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Color Used Cleverly

November 15, 1942
Detroit News Quilt History Project; Michigan State University Museum; Susan Salser
Detroit, Michigan, United States
An Interior Decoration Column
Color Used Cleverly
Kitchen Has Two Refridgerators


The drawing room has rose beige walls and woodwork with silk gauze glass curtains in the same tint. The floor covering is sage green carved carpeting and the over-draperies are of turquoise ground printed poplin.
The dado and woodwork of the dining room are French gray and the upper walls are treated with a gray ground paper having the Pagoda Lake design in green, rose, coral and tete de negre. The floor covering is green. The breakfast table in front of the picture window looks out upon lawn and garden to a depth of 300 feet.

The walls and woodwork of the master bedroom are Nattier blue and floor covering is blue ground floral carpeting. The glass curtains are shell pink gauze, and the over-draperies are of rose taffeta put up with swag and cascade valance of striped taffeta. Quilted rose satin is used for the upholstery of the bed head, bedspread and covering of slipper chair.

Candy pink and white striped wallpaper with a circus pattern border in pink, white and light blue is used in the room of Mary Frances, who is almost a whole year old. The woodwork is white, and the curtains are of white organdie having rose and blue embroidered design.
By Edith B. Crumb
Interior Decoration Editor
The Detroit News

The new residence of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew L. Malott, 18 Oxford Road, Grosse Pointe Shores, often referred to as the "brink of priority" house because it was completed just before priorites made it impossible to secure materials for non-defense homes, is an example of how beautiful a house may be when every detail has been carefully considered for convenience, comfort and charm.

On the first floor are a large center entrance hall with stair landing large enough to accommodate a breakfront cabinet and table desk with chair (these without crowding); drawing room, dining room, poweder room, butler's pantry and service dining room combined, and kitchen. On the second floor are master bedroom, bath for same; guest room with bath; baby's play room, nursery and bath, and two bedrooms and a bath in the service quarter. Added to all of these areas are storage spaces, closets, racks, cupboards and shelves that take care of all of those standard and miscellaneous articles and supplies that make for a smoothly running household.

Sage Green Carpet
The floor covering in the hall drawing room, dining room, library, stairs and second hall, is sage green carved carpeting. The walls of the hall are treated with lighter sage green ground paper having a floral and colonial scenic design in rose, white and deeper green.

The furnishings of the hall include a love seat with covering of satin with wide rose stripes and series of narrow rose and green stripes. Over this is a decorative cabinet containing Mrs. Mal Malott's collection of Chinese snuff bottles; a second grouping of a table-height breakfront bookcase over which is a Chippendale type gold framed mirror, and a pair of chairs with striped coverings complete the scheme.

Rose Beige Walls
Soft rose beige was selected for walls and woodwork of the drawing room, and the window treatment includes rose beige celanese taffeta traverse curtains over which there are draperies of turquoise ground printed floral poplin. These are put up with a pleated valance finished with scallopes edged in fringe. Against the north wall is a sofa covered in rose satin brocade, flanked by three-cornered tables holding handsome porcelain lamps. At each side of the front windows is a pier cabinet containing Mrs. Malott's collection of Royal Doulton figurines and throughout the room are conventional groupings, space being reserved for a card table in one corner and a spinet piano occuping the wall space at the east end of the room.

The woodwork and dado of the dining room are French gray and the upper walls are treated with a French gray ground paper having the Pagoda Lake design in green, rose coral and tete de negre.

Picture Window
At the rear of the dining room is a group of windows, the center one of which, a picture type, affords a view of the lawn and formal gardens which extend to a depth of 300 feet. Not all picture windows are justified but if this house had been planned without one in this space a great deal of charm would have been lost. The glass curtains in this room are of oyster white silk and the overdraperies are of coral satin installed with swag and cascade valances edged in green fringe. The furniture, which is mahogany showing the Eighteenth Century English influence in its design, includes large pedestal extension table, host and hostess chairs covered in oyster ground printed floral poplin with outside back and arms in coral satin to match draperies. The side chairs, which are Hepplewhite style, have seats covered in striped satin having colors which repeat those in the flowers of the upholstered chair. In front of the picture window is a breakfast table with oval top and pedestal base. The diners at this table have a view of Lake St. Clairt as well as the garden. Flanking the door in the center of the north wall are two chests of drawers with gold framed over-mirrors and on the wall opposite these is a handsome china cabinet with crown glass in the doors. Antique Sheffield silver services are used on the twin chests.
See CRUMB - Page 21
Crumb
(Concluded from Page 20)


The woodwork in the library is pickled pine and the walls are painted sage green. The glass curtains match those of the living room and the overdraperies are of coral nubby weave material. A large sofa covered in beige ground flowered tapestry, lounge chair and ottoman slip covered in striped cotton in which green perdominates, and chair and ottoman slip covered in coral self-pattern green coral cotton damask finished around the bottom with coral bulion fringe, complete the scheme of this room.

The floor covering of the kitchen, butler's pantry and service dining room is of blue marbleized linoleum with red feautre strip. The counters match the floor. The walls to within a few inches of the ceiling are of white tile, and the cupboard units are white metal. The ceiling and woodwork are white. The curtains are of white marquisette with red dots. In the kitchen is a double sink with disposal unit, and in the butler's pantry is double sink with dishwasher, and each room has a large refrigerator. The electric range has two large ovens and the top is tainless metal. Just to make certain that there will be sufficient oven space a portable electric cooker has been added. The furniture in the breakfast nook (at the end of butler's pantry) is in a bleached finish, the chair seats being covered in red leather to match the feature strip in the floor covering.

Damask Draperies
The stair landing window is treated with oyster white silk gauze glass curtains and overdraperies of rose satin damask. The break-front bookcase isof pickled pin and the table top desk is of bleached mahogany, the top being covered with green leather. The desk chair, which is Queen Anne style, is in a rose lacquer finish, the painted design on the splat being copied from the Chinese design in the rose damask which is used for the seat covering.

Nattier blue ground carpeting with flower and scroll design in soft rose, green and beige, is used. The walls and woodwork are finished in Nattier blue. At the windows are shell pink silk gauze glass curtains and rose taffeta overdraperies finished with swag of striped taffeta, bands of this material trimming the side and bottom of the draperies. The French provencial type furniture is of fruitwood in the natural finish. The twin beds have a single huge headboard upholstered in rose quilted satin. The spread and bolster are of the same quilted rose satin, a deep flounce of plain satin finishing the edge of the spread. A chaise lounge covered in blue and floral striped damask, slipper chair in rose quilted satin and blue ground brocade chair are included in this room. A natural fireplace, surrounded by ceiling-height mirror, is centered in the south wall.
Twin Cabinets
The bath which adjoins this room has Nattier blue tile lower walls and Nattier blue and white tile floor. The upper wals and ceiling are ivory matching the fixtures. The rug is ivory and the curtains are shell pink silk gauze trimmed with blue piping. What appears to be a large triple wall mirror is a pair of mirrored medicine cabinets flanking a center mirror. Huge twin closets open off from this bath, both equipped with two long clothes poles, cupboards and racks.

The guest room color scheme includes a rose beige carpet, rose beige ground wallpaper with floral stripes at corners, woodwork being in the same tinit, and repeated in the silk gauze glass curtains over which there are green moire draperies edged in rose fringe. The valance board is covered with the green moire and trimmed at the top with a pierced molding painted rose. The furniture is mahogany and the bedspread is of green moire.

The bath adjoining this room has green tile floor and lower walls and the upper walls and ceiling are soft rose beige. The woodwork is green. The window curtain is of rose beige silk gauze trimmed with green piping and the shower curtain is of rose beige ground flowered chintz.

Pink and white striped paper with a circus pattern border in pink, light blue and white is used for the wall treatment of the nursery. The woodwork is white and the floor covering is two-toned blue leaf pattern carpeting. The curtains are of white organdie with blue and pink embroidered floral design. The bassinet is white with white and rose draping, and the headboard of the single bed is upholstered with rose satin having blue bow-knot and plume embroidery. The spread matches the organdie curtains.

The play room has rose peach walls, white woodwork and ceiling, and a linoleum rug with nursery design in bright colors. The curtains are white.

The bath between the nursery and playroom has sun tan tile lower walls and floor, and the upper walls and ceiling are painted in the same tint. The woodwork is rose peach and this tint is repeated in the shower curtain.​

​Courtesy of The Detroit News Archives.

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