Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 5 (September 1, 1933)

Household Renovations

Household Renovations.

Spring-cleaning is not complete without a freshening-up of soft furnishings. In taking stock it will be noticed, perhaps, that curtains need replacing. Curtain nets are showing in the shops in gay and charming colourings and designs. For side curtains, artificial silk materials of all kinds are at your disposal. These same silks, at reasonable prices, are also useful for recovering cushions. Are all the cushions in your living room covered with the same material? If not, try the effect of covering them to tone or contrast with your general colour-scheme. You will observe a new harmony which is lacking in a room splashed with multicoloured cushions. If you are the lucky possessor of a week-end bach or a sun-porch, go in for cushions covered with a carefully selected cotton material, something gay in page 50 page 51 a large floral design, or, preferably, a challenging geometric pattern. You will be surprised at the decorative effect.

A shabby Chesterfield will take on a new lease of life if supplied with a new loose-cover in chintz or cretonne. Unless you are very sure of your own capabilities, it is better to have the cover made up by the shop supplying the material.

Cheer up your kitchen for spring. Look round it with a critical eye, and when you have checked over all its bad points, get the master of the house and show them to him. Explain the difference a coat of enamel paint will make to your own outlook on life. And, before wielding the paint brush, wouldn't it be a good idea to make the few alterations you'd always intended doing, even if it's only the addition of a broom cupboard, or the affixing of a folding towel-rack to the wall?

Plan a colour-scheme for your kitchen, taking into account its aspect. If it is a sunny room, choose cool colouring, for instance a soft green; if it faces south warm it up with pale orange, or a certain shade of red, or cream picked out with cerise. When you have painted the walls, use the remainder of your paint on the kitchen chairs, which will immediately present an ultramodern appearance. Now the curtains—crisp checked ginghams, or any cheery cotton fabric banded with a contrasting colour. You will find that, in thus refurbishing your kitchen, you have spring-cleaned your attitude towards kitchen duties.

* * *