Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/210

 and taste made to harmonise so well that the same rooms were rendered quite unrecognisable as the bare unfurnished apartments of a few hours before. I am not writing theoretically only, but from real practical experience; every one of the ideas, suggestions, and arrangements given in this book has either been tried by myself or I have seen it tried, therefore they are all quite possible and not beyond the ingenuity of any tolerably handy lady. A few of them may need the stronger hand of a man to arrange— such as shelves and tables put up, carpentering done, and such like. There really is no reason why a lady should not be able to use a hammer as well as a man. If you can only get possession of the tools and a supply of nails you can be independent. A room that one furnishes and decorates entirely by one's own exertions is thought more of, I think.

Book Shelves and Writing Table. —Most bush houses are built with two rooms in the front, two at the back, and skillions behind again. We will take the sitting-room first, or rather drawing-room I suppose I should say. You have two French lights in that room; usually the space between can very well and advantageously be filled with book shelves. Get a man to make them if possible; if not set about it yourself. Get two pieces of board the height and width you want your shelves, shape each end so that it is thin enough to drive a nail through to fasten it to the wall; this you can do by drawing the shape with a pencil on your board and sawing along the line, or if you have not a fine saw your shelf will look just as well if you cut a square piece out at the top, just sufficient to allow your nail to reach the wall and hold the upright; then nail your shelves between the two upright pieces (of course both ends of the uprights, top and bottom, must be nailed). If a man makes your shelves he will cut grooves for the shelves, and doubtless it looks better to see them nicely fitted, but a woman is seldom a clever enough carpenter to manage this. If your shelves are placed high you can make a small writing table underneath them so: Get a board about 2ft. wide and nail two sloping pieces of wood under to hold it up. It is a rather difficult matter to explain without diagrams, but anyone setting about the matter will soon see how to make it secure. Having your shelves and writing table thus erected, you can ornament them in a number of ways—either paint your shelves or stain the wood with Judson's dye, or else work a border and fasten it along the edges of the shelves with small tacks. I have made a very effective border with ticking worked with wool in feather-stitch; a thick fringe of wool on each side this nailed along the edge looks very well. Another is a narrow scalloped border, the scallops worked in button hole stitch. The top of the table may be covered with green American cloth. Wet the table thoroughly before putting the cloth on or it will not lie smooth. When it is well stretched and tacked round the edge, then tack on the border, either turning a little piece in or finishing it with a cord. You can make a receptacle for needlework underneath by tacking a loose bag of chintz to the table under the border, having an opening in the centre; if well arranged this is often an improvement to the table, and if not required for holding needlework it is most useful for newspapers.

'''Drapery for a Mantelpiece or Bracket. '''—In many bush houses the mantelpiece is merely a broad shelf of