The Lounge was a very interesting room to decorate. I have tried to give it a "thirties feel" by the dark coloured paintwork, wallpaper and carpet. Poor ceiling lighting is supplemented by a standard lamp. The focal point of the room is the fireplace with the settee and chairs pulled up close. We forget today how inefficient open fires could be when they were the only source of heating in a room. As well as the cold, rooms would often be dirty with a puff of smoke emanating from the fireplace everytime anyone opened or closed the door!
Entertainment is provded by the massively constructed radiogram which has a selection of 78rpm shellac records on the top. Few houses had a television when the BBC started broadcasting regularly at the start of 1936 so radio was very important as was, of course, making one's own entertainment. The treadle sewing machine is in use whilst a game of Solitaire is in progress on the card table. Reading material is all around with the latest movie and fashion magazines as well as the books in the wall-mounted bookcase. The newspaper on the settee has headlines about the 1936 Abdication crisis.
The settee and chairs have antimacassars, very necessary for protecting them from the Brylcreemed male heads of the time. The mirror over the firepace is made from mirror card and an old chain from a pendant. A photograph of an actual 1930's mirror was scaled down to 1/12th scale and used as a template for the shape.
"All The Things You Are"
© Copyright My Dolls House 2003
