COTTAGE OR PROVINCIAL TYPES 99
USE OF COTTAGE FURNISHINGS

Most Americans like informality and unpretentiousness; there-
fore they enjoy these qualities in home furnishings. Cottage fur-
nishings are usually familiar in style and are regarded as a safe
investment, not as a passing fashion. Furthermore they are ob-
tainable in a wide range of prices, including some quite low.

Farm houses or ranch houses of the usual type are suitable back-
grounds for cottage furniture. The simplicity and strength of this
type of furniture are in accord with the purpose and character of a
farm home. Cottage furniture is consistent, too, with sturdy home-
made articles often necessary in a farm house. Weekend houses,
mountain lodges, or other rustic houses usually require cottage
furniture or carpenter-made furniture in keeping with the archi-
tecture.

Small houses, in town or country, normally call for cottage fur-
niture. An unpretentious house implies the use of unpretentious
furnishings. A Cape Cod house naturally indicates Early Ameri-
can furniture with additions in similar character if desired. Small
apartments too are often furnished with cottage-type furniture.
Some walls, such as knotty pine, suggest cottage furniture just as
apartments with a dignified period background call for elegant
period furniture.

A successful cottage interior requires the clearcut organization
of all the art elements. It needs particularly a strong central color
to unify it. Textures may be rough and bold, but textural unity
must be secured. Variety in 'form is desirable, such as Windsor
chairs with a trestle table. Adherence to consistent scale is neces-
sary too. Pattern interest is provided by flowery peasant motifs.
See page 59. The total result in a cottage room should be a posi-
tive statement, for uncertainty or scattered effort undermine it.
Simplicity is the keynote of cottage furnishings.

Amateurs can go far astray in the use of peasant or primitive
furnishings since they are Kkely to be most interested in the quaint
elements that are involved. Placing a spinning wheel, a cobbler's
bench, or an old kitchen kettle in a present-day living room makes
the place seem like a stage setting or a museum instead of a home.
Plain common sense is an excellent guide in the selection of cottage
or primitive furnishings.