Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 243, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 October 1910 — THE AMERICAN HOME [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE AMERICAN HOME

|tf-A.RADFORD EDITOR

Mr. William A. Radforu will answer questions and give advice FREE OF COST on all subjects pertaining to the subject of building for the readers of this paper. On account of his wide experience as Editor, Author and Manufacturer, he is, without doubt, the highest authority on all these subjects. Address all inquiries to William A. Radford, No. 194 Fifth Ave., Chicago, 111., and only enclose two-cent stamp for reply. There is one feature about a house that has a very strong and potent influence on our daily lives, a factor that w% seldom think of. It is the wall* decorations of the house. You may not realize it, but the colors and tints on your walls not only have an artistic effect, but they have something to do with your moods. A good many people have gone .into the whys and wherefores of this fact, dug into mysterious sciences and told us all about it with big words that had to be looked up in the dictionary, but that is not necessary. There are very few things that cannot be told simply and plainly without impressing on the hearer or reader that the writer or speaker has been to college. > We will spend weeks and weeks planning our house, lay awake nights over it and probably have harsh words with our wife over the number of closets and where the pantry shall be placed, for as a rule the .wife only cares about the closet room and the pantry. We can have everything else as we'want it except the parlor, dining ror*n, kitchen, hall, bedrooms and the bathroom. That is all she cares to arrange ercept the size of the porch. Everytfling else we can have our way about. Then when it comes to decorating the walls we defer to her and let her have her way, too. That is kind. Maybe the parlor will

be green, the dining room red, the kitchen walls will be apple green and one bedroom will be blue. Another bedroom will be buff and a third one will be pink. Or we will leave it all to a paperhanger and let him choose combination. Then we are living in a paperhanger’s house, not in one of our own choice. A wall should be a background for the personality. If the color of the room does not hitch with your personality there will be discord. All things have color, and it is not an accident that their colors exist. They are all caused by vibra-

dou, as shown in the Bpectrum. Red vibrates at'the lowest rate of speed, as violet at the highest Next in the scale above red comes orange, then yellow, green, blue and violet Red has the nearly the same effect as semi-darkness. We all know that in the twilight we are calm and thoughtful. So in your red room you are influenced to be calm. Red has net this effect, however, on some of the lower animals, as we have often had reason to knq,w during rambles in the fields where cattle graze. Blue, on the other hand, at th» other extremity, has a tendency to make us inspired and think of higher things, like poetry and art We now know why some dining rooms are finished in blue. This tint in a boarding house dining room will help take the mind off the possible meager array on the table. If you are thinking of Bryant or Longfellow it matters little what 1b in the hash. This is what blue walls are supposed to do to you. But seriously, the first thing to consider tm the furnishing of the house le

the decorations that are to go on the wall, for they have their influence., Cheery colors should be used in the dining room, not gaudy, but tones that will harmonize with the atmosphere that should pervade any place where bread is broken. In the living room or in the library there should be restful tones, like browns or tans. The bedroom walls should have tints that are not loud or disturbing. The house we show here Is one planned to be lived in all over. There is no parlor that has to be closed,

against the encroachments of the children. The large living room is inviting, and it is given a specially Btrong home aspect by the big fireplace and the seat at the side. The ceiling of this room has beams that give the impression of solidity and strength. The walls of this room should be decorated with a soft tint, like bluff or

brown, in some shade, with the beamsi stained black. This house is 28 feet wide and 29; feet 6 inches . long, exclusive ofi porches. It will be noticed that the den and the dining room also are provided with beam ceilings and are so arranged that they can be made practically into one room when there isany social function. The kitchen is of sufficient size to be convenient. - Access to the stairway may be had' either from the living room or thef kitchen. On the second floor arei three bedrooms and an alcove. The front bedroom is the largest and the wall space affords opportunity for good taste in decoration.

Second Floor Plan.

first Floor Plan.