Where one wishes to have a wood ceiling panelled or with decorated beams, the dining-room, or the hall connecting with it, may be chosen as the proper place to be treated in this way. Where expense is not a great object, it is agreeable to have a large part of the walls finished in wood. A wood finish one-half to two-thirds the height of the wall, and a ceiling of wood above, with the intervening space finished in rough, tinted plaster, gives a very pleasing effect. Projecting from the top of the wood wall-finish may be a little shelf extending, say, five inches beyond the wall. It may have a simple moulded edge. In the top may be cut grooves; on the under edge may be arranged, at regular intervals, cup hooks, which may be used in part for suspending china, or, upon certain occasions, as a means of securing floral decorations—say, a little train of ivy or smilax. On the upper part of the shelf are placed pieces of china. This shelf may be placed in any dining-room; if not around the entire room, between two windows, or between the chimney breast and the adjacent wall. Six feet from the floor is a good height. If it is not overloaded, or if the idea is not generally overworked, the effect will be very satisfactory.
The coloring of a dining-room may be a little heavier and richer than that of the other rooms. A very pretty feature which maybe introduced in a room of this kind is a china-closet, which opens into the dining-room as well as into the china-room adjoining. The dining-room side of the china-closet should be glazed with clear glass above its lower section, and the china-room or back side of the china-closet should be glazed with cathedral glass of a semi-transparent character. There are doors on hinges on each side. The drawers in the lower part, if provided, open from both sides. If doors are used they should be arranged in the same way, so that the lower shelves may be approached from both dining-room and china-room. The glass door on the dining-room side should not come down to the shelf at the top of the lower section, but should be arranged to leave an open space, as is indicated in the chapter on kitchens and pantries. However, the doors on the china-room side of this closet should come down, so as to cut off communication between dining-room and china-room at will. This space between the upper and lower section of the china-closet gives space in which to set a tray, and, by opening a door on the back, it acts as a slide between the china-room and dining-room. This arrangement is not only very beautiful, but very useful. See china-closet plan [Fig. 5], page 46.
The conservatory mentioned does not need to be in conventional conservatory form, which usually has cheap glazing and often common wood-work, but may be a bay-window with more than an ordinary amount of glass, preferably plate.
The chambers and bedrooms, in their ideal form of arrangement, have an abundance of light and sun, ample means for ventilation, and a greater air of restfulness and airiness than the rooms below. The carpets are in lighter tints, the walls more nearly white, the windows not so heavily draped, the pictures and frames of a lighter character, the chairs not so heavy as those of the other rooms. From a chamber it is sometimes desirable to have a bay window projecting from side or front. It adds to the availability of the other floor space, affords additional light and ventilation. Nothing can be nicer than a grate fire in a bedroom. It should be surrounded with a wood mantel, with tile facing and hearth. Above the mantel it is useful to have a short plate-glass mirror. A dressing-case takes its proper place on the side wall between two windows, or in a corner with a window in each wall adjacent to it. Bedrooms are, for the most part, lighted with brackets rather than central lights. When attainable, a small dressing-room adds to the attractiveness of a chamber.
In some houses there may be an alcove, a bay window, a window-seat, a conservatory, or something of this kind, from every principal room. These are features which add to the beauty and attractiveness of the house. While all of these things are not possible in every home, some one or two of them may be attainable. In mentioning the various details which go to make the beauty of a house, it is in mind that all these features can be taken into account in but a very small proportion of all the houses that are built, yet some one or more of them may be used in every house, and thereby add to its attractiveness.
CHAPTER XIV.
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL DESIGN.—AN OLD TOPIC BEFORE THE PEOPLE.—THE ARCHITECTURAL STUDENT’S DREAM.—A BEAUTIFUL HOME THE HOUSEKEEPER’S AMBITION.—IT COSTS NO MORE TO HAVE A HOUSE BEAUTIFUL THAN UGLY.—ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION.—CHARLES EASTLAKE’S BOOK.—VULGAR ARCHITECTURAL REVIVALS.—THE GROWTH OF THE ARTISTIC IDEA.—BEAUTY A MATTER OF REFINEMENT.
It often happens when one gives especial attention to a particular branch of a subject his neglect in other lines is measured by the depth of his attention to the particular branch. Matters which have to do with the utilitarian features of house-building are considered in this work much more fully in the text, than has the appearance of the buildings. It is desired that this fact will not lead any one to believe that matters relating to the appearance of the exterior have been neglected. Domestic architecture is an old topic before the people. It is old in what has been said in regard to the appearance of the buildings. The subject, as a science to the architect, is new when considered from the standpoint of convenience. The architectural student’s dream is not of kitchens, pantries, closets, convenient and economical arrangements of floor space, but is principally of large public buildings, libraries, court-houses, and cathedrals. When he descends to dwelling-houses, it is of something unique, or odd,—something that is pretty or rich. When it relates to details, it is hallways that are peculiar in their beauty, parlors and sitting-rooms that are full of odd conceits. There has been a tendency toward strange things during recent years. Matters of this kind have fed the fancy of many architects. The housekeeper has been neglected.