Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2023 with funding trom Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/beautifulinterio0Ojenn itul a Interiors and how to achieve them IEDGAIR W. JIENNIE Published by 5. KARPEN & BROS: Designers and makers of furniture for hall, living room, library, and sun room; for hotels, clubs and theaters EXHIBIT ROOMS Chicago: 801-811 South Wabash Avenue New York: 37th Street and Broadway San Francisco: 180 New Montgomery St. FACTORIES Chicago + Long Island City + Michigan City, Ind. Los Angeles at Huntington Park, Cal. COPYRIGHT 1928—S. KARPEN & BROS. === THI NEW ART OF BEAUTIFUL INTERIORS ::- V The trend is definite and unmistakable. The love tor the beautiful, innate in every woman, is finding new expression in the home. Not before in all the world’s history has interest in interior decoration been so widespread. Not before have guests glanced about them so critically when visiting. Nor have the hostess and host been so conscious of the furnishings in their home. The new art of beautiful interiors is absorbing the attention of all who rent or own. Instead of a catch-all for outer garments, the reception hall is taking its proper place as a fitting introduction to the home. The gloomy parlor is becoming the living: room that is really livable and a true expression of its owner's taste and position. The bed-chamber that was a nonentity, today is being transformed into a room that is individually intimate and personal. In consequence, homes are happier, parties are gayer, and children are growing up in the helpful environment of harmony. So that all who, themselves, desire to decorate their homes may have a better knowledge of the new art of beautiful interiors, this little book has been written. No attempt has been made to cover the entire subject of decoration. That would be impossible within the limits of its pages. Nor does the author presume to set down infallible rules; for to every rule there are many exceptions. Rather, the purpose is to be helpful to the greatest number, to supply a plan that is understandable and workable, applicable to most homes, and practical for every income. J BS fo plan your wooms. Everything worth while must begin with a plan. Interior decoration is no exception. So, whether you intend to refurnish your home entirely or rearrange and add to your present furniture, first get a large sheet of paper, a pencil, and a ruler. Let’s start with the room that is the most difficult and most important, your living-room. The basic principles of its decoration may be applied to any other room in your home. Measure carefully its length and breadth and nooks and bays and draw a simple floor plan using a scale of one inch to the foot. Measure, too, the windows, doors, fireplace, and all wall spaces. Mark them in accurately with their dimensions. ix MYON TE FLOOR PLAN Ser Se MEASURE CAREFULLY ITS LENGTH AND BREADTH DRAW A SIMPLE FLOOR PLAN Alongside, write down the style of the interior architecture, whether it is ornately panelled in the French manner, has the arched doors and rough textured walls of Spain, has the simple maple or painted woodwork of Early American, has English wood-panelled walls, has characteristically Italian details, or is modern with no particular period emphasized. Write whether the ceiling is high or low, the room large or small. Next list the following words, leaving a blank space below each: Character, Period, Fabrics, Color, Furniture Selection, Arrangement. Have you done all this? Then we will proceed to determine just how these blank spaces should be filled out. Hetoumining Glee The first question to answer is: What is the predom- inant purpose of this room? Will it be used most frequently for quiet family evenings ina home where large Tue Georcian Room sy Epcar W. JENNEY A charming combination of library and living room, with shelves of books recessed in the walls, is here achieved for lovers of literature. For re- pose when reading, the comfort of English fur- niture is the happy choice; a Queen Anne wing chair, a Georgian coxwell, a Georgian desk with its companion chair of the same period, a Queen Anne tilt top table. The warm color scheme finds its inspiration in the draperies; the reds of the upholstery, the green of the painted walls which are panelled in the Georgian manner, and the tan and green of the Axminster rug. Illus- trating Karpen pieces: wing chair BI-967, Cox- well BI-968, desk chair BI-969. parties are not the rule? Then warm subdued colorings, informality, and comfort are main considerations. Will it sparkle with entertainment and youthful gatherings? Then lively colors, smaller chairs so that there may be space for more of them, and central groupings form the prescription. Perhaps yours is a book-loving family. Then a combined library and living-room will be the choice; and bookcases, easy reading chairs, and tables with lamps close by, must be considered in the planning. A musical family will most appreciate a more formal room arranged around the focal point, the piano. Or maybe you, as your husband’s partner, often help him entertain his business friends; and a masculine room may be desired with deep, roomy, man-sized pieces, smoking stands, and coffee tables. Only you can find the answer to this question. A moment's introspection will give it to you, and you can fill in the first space in your plan under the word “Character.” Choosing the Spero k The interior architecture may predetermine the period in which your living-room is to be decorated. You may now own furniture of a style that suits your purpose, which you will want to use asa basis. Room size and ceilings are influencing factors. But usually no other consideration ranks in importance with the room’s character which you have just decided. Quite naturally the tastes and tendencies of the times were expressed in the designing of each style of furniture. So in the living habits of the great periods we shall discover which one best suits the character of your room. Let us go back to the sixteenth century in Italy. Beauty had inspired the entire nation. Geniuses in every form of artistic ex: pression had scaled heights that for centuries the world would vainly try to achieve again. It was the Renaissance. Had we entered a palazzo Orathnat period, rooms of stately aspect, vast in size and high of ceiling, would greet our eyes. Tapestries, gold embroidered velvet banners, and rich damasks, would illumine the walls with color. The furniture, reflecting the art-wizardry of the age, would be massive, used sparsely, (for the Italians understood the value of blank spaces), and precisely arranged. We need look no further to realize that Italian Renaissance furniture—though modern adaptations are less massive—is for the room of classic formality and spacious dimensions. Kindred surroundings include walls of natural color with draperies and hangings echoing those we have seen in old Italy. A century passed and the Italian Renaissance had reached Spain, so thor- oughly influencing its furniture that the two periods may be happily blended into a single room. Still, the Moors have given Spanish Renaissance a style of its own, and its scale 28 eames Even tiny Spanish bungalows successfully employ its charm today, using wrought-iron fixtures on rough walls, shading the lamps with parchment, draping a brilliant shawl over the concrete mantel or on the piano, hanging the windows with damask. Just across the Pyrenees mountains, in the eighteenth century, was the pomp and splendor of the courts of France. The brilliancy of the royal fetes was borrowed, undimmed, by the furniture. Exquisite in ease, ornate and graceful in line, and of small proportions, it finds wide favor among the socially inclined of our times. It graces the large or small room, formally or informally arranged, with crystal festooned lamps on small tables, silken draperies on recessed windows, bric-a-brac on marble mantels, French prints on walls panelled with tinted mouldings, and damask or brocade window draperies. In the same century, a gracious Queen of goodly proportions had ascended the English throne, Queen Anne. The furniture that bears her name has also her charac- teristics. Its gracefully rounded contours and deep comfort invite one to relax and rest. The loungy Coxwell chair and the wing or fireside chair blend well with this period, as do many of the great Georgian masterpieces of cabinet art that closely followed: Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Adam, Sheraton. The livable room inspired by such furni- ture might have English print wall paper; hunting pictures; an Axminster or Wilton rug, perhaps; a tilt-top table. What was happening in America? From the simple Colonial life had come furniture in many woods, varying as widely in design as the European styles from which it was largely adapted. Of quaint and unaffected charm were its ladder-back and Windsor chairs (mostly of maple), and chintz-covered sofas. These suggest maple or painted woodwork, polka-dotted wallpaper, rag or hooked rugs, water bottle or oil bracket lamps, and draperies of cretonne or toile de Jouy. It is a coincidence, a natural one, that in the provinces of France, people living a similar life had created a similar furniture, French Provincial, which can be used with Early American. We come to today. Furniture designers, borrowing from the old masters, adapting, Tending toward the feminine in grace and refinement, Louis XV furniture is An informal room that borders on the masculine in character, furnished with XVIII admirably suited for such a room. Its exquisite line radiates the splendor of the century English pieces, distinguished for pleasing proportions and deep comfort. Plum French court life which influenced its designing. The color scheme is in Rey: and green in deep and light keys, are the major hues, while a daring use of blue in the lavenders and greens, contrasting with yellow that deepens to tan and then to brown. pillows and the colorful cretonne on the barrel chair avoid any danger of monotony. originating, are achieving a furniture that is being used with excellent effect by pro- fessional decorators. Its range is wide. There are luxurious over-stuffed pieces, graceful loveseats, many occasional chairs, pieces from which you may choose for a living- room of any character, should you not desire to adhere to a period. Then there is an entirely new furniture style that is free from all tradition, that expresses the spirit, the life, the widening art appreciation of today. It is known as Modern. Nor would this chapter be complete if our typical American furniture were omitted, handwoven fiber. Graceful, gay asa garden, yielding, light, informal, and decidedly inexpensive, it 4,,. ee ote ae entire color theme offers a happy suggestion for many a charming living-room. (See page 11) 28 & Tue Brug Room sy Epcar W. JENNEY Here are portrayed the fine fundamentals of suc- cessful living rooms. The interior architecture is Louis XV, so the period is matched in the furni- ture. The silk damask on the larger pieces sets the dominant color, vivid yet cool, for repetition in mouldings and draperies. For contrast, the occa- sional chair inspires the warm and subdued tones of the rug. Intimate grouping and luxurious com- fort lend the charm of friendliness to a style that is quite formal. Illustrating Karpen pieces: sofa BI-938, large chair BI-939, small chair BI-940, side table BI-941, small commode BI-942. Surely, one of these styles seems designed especially to match the character of your living-room, and you have now selected the one that you will write down on your list under the word “Period.” CC e e 5 absic Delechon: As closely related as the period and character of your room, are the period and the fabrics that are to clothe the upholstered pieces. There are three general classes: Printed: Chintz, linen, and cretonnes (the first often glazed), and printed silks. They are appropriate for Early American, French Provincial, and Handwoven Fiber pieces. Many mohairs and velours also have the patterns printed after they are woven. Pile Fabrics: Notably velour (French, for velvet); mohair (with a deeper pile); Jacquard velour (patterned in pile on a woven background); moquette (a worsted or cotton fabric) from England and Germany as well as the United States; and Frieze of mohair, ramie, or linen which has the pile or nap looped and. cut, to formed pattern. Plain mohairs have the pile all cut. These are favored fabrics for the larger pieces and for the backs and arms of chairs and sofas of any period save Early American and French pieces. Flat Fabrics, Woven without pile: Silk damask, brocade, tapestry, and brocatelle, lend themselves to French furniture and to the cushion covers and smaller pieces of the English school. Damask is often chosen also for Italian and Spanish sofas and chairs. Needlepoint tapestry, both in gros and petit point, Aubusson, Flanders, and hand-loom tapestries suit the finer occasional and formal chairs. Any rich piece is made more beautiful by the mellow tones of tapestry, and the trend is toward a wider use of this fabric. And silks and satins in plain tones, usually piped in contrasting color, are much in vogue on modern designs. You may prefer to withhold your decision on fabrics until you have seen them on the furniture and you have considered the next subject on your list. S Carmonizing color. Of what hue shall these fabrics be? You may have a per’ sonal preference for the color that is to predominate. 10 If you have decided on the quiet, comfortable character of room, your inclina- tion will probably tend toward tones that are subdued and warm. Light, vivacious colors ‘are suggested by French furniture. The man’s room calls for darker shades. The Early American scheme invites gay patterns. And for Spanish and Italian furniture there are deep reds, dark greens, metallic blues, golden tans, and leather. Whatever the major color may be, it should never be used to the point of monotony. However lovely the hue, its over-use 1s certain to be tiring. There must be relieving accents of contrasting yet harmonizing color in the occasional chairs, pil- lows, lamps, and vases. Cool blues and apple greens need warm contrasts. Dark colors should be enlivened with vivid tones. And vice versa. Often a piece of figured fabric will give you the entire color scheme. You may discover it in your draperies, on the tops of the cushions of your sofa, or in a piece which you may not even intend to use. | For example, what a lovely room the ratine tapestry, shown on page 8, could inspire Tis deepest shade of brown suggests a coffee chenille rug. The tan could be carried out in the mohair of a sofa. The parchment background sets the tone for the walls. Draperies, as cheery as the sunshine which streams through them, are invited by the golden yellow. Two attractive small chairs could be upholstered in the rose. Pillows of rose and gold would form splendid accents. And there is a spot of cold blue to be echoed in a pair of vases or, perhaps, in the shade of a lamp, or in its ceramic base. There are so many fabrics available that you are certain to find one into which has been woven your cherished color scheme, a pattern for you to follow in filling oo Dee ini cna linnen i tenn ere out the space in your plan below “Color.” Heciding on fuzniture. Each step brings us nearer to the realization of your room. We now go to a furniture store, not to buy, not even to make definite decisions, but only for ideas. Be sure to take with you your plan and, if you intend to use some of your present furniture, an accurate description of it. DECIDING ON FURNITURE 11 Tue EncuisHh Hatt sy Epcar W. JENNEY The hallway introduces the home and should emulate a personal introduction. A nice formal- ity is here accomplished by the balanced placing of the Charles II high back chairs. A cordial smile and warmth is supplied by the color scheme. Its motif was found in a tapestry; the blues for the chair coverings, the reds for draperies and bench, the quieter tones of the rug. From an earlier period than the furniture comes the wall panelling in fumed oak that proudly carries, above the Gothic door, carved heraldic emblems from the days when England’s knighthood was in flower. Illustrating Karpen pieces: high back chairs BI-964, bench BI-965, tapestry BI-966. i = ae oe AN INTERIOR IN THE MopERN Manner By EpGar W. JENNEY Free from tradition, as new as today, this music room presents the Modern Mode in decoration. Every exquisite detail reflects the design and fabric of the furniture (prize winner in a national Kar- pen competition for original’ designs). The two contrasting chair coverings have a common color note of burnt orange which the mesh window cur- 1) tains echo. The green is repeated in the screen and vases; the red stripe is carried out in the chandelier tassels, the tables, and the curtain-edging. The rug combines the entire color scheme. Illustrating Karpen pieces: sofa BI-943, matching arm chair BI-944, odd arm chair BI-945, side chair BI-9 46, ottoman BI-947, tables BI-948, low table BI-949. Explain the purpose of your visit to the dealer. You will find him anxious and able to co-operate with you. Perhaps he has an interior decorating department which will be glad to serve you. | He will show you pieces that accord with your “plan room”. Let its character, period, and color scheme, guide your choices; but not so rigidly that your room will lack individuality. Heed your preferences too. Your own tastes must be a governing factor if your room is to express your personality. Measure those pieces that interest you most, width and length, and jot down this information carefully, for you will need it later in making sure that the proportions are right for the size of your room and for the spaces in which the furniture is to be placed. The dealer will probably lend you for a day, if you ask him, his Karpen cata- logue that shows furniture of every period and kind, with dimensions noted beneath each piece. Take it with you. It will prove invaluable in completing your plan. Cluranging the xoom. Your preliminary ideas on furnishing formulated, cut out small pieces of paper representing the length and breadth of each piece of furniture which you intend to use, old or new. Be sure that their sizes are accurately meas ured on the same scale as your floor plan, one inch to the foot. Place this “furniture” on your plan and move it about in different arrangements and groupings until the most pleasing effect is obtained. Arrange the main pieces first; the piano, sofa, any large chairs or tables, bearing in mind that the room should be built around what a professional decorator terms the main pivot. Such a center of interest is naturally formed by a fireplace. The sofa may be placed at right angles to one of its sides or directly opposite. Lacking a natural pivot, one can be created by centering a sofa on a wall, with a tapestry, large picture, or a pair of smaller pictures above it. Only in rare, very rare, instances is it tasteful to turn the sofa diagonally. Whatever its place, be sure that it parallels one of the walls. Now arrange the smaller pieces about this pivot to form your main or conver- sational grouping. They should be near enough together and faced so that their 14 occupants may converse without the need for talking loud or turning. The necessity for balance, too, should be considered. Informal balance requires only that the pieces on either side of the center of interest, as well as on the opposite sides of the room, should give the effect of equal weight. For example, a large chair, a small one, and a side table may be grouped to balance a sofa on the other side. Formal balance requires the centering of the main objects in the wall spaces, the opposing of “like against like” on either side of fireplace, window, doors, or sofas—matched pairs of chairs and cabinets, and companion pictures of the same size and character. There may be a space in your room for auxiliary groupings. A desk, chair, and wastebasket, might form a detached writing group. A reading group might be ar- ranged near a window, with a chair or two, a reading table and lamp. TRIANGULAR TABLE WITH ROUNDED LEAVES SJ FLOOR LAMP A LONG NARROW ROOM CAN BE HANDLED IN TWO GROUPINGS INTERESTING ARRANGEMENT AVOIDS A “RINGSIDE”’ EFFECT MUSIC 3 CABINET gO NSOner ne WITH MIRROR USING THE FIREPLACE AS THE CENTER OF INTEREST A SEMI-FORMAL ROOM BALANCING “‘LIKE AGAINST LIKE” 15 A long narrow room often can be handled most effectively in two main groupings. A sofa with a table may be placed in the center, facing one end. This half may be treated as a conversational grouping and the other as a music-room or library. Care, however, should be taken that both halves harmonize in design and color. In a small room, furniture should not be placed out toward the center. It is equally essential to avoid the “ringside” effect of furniture placed stiffly around the walls. Small wall groupings answer the problem of securing a spacious effect without Inthe draperies of hand-blocked linen, this color scheme was found; the brown of the Little wonder that apple green is becoming so popular for walls. It is one of the carpet, the green of the sofa and small rug, the accents of burnt orange in pillow and most restful and pleasing of shades. Rose complements it beautifully and tan and shade. The pattern on the coxwell chair echoes thesc colors while its dark background old blue appearing in the occasional chairs and lamp form charming accents. Notice supplies the pleasing contrast that enhances all the hues. how the rug echoes this entire color motif in darker tones. monotony. Two chairs facing slightly toward a small table, one end of which is against the wall, suggest one pleasing variation. It is well to pause here and consider: Have you enough chairs to conform to the latest dictate in decoration? The mode of the modern interior requires a variety of occasional chairs. Though their period should be related, they need not precisely match the larger pieces. And there should be a sufficient number to avoid the embar- rassment of bringing in chairs from the dining-room when guests arrive. Ask yourself too: Are the pieces in proportion to the room? A small room needs small furniture. High ceilings allow the use of high-back chairs, tall secretaries, and cabinets. Low ceilings demand the opposite. This is the time to correct mistakes, now while your “plan room” may be easily 16 A ProvinciAt Bouporr By Epcar W. JENNEY For such a room, intimate and feminine, a dainty color scheme of rose and pale green is chosen, with relieving gray on the painted walls and green blue on the ruffles of the hangings. The French Provin- cial furniture suggests the toile de Jowy of day bed and dressing table hangings as well as its papered wall panel. Green chintz covers the arm chair and bench, while the canopy and draperies are of taf- feta. A small hook rug forms a nice accent on the larger rug which weaves together the room’s color motif. The cost of reproducing this Provincial boudoir is most moderate; the furniture, quite inexpensive. Illustrating Karpen pieces; day bed BI-970, arm chair BI-971, bench BI-972. 17 Stalian sndissnace (Classic in carving and formal in aspect) Spanish (Adapted from the Italian Renaissance and influenced by the Moors) (Echoing the splendor of gay French court life) Suis XIV (Richly formal) ans CV (Simpler lines, a natural reaction from Louis XV extravagance) Charles I (The most formal and elaborate of English styles) l le KS D\ Ac] KYA Ufa) a Typical spiral carved Contour and carving Classic carved ornament legs and stretcher of table pedestal used frequently Spanish origination; the chest on elaborate pedestal Spreading legs and wrought iron under-braces Typical underframing and use of fringe a os) Oo o & Bs Louis XV cabriole leg with “peg” foot Open and upholstered Louis XV arms Typical contour and carving of Louis XV chair back The usual Louis XVI back and arm Round leg, tapered and fluted, a distinguishing characteristic One type of arm and leg, echoing Louis XV influence Ne Typical carved underframing Another characteristic leg The sofa back is often divided and square foot terminates in scroll foot into two or three sections 18 Square chair back richly upholstered; usually brass studded High back chair with characteristic arm The heavier and more formal Louis XIV style Console with fluted legs and stretcher Distinguishing carving fre- quently crowns the chair back Queen Qnne (The graceful English style that gave comfort to furniture) Chippendale (English with Chinese influence) Hepplowhite (A contemporary English design) < i vialon (A restrained English style) Clare (English with classic Roman influence) ee eee Saily Clavciiccn (The simple style of our forefathers) chair carved splat aN: ie wenehe Gf nO Sarin é (Framed in light colored woods and covered in small patterned cretonnes or chintzes) if Typical ornament and cabriole leg with pad foot i Typical Chippendale claw and ball foot The square tapered leg, with recessed panel, of Sheraton Typical American Windsor Typical open arm chair with modified cabriole leg A plainer cabriole leg, equally typical A characteristic arm of upholstered pieces The straight square leg is also Chippendale Inlaid panels often crown the lattice backs of Sheraton chairs Another Windsor with Another characteristic style Y. of framing with round foot 1) Fluted leg and typical arm of Hepplewhite The double leg and curved arm riser typical of Adam The ladder-back chair, usually of maple “The closed-arm wing or fireside chair with fluted leg A tilt top table of the period The shield chair back is charac- teristic of Hepplewhite The characteristic Roman vase and garland of Adam ornament Cretonne covered overstuffed pieces blend with the period The most usual leg and stretcher of the period changed and not later when your choices for the actual room will be difficult to retract. Finally, when every consideration has been carefully weighed, when your paper furniture is in place and pasted down, it is time to bring your plans into reality. Oke most important choice of all. Many lessons have been learned in our plan- ning, and the most important of all is this: the essence of successful decoration is furniture. Character, period, fabrics, colors, arrangement, every principle of the beautiful interior is dependent upon the furniture. Its choice is the most important decision that you have to make. After all your careful planning, there must be no misstep now. But how may you be sure of the authenticity of the design? How can you be certain of the fidelity of the fabrics? How can you look beneath the surface beauty and discover within that intrinsic worth, that honest construction so essential if the charm of your room is not soon to fade, if its comfort is not soon to disappear? You need not guess in these vital matters. You do not have to gamble. You can know beyond the slightest shadow of question or doubt. There is a furniture nameplate that is as significant today as the mark of Shera- ton was in an age gone by. For nearly a half century, this mark has been a guide for con- noisseurs of beauty and judges of value. It is the Karpen nameplate. Find it on the underframe of every piece of upholstered furniture that you buy. Whatever the price you have in mind, regardless of the character of room which you have decided upon, there are the perfect pieces in the wide range of Karpen styles to make your “plan room” come true. * * * When you have faithfully followed all the suggestions in this little book, and at last your room is done, you can say, with pride in the saying, “I have achieved a truly beautiful interior.” THE KARPEN NAMEPLATE MARKS FUUSREN Ue UiRIE, OF INTRINSIC WORTH No. 103 Louis XV No. 101 Georgian No. 110 Louis XV No. 116 Coxwell No. 114 Louis XV Motif No. 115 Ottoman 21 No. 117 Modern No. 118 Modern No. 119 Modern No. 120 Modified Modern No. 121 Louis XVI No. 126 Chippendale Motif Yo. 124 Modified Modern No. 125 Louis XV No. 127 Chippendale Motif No. 128 Modern No. 130 Spanish No. 133 Spanish . 131 Spanish 22 No. 134 Decorated Provincial No. 139 Barrel Chai No. 141 American Ladder-back No. 143 Chippendale No. 145 Fireside Wing No. 148 French Provincial No. 146 Queen Anne tod, f us } 4 eA, en am REUTER OED AOE SRE