The best place to fix these hooks will be
obvious to the workman. The rods are to support the curtains, and
should be placed parallel, but one a little behind the other, to enable
the curtains to overlap freely. Into the wall, about six feet from the
floor, drive two very strong nails, and hang the wardrobe upon them
by the two rings. Take chintz, cretonne, or any other material. Of this
make a three-sided plain bag, one side (for the back of the wardrobe),
three feet wide and six feet long, to reach the floor, the other sides each
seventeen or eighteen inches wide, and six feet long (for the sides of the
wardrobe). For the front have curtains, each six feet long, but wide,
according to taste. These have rings at the top and run on the rods.
For the top of the wardrobe take chintz, etc., three feet long and eigh-
teen inches wide, with a deep frill round the edge for a finish, except at
the back, which touches the wall. Fasten the back and side pieces of
chintz to this (the other end of the chintz touches the floor). The front
curtains of course are not attached to this top, as they have to draw.
Slip it over the wooden thing, making two holes at the back, where the
top and chintz back join, for the rings to slip through to hang on the
nails on the wall, and your wardrobe is complete. For packing, take
off the chintz cover and rods, take out the pegs and hooks, fold the
wooden sides flat on the back fold the chintz and wrap all up. A
slight board for the top, covered with chintz, adds much to the appear-
ance of the wardrobe.
176 HOUSE FURNISHING.
FIREPLACES AND GRATES.
The fireplace ought to be made the household altar, for here is
where the family love to linger, around the social hearthstone. The
fireplace should be the first object that the eye catches when one enters
the room, and the one whereon it lingers longest. Nothing can be
better than the arrangement, which constantly grows in favor, of con-
tinuing the lines of the chimney-piece into low, broad shelves above it,
lined with looking-glass, if one pleases, and made the open cabinet for
the prettiest trifles one possesses. If this is forbidden on account of
expense, then the finest picture the house affords should hang there as
a sacred altarpiece, and on the mantel should be grouped the most
effective of the bric-a-bac.
In this grouping the tallest objects should be nearest the center, that
the composition may be pyramidal in effect, though, on the other hand,
care must be taken that the ascent from end to center is not regular
like a flight of stairs, but broken, by placing different forms, and not
similar ones, next each other. There may be placed a deep porcelain
vase, a burnished candlestick, a high jar or pitcher, a china or metal
plaque, a Japanese bowl, and a group of marble or a clock may stand
in the center. At the side may hang plaques, photographs darkly
framed, or pictures in deep velvet frames. Bronzes and porcelains
should not be arranged in the same group, nor china and marble be
placed too near together.
Everything around the grate should be kept free from dust, the
brasses highly polished, the hearth well swept up, and the fire at its
brightest and cheeriest, for nothing is more dismal than a cold, cheer-
less grate.
Page 156
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The best place to fix these hooks will be obvious to the workman. The rods are to support the curtains, and should be placed parallel, but one a little behind the other, to enable the curtains to overlap freely. Into the wall, about six feet from the floor, drive two very strong nails, and hang the wardrobe upon them by the two rings. Take chintz, cretonne, or any other material. Of this make a three-sided plain bag, one side (for the back of the wardrobe), three feet wide and six feet long, to reach the floor, the other sides each seventeen or eighteen inches wide, and six feet long (for the sides of the wardrobe). For the front have curtains, each six feet long, but wide, according to taste. These have rings at the top and run on the rods. For the top of the wardrobe take chintz, etc., three feet long and eighteen inches wide, with a deep frill round the edge for a finish, except at the back, which touches the wall. Fasten the back and side pieces of chintz to this (the other end of the chintz touches the floor). The front curtains of course are not attached to this top, as they have to draw. Slip it over the wooden thing, making two holes at the back, where the top and chintz back join, for the rings to slip through to hang on the nails on the wall, and your wardrobe is complete. For packing, take off the chintz cover and rods, take out the pegs and hooks, fold the wooden sides flat on the back fold the chintz and wrap all up. A slight board for the top, covered with chintz, adds much to the appearance of the wardrobe.
FIREPLACES AND GRATES.
The fireplace ought to be made the household altar, for here is where the family love to linger, around the social hearthstone. The fireplace should be the first object that the eye catches when one enters the room, and the one whereon it lingers longest. Nothing can be better than the arrangement, which constantly grows in favor, of continuing the lines of the chimney-piece into low, broad shelves above it, lined with looking-glass, if one pleases, and made the open cabinet for the prettiest trifles one possesses. If this is forbidden on account of expense, then the finest picture the house affords should hang there as a sacred altarpiece, and on the mantel should be grouped the most effective of the bric-a-bac.
In this grouping the tallest objects should be nearest the center, that the composition may be pyramidal in effect, though, on the other hand, care must be taken that the ascent from end to center is not regular like a flight of stairs, but broken, by placing different forms, and not similar ones, next each other. There may be placed a deep porcelain vase, a burnished candlestick, a high jar or pitcher, a china or metal plaque, a Japanese bowl, and a group of marble or a clock may stand in the center. At the side may hang plaques, photographs darkly framed, or pictures in deep velvet frames. Bronzes and porcelains should not be arranged in the same group, nor china and marble be placed too near together.
Everything around the grate should be kept free from dust, the brasses highly polished, the hearth well swept up, and the fire at its brightest and cheeriest, for nothing is more dismal than a cold, cheerless grate.