One of the beautiful features in fine old Colonial
houses is this ordered position of doors, but in many a modern house the
doors have a trying way of appearing in a corner, as if they were a bit
ashamed of themselves; and they have good cause to be, for a badly
placed door is a calamity. If one is fortunate enough to plan one's own
house, this matter can be taken care of properly, but in the average
ready made house one has to try to make the doors less conspicuous by
having them painted in very much the tone of the wall. With a gray wall,
for instance, there should have a slightly lighter tone of gray for the
woodwork, with a white and gray striped paper white paint may be used,
with a soft tan a deep old ivory, and so on.
If a room is badly proportioned it can often be improved by the simple
expedient of using a correct paper. If the room is too high for its size
the ceiling color may be brought down on the side wall for eighteen
inches or so and finished with a moulding. This stops the eye before it
reaches the ceiling and so makes the room seem lower. If the room is too
low a striped paper may be used which will make the room seem higher by
carrying the eye up to the ceiling where the paper is finished with a
moulding. Vertical lines give the appearance of height, horizontal
lines of width. Striped paper should not be used in narrow halls, for it
makes them seem narrower and gives one the feeling of being in a cage.
Two-toned striped papers of nearly the same color value, such as gray
and white, yellow and cream-white, and white and cream color, are better
to use than those of more marked contrast, although some of the green
and white and blue and white are charming and fresh looking for
bedrooms.
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