Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 163, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1915 — INTERIORS DONE IN BLACK [ARTICLE]

INTERIORS DONE IN BLACK

Now the Fashionable Color, and Makes Possible Some of the Most Striking Effects. Behold black now as the fashionable color of the interior decorator. The liking for it arose in Vienna, where interior decorating is an art much thought of. There some of the new houses, or rooms which had been redecorated, showed wall papers with black backgrounds, on which huge, bright flowers are printed. Carpets, too, are of black. The idea of this method of decorating is, apparently, to make the room strictly a background for the furniture and persons in it The brightly flowered paper, of course, detracts from this effect, but the sort of paper more often used does not have the bright flowers. It shows a black ground, with a gray or misty white figure. In a room thus grounded pictures framed in black are hung. The effect is startling. The pictures stand out in reality from their somber surroundings. White enameled furniture is looked on with favor for use in black rooms. Surely such a setting would give the persons in it a chance to shine forth in all the glory of color lent them by skin and eyes, hair and clothes. On the other hand, wouldn’t a room so furnished cast a depressing spell on the woman who found herself shut within its four walls for many hours in a day? There is an outgrowth of this craze for black which is interesting, especially to those who live in apartments, or other crowded quarters, where the kitchen as well as other rooms of the house, come under occasional inspection of guests. This is the black enameled jar or box for cakes, bread and grocery supplies of various sorts. It is painted brilliantly with big red roses, and makes an interesting note of color. Six boxes or jars of this sort ranged in orderly array on shelves give a distinctive note to the most uninteresting pantry or kitchen.