can be used in almost endless variety and occasions will often arise when a corner or section of your window will appear bare, and may be furnished with some small, attractive design made from your stock pieces.
However, the first set of fixtures described is recommended as the most perfect and therefore the best for general use.
CHAPTER V.
HARMONY OF COLORS.
After erecting the framework the decorator proceeds to cover it, in order to complete his background. But before doing this the harmony of color must be considered, as the real success of his window will depend upon the good taste and arrangement of the colors employed.
No man need be frightened at facing this frequent bugbear to the novice:—color harmony. Any one will readily understand it after reading this chapter.
“What is color?” you ask.
Nothing but common daylight deprived of some of its wonderful properties.
When this is understood the subject is robbed of its terrors, for we know we are facing a natural effect, and nature is simplicity itself.
When light strikes any object, such as a blade of grass or leaf, the rays of white light are separated or decomposed; part are absorbed by the grass or leaf and the others reflected to the eye, causing the sensation of color; in this case green, the grass or leaf having reflected the blue and yellow rays and absorbed the red. To understand this thoroughly a little scientific experiment will demonstrate clearly. Go into a dark room, shutters, doors, etc., closed tight. Now make a very small hole through a shutter to the outer daylight, when a fine pencil of light will penetrate the darkness. Into this ray of light place a prism of glass, when the ray, after passing through the prism, will be diverged and separated, showing the solar spectrum in all its beauty.