In no room of the well-planned home is there greater opportunity for good taste in woodwork than in the dining room. The room itself may be attractive before furniture or drapery or carpet has been put in place.
There must be, of course, a sideboard or buffet or perhaps a corner china closet or a pair of them, in which to keep the china and silver and linens. All of these may be had in Curtis built-in furniture of excellent design and proportions, decorative in themselves and as a display of handsome table-ware. They may be built into a recess, or set out into the room. They come in different woods, suitable for the finish that will best harmonize with your other woodwork or furniture. There is a wide variety of sizes and types.
“Built-in furniture is very good in a small room, because it takes and keeps its place as a part of the wall and increases the floor space. It is advantageous in a room of great size, because it then becomes of architectural importance, and may be of great decorative value in mass and color.”
—The Honest House
Curtis veneered doors have stiles and rails built-up as shown in the section above. “C” are blocks of California white pine which are tongued-and-grooved and glued together. They will not warp and they are light. “B” are strips of hardwood which form the edges of the stiles and rails and into which the molding is cut on Curtis ovolo-molded doors. “A” are strips of veneer which are secured to the white pine core by means of waterproof glue. Thus a door is produced with all the beauty of grain of hardwood, combined with the lightness, non-warping, non-checking characteristics of solid softwood doors.
A fireplace here is less essential than in the living room, but if you can include one, it contributes to the spirit of hospitality and cheerfulness which should characterize the room. Choose for it, from among the Curtis standard designs, a simpler mantel than that in the living room.
In a large room, beamed ceiling and wall paneling are impressive. In a dining room of any size, wainscoting is always appropriate and effective, and when you consider how easy it is to clean, and the fact that it never needs renewal, it is an economical wall treatment as well.
One of the important things about the background of the dining room—as of every other room in the house—is the choice of doors, windows and trim. These you must have, and on account of their number, they may do much to improve or to destroy the effect of the whole interior scheme. If you choose Curtis doors—whether they be veneered or solid, whether with raised panels or flat ones, whether with delicate moldings or of Puritanical simplicity—you will have doors of correct proportions and guaranteed construction. The same is true of Curtis windows and casements. The trim around windows and doors offers a splendid opportunity for a choice between molded or plainer Curtis patterns.
Above are shown the two different kinds and patterns of standard moldings on Curtis doors, the “ovolo” and the “flush”. The former is cut on the stile or rail; the latter is a separate piece that is applied, being nailed to a spline, not to the panel, with the result that when the panel shrinks the molding will not be pulled away from the stile or rail. Note the panel thicknesses, too. Solid raised panels are shown. In doors 1-3/4-inch thick these panels are 1-1/8-inch thick, while on 1-3/8-inch thick doors the solid raised panels are 9/16-inch thick. The same depth of “reveal” is therefore presented in every door. Solid flat panels in 1-3/4-inch doors are 7/16-inch thick; in 1-3/8-inch doors, 5/16-inch thick. Laminated or 3-ply panels are always 5/16-inch thick.