DECORATING ADVICE : Wallpaper That Will Cut a Vine Figure
Question: I recently purchased a Victorian home. The living and dining rooms have large windows with decorative cornices. The draperies that are hung from the cornices have a very formal design, and the wallpaper has the same design. The floors are made of the original parquet wood. What style of furniture would be best for this setting? What colors would you choose for the area rugs and upholstery?
Ruth Seward
Answer: Consider a coordinating drapery and wallpaper pattern of leaves and vines and birds on a light-green background. The vine-like pattern is both formal and friendly, and it provides a handsome backdrop for your traditional Victorian furnishings. On your parquet floor, lay a handsome Oriental rug or an area rug of light green with a melon border. For upholstery, pick a damask that is striped in melon, soft green and yellow on a light-blue background.
Q: The walls in my living room are primary yellow, and the carpeting is off-white with a red trellis pattern. I have a white sofa with pillows covered in a patchwork design. I’d appreciate suggestions for the window treatment.
Barry Johnson
A: Purchase some white-linen draperies trimmed with a bright-yellow braid, and hang them from white rings and a white lacquered wooden pole. You also might want to skirt a table with the same white linen fabric, trimming the bottom with the yellow braid.
Q: I want a new color scheme for fall. What would you suggest?
Nealie Ranche
A: Think green when you are decorating a room in your home this fall. I’ve just returned from Ireland, and green is on my mind. The hillsides were filled with Irish greenery and rich Irish flowers--roses, dahlias, sweet peas, were all in bloom. I love to set beautiful color against rich green.
If you are planning a new decor for your living room, consider rich forest-green walls with white trim. You might hang a wallpaper border around your room, too--one that features green leaves on a cream and white background.
For carpeting, choose a creamy beige Berber wall-to-wall rug. The club chairs and the draperies can be treated with a floral print of red and yellow with soft-green leaves on a cream background. For the sofa, choose a handsome dark-green damask pattern. Occasional chairs can be covered in a softer green than the walls; consider celadon, rust or even a turquoise green.
The many shades of green range from the ever-popular hunter to Kelly to emerald to chartreuse. Sage, olive and mint green are also favorites, as is lettuce green, which is a popular color in the waterfront homes of Southampton, N.Y. The lettuce-green walls are framed with white trim and accented with sofas covered in shocking pink and club chairs covered in a print of pink, yellow and lavender on a white background.
The Southampton folk love wicker furniture, particularly if it is Victorian in style. They also favor lampshades made of flower patterns, floors that have stenciled borders, and lush ferns in white-wicker standing urns at the windows.
Green is a color that can be readily used in every room of the house, from the living room to the master bedroom. But the library is where it really sings--particularly if it is used with walnut or mahogany cabinets and with plaid carpeting or Oriental rugs. Leather sofas, brass lamps and a brass picture light or two complete the look.
