In fact, our manufacturers have anticipated our needs and wishes and it is a simple matter for women to find the right rods and hang their curtains themselves. Curtains, especially short ones are exceedingly easy to make.
Your selection of fabrics for the dining room depends, naturally, on the type of your room. The best materials for draperies in the majority of house are chintz, cretonne, crash and rep. for glass curtains, organdy, net, marquisette, sheer rayon and cottons are good. In formal rooms more formal fabrics, such as damask, silk or silk and cottons are naturally the choice. In the informal room, design as well as fabric plays a part. Many a chintz is formal, while another pattern would be definitely informal. The choice is yours. Today, good wearing qualities are to be found in permanent finish nets and in washable sunfast, colored or gray patterned cottons as well as cotton and rayon fabrics. If a room gets hard use, shop fro the sunfast washable materials. There is no rule you must follow in choosing fabrics except in period rooms, where type should be followed. Contemporary decorators, however, achieve delightful effects with chintz, rough woven rugs and striped satin chair covers making certain only that the colors blend. Texture frequently sets the tone of a room. Generally speaking rough fabrics fit into an informal room, while smooth fabrics, such as satins and damasks, belong in a formal room.
Have a screen in the dining room to hide the door to the kitchen or pantry, unless the room is very small. There are small three panel screens that you may find useful. Many women do not realize how decorative these screens are. In a room with plain walls, a screen covered with gay, colorful wallpaper, which you yourself can apply will do a lot for your room.
