Twentieth Century Culture and Deportment / Or the Lady and Gentleman at Home and Abroad; Containing Rules of Etiquette for All Occasions, Including Calls; Invitations; Parties; Weddings; Receptions; Dinners and Teas; Etiquette of the Street; Public Places, Etc., Etc. Forming a Complete Guide to Self-Culture; the Art of Dressing Well; Conversation; Courtship; Etiquette for Children; Letter-Writing; Artistic Home and Interior Decorations, Etc.

by Maud C. Cooke

Take a board about fifteen inches wide and saw it the length of the window sill. Put small iron hinges on it and screw it to the sill, so that it can hang down against the under wall when desirable.

Tack a narrow strip of wood under the board, near the front edge. Resting on the floor and wedged under this cleat there is a prop of planed wood, slender and neat looking. You can put a beading around the board, with small brads and stain it cherry or some other color.

The sill holds pens, pencils and inkstands, and a large blotter laid on the board, is a most desirable writing pad. This idea comes from an art student in Paris, who dotes on her window desk.

It will be found useful in the nursery as a place for pasting pictures, drawings, etc., and when done can be swung down and out of the way.

A Hall Chest.

A pretty hall chest is one of the things that may be successfully produced at home. In a seaport town, the chest of some ancient mariner is easily procured; otherwise, one of similar style and make must be fashioned for you by a carpenter. As it need only be made of soft wood the cost is not great. After it has left the carpenter’s hands it may be decorated with the applied ornamentation in scroll design, which is now obtainable ready to put on, and afterward treated to a coat of stain.

Old oak is the most satisfactory, or it may be ebonized, if preferred. Polished brass corners and hinges may be added, and a row of brass nails set around the edge with good effect. The convenience of these chests for hall use has been accepted. They beautifully conceal rubbers, mackintoshes, a storm shawl and various unsightly but useful impedimenta of the hall rack, and if, in addition, a seat is desired, a strip of dark leather with a light pad beneath it may be set on with brass nails across the middle of the lid.

Cozy Corners.

They are so easy to arrange. Have your carpenter make a double right-angle bench, with a high, straight back. The seat must be two and a half feet wide, and the top of the back five feet from the floor. This now looks like an ungainly three-sided square, or rather oblong, for it is better to have one side somewhat longer than the others. The wood should be stained cherry or oak, to match the other furniture in the room, and oiled and polished so as to be smooth and of rich appearance; or, use hard wood, black walnut, ebony, mahogany.

The seat and inside back may be thickly and prettily upholstered, and then piled high with pillows, or, the wood having been nicely finished, the upholstery may cover the seat only. Be sure and have the seat made low, otherwise the Cozy Corner will be uncomfortable, its name will be belied, and no one will hie to what might have been the favorite seat in the room.