Rearranging the Home for the Summer Months

 Now that the garden is planted, the next thing to do is to put your home in order, The garden has been ar ranged for the summer, and the home will have to be arranged also. No matter how immaculate the house- wife may be, the home needs cleaning in the spring. The furniture should be cleaned and polished .A good way to clean the furniture,is to wash it in lukewarm water and ivory soap and dry, then apply a good furniture polish. 

 It is surprising how you can improve the home by using a little and varnish . This is especially true with the porch. If a porch is a light color, it will be bright and cheerful all summer. The porch pictured here is enclosed with glass, and has French windows, the woodwork of which is enameled white. The floor has been covered with linoleum. There is a rug on the floor. but it is not essential when the linoleum is used. The cretonne drapes make the porch very beautiful and lend a bit of color making a very comfortable room. The cushions are of the same material as the drapes, and can be made by the housewife. This old wicker furniture is painted a very pretty shade of blue, but the different shades of furniture can be matched up with the cretonne. Old wicker furniture can be cleaned and covered with a coat of paint, and can be made to look like new.

The furniture pictured can be purchased at a very reasonable price.The cretonne cushions and drapes are the main attraction in this picture.

 This furniture with the cushions can be used on the open porch, but the drapes cannot be used.  

More attention is being paid to cretonnes this year than ever. Every year the patterns are prettier and the colors more vivid, in fact the home does not seem complete without the cretonne drapes. Silk drapes are not being used as much, they were a few months ago having taken its place because it brighter and looks cool and clean the summer months. Then it does not soil as easily as the silk on account of the texture of the material. 

Net curtains are being much used for  this spring, especially for French windows on which they are held in the top and bottom of the with rods. Plain and dotted net is used for this style. For the  ordinary window the curtains are of net, have a three inch ruffle on bottom, as many as six or eight ruffles being used. There are also ruffled drapes, these being made in ruffles, about twelve inches with the braid on each ruffle. The valance or top of drapes is plain. The ruffles extend entire length of the drapes.

The French window pictured here is very pretty and the curtains are of the plain net fastened at the top and bottom. The drapes are plain but are good taste and better style than those ruffled, because the ruffled drapes are only a novelty and will not stay in style as long as the plain. This same combination can be used on the ordinary window Then they will be shorter, about an inch above the window sill is a good length.

Novelty drapes for a child's room are made of pink and white checked gingham with white organdy covering, the organdy having a ruffle, and the gingham being plain. For bed-rooms the dresser scarfs, cushions, and bed-spreads are of the same ma terial as the drapes. The more novel the idea in making drapes, the better.

 In arranging the home this spring, it is nice to create an entirely new effect. By arranging the pictures and furniture differently, the whole room will look different, especially if there are new drapes and curtains. Mak ing drapes is a simple task, and they can be made by those having only a little experience in sewing. All drapes should be finished with braid, which comes to match the cretonne.

The Home Department will be pleased to answer questions regarding any particular part of arranging the home.  

AMERICAN COOPERATIVE JOURNAL MAY 1921