Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/183

 i6i WOMAN'S HOMK beautiful in a grey room, yellow shades in a green room. Red shades should be used in a dark room with pannelled walls, or dark red or brown paper. Anyone who wants a " pink " room or a " yellow " room will find that a much prettier effect can be got by having white or cream walls, and pink or yellow shades, rather than by decorating the walls with coloured paper. Coloured Bulbs Artistic effects can be obtained by the use of coloured glass bulbs, such as are used in exhibitions and open-air decorations. Thi? An effective wall'bracket, with porcelain candles, that can be fitted for electric or.incandescent g&s light is quite a new idea in house-lighting. Most people buy the ordinary white bulbs and cover them with Uttle silk bags, or surround them with silken flower-petals. If a deep pink bulb be chosen and partly covered with a pink silk petal shade, the light looks exactly like a big glowing rose. A deep yellow bulb may be shaded with green silk petals, giving the effect of a large glowing buttercup. Electric "Candles" Devotees of the " good old days " say there is " nothing like candle-light." But. however beautiful and mellow this light may be, it is hardly practical for modern use. The same effect, however, can be obtained from gas or electricity. Porcelain candles can be fitted with very small incandes- cent mantles or electric bulbs, and, when the direct rays are broken by shades of beads or silk, the effect is as soft and pretty as that of candles or oil-lamps. Owners of old-world houses should re- member this when planning their lighting, for the charm of old-fashioned rooms in the evening depends upon the use of the quaint pendants and sconces which harmonise with and are part of the decorations. Queer old lamps and antique candelabra, handsome Sheffield plate and valuable lustre candle- sticks, or any other kind of fitting, can now be used with gas or electric light. Old Sheffield plate candlesticks fitted in this way form the ideal method of lighting a dining-room. Hanging: Liglits In the Dining Room If a hanging light is used over a dining- table, the top of the fitting should be covered in, so that the light is thrown on the table and reflected back from the linen and silver or the polished wood of the bare table. Great care should be taken that this light is pulled down low enough to prevent any of the rays striking directly into the eyes of those sitting at the table. Small electric-light bulbs can be introduced among the dinner-table decorations, and produce most charming results. A bank of moss in the centre of a table becomes a mass of delicate green and gold light if hidden among it are a few electric bulbs. There are two or three ways of fixing up the electric light on a dinner-table. The easiest is to use ordinary table-lamps with long wires and attach them to a plug. Another way is for the table-lamp to be connected to the fitting which hangs from the ceiling. Still another way is to have an electric plug in the floor under the dining-table, and connect this by wire with an electric plate Porcelain candles can be tiued with tiny incandescent mantles or electric bulbs, and when the direct rays are broken by shades of beads or silk the effect is soft and pretty or cloth, which is placed underneath the damask cloth. The electric fittings, lamps, candlesticks, or candelabra have two little pins underneath, and when the fittings are placed on the table, their pins connect them up with the electric plate or cloth. A small hole has to be cut in the carpet, and is generally edged with a brass ring to form an eyelet-hole round the floor- plug. Illustrations are kindly lent by Best and Lloyd, of Birmingham and London. To be continued