A manual of home-making

Ordinarily one pair of curtains is sufficient to answer the purpose of a window drapery. Especially in rooms with few or vcr>* small windows, swathing with drajiery should be avoided since it produces a stuffy effect. Casement cloth, many of the hea\y nets, and sunfa.st materials, cretonnes, chintzes, and printed Unens are very effective when used as single hang- ing. It is sometimes necessar>' to think of curtains ^is screena to shut out the public or a disagreeable view. Curtains may! be so chosen as to perform this service and yet admit light. Sash curtains hung across the lower haff of the window are the most natural answer to this problem. They arc often use- ful in a bathroom or kitchen. Two sets of curtains are sometimes required for practical , or decorative reasons. For example, in windows near a street,! one set of curtains may shut out the gaze of passei-s-by while admitting the light, and the otIuT serve as a screen in tlie even- ing and a decorative note at all times. In recessed windows, such as are found in brick pr stone houses, or in a bay window or a group of windows, thin curtains may be used next the glass, and heavier draperies harmoniously related to the side^ WTill may be hung on the trim and drawn to shut off the rece or the whole window group when desired. kittfiifa i ^^■^^r^H^' ^f • I HOME FURNISHING 65 If two seta of curiaiiLS are usect one pair is hung next the glass. The-se are called glass, or sonietioies satsh, curtains. As the function of these is to cut out the view but admit the light, they should l>c of thin material, such as net, plain lace, scrim, gauze, thin silk, mercerized cotton, sunfast fabric, or casement cloth. Such an inner curtain should be consistent in texture with the outer dra{)ery; for example, with velvet or silk or any ricli material, net of good quality or po.ssibly mar- quisetCe is a good choice. With linen or cretonne, scrim is better. With cretonne or similar patterned liangings, the inner curtains should match the ground in tone; white, if the ground is white, cream or ecru if the ground is of that color; otherv^ise, one is likely to look faded or discolored. In thin materials, too coarse a mesh should be avoided on account of shrinking; an even weave is more easily made up and hangs better. These glass curtains soften the glare and are a pro- tection for the heavier window draperies. They are always in evidence on the outside of a house and should l>e selected with this in mind. If all tlie glass curtains in the house are ahke, or if in the city those in the front of the house are alike, a pleasing unity of effect from the outside is con^served. The over, or outer, pair of curtains which is in more direct relation with the walls of the room may be made of any of th€ heavy materials alrcad^^ mentioned. This over-iirapery maj l>c used to regulate the light during the day, and, by shutting out the outside world, to give an effect of intimacy at night.1 At any time it may furnish a decorative note in the room. Hanging of draperies.