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Cheerful Tartan

C

261-5230

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32445 Schoolcraft
Livonia, Michigan 48150

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olorful tartan plaid is appear-
ing with greater frequency in
home furnishings. The cheer-
ful woven patterns, in which
stripes of different colors and widths
are arranged at right angles to one
another, are showing up in upholstery
fabrics used for throws, sofa and chair
covers, pillow and wall coverings, and
as sheets and tableware.
New York designer Ronald Bricke
says if you're planning a plaid room,
don't do the obvious. Instead, "do the
extreme. Plaid can be used in strong
contrasts — for example, a Black
Watch plaid with deep green satin."
For a "feminine" room, imagine
clear pastel color walls, floral sofa, plaid
open-arm chairs, muslin or organdy
curtains. Tartans work well in city or
country homes, depending on texture.
The heavy weave and dullness of wool
plaid suggests country rooms. Tartan
in taffeta has a citified shine. For a room
that conveys a masculine image, use
a big, boldly colored plaid.
Originally, the word "tartan" meant
the design of the fabric, and a "plaid"
was the tartan cloak that was part of
traditional Scottish dress.
Ascribing a specific tartan to a cer-
tain clan was begun in the early 18th
century by a group of Scots living in
London, who wrote to clan chiefs in
Scotland and asked them to select a
specific tartan as their own. Before
then, no clan was identified by a single
tartan. Li