Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial321dodg).pdf/81

1904.]

and seat is a useful piece of furniture in the bedroom. Two boxes purchased at a grocery-store can be made to serve the purpose, but to make a really strong affair the frame should be constructed of boards three quarters or seven eighths of an inch in thickness. A good size for the box is twenty-four inches high, fifteen deep, and sixteen wide; while the seal-box may be thirty inches long, and fifteen inches high and deep. These boxes are to be attached to each other with stout screws; and a back the length of the two boxes, having a rounded corner, is to be securely fastened to the rear of each box, as shown below in. In the shoe-box two shelves are screwed fast, and to the lower box a cover is arranged on hinges, so that it can be raised from the front. The back, seat, and top of the shoe-box can be covered with denim, under which a padding of hair or cotton will make a softer back and seat, The denim may be caught down, or “tufted,” with carriage-buttons, and string passed through holes made in the wood can he tied at the reverse side. Around the front and sides a valance of cretonne or denim may be gathered and hung from the top edge of the box and seat, fastened at the edge by gimp and tacks, Brass-beaded upholsterers’ nails driven at regular distances apart will present the best appearance. Where the valance at the edge of the shoe-box meets the seat, the fabric is to be divided, in order that it may be drawn to one side when taking out or replacing shoes, A coat of shellac or paint will cover the exposed parts of the woodwork not hidden by the upholstery goods.

article and one easily made is a shoe-blacking box, as shown on the next page. It is twenty-four inches high and eighteen inches square, and the compartment is four inches deep. Four sticks two inches square and twenty-four inches long will form the legs. Each one should be cut away at one end for a distance of five inches, as shown in, so that when the sideboards are fastened to them the joints will be flush, Two