woman. A white walled room with white woodwork and a black and white
tiled floor; a black lacquer bed and chest of drawers and chair; glass
curtains of white muslin and inside ones of black and white Hoffman
chintz; a splash of warm orange-red in an oval rug at the bedside, if it
be winter, or a cool green one in summer--doesn't this tempt you?

I once saw a little serving-maid wearing a calico gown, black crosses on
a white ground, and I was so enchanted with the cool crispness of it
that I had a glazed wall paper made in the same design. I have used it
in bedrooms, and in bathrooms, always with admirable effect. One can
imagine a girl making a Pierrot and Pierrette room for herself, given
whitewashed walls, white woodwork, and white painted furniture. An
ordinary white cotton printed with large black polka dots would make
delightful curtains, chair-cushions, and so forth. The rug might be
woven of black and white rags, or might be one of those woven from the
old homespun coverlet patterns.

The landscape papers that were so popular in the New England and
Southern houses three generations ago were very wonderful when they were
used in hallways, with graceful stairs and white woodwork, but they were
distressing when used in living-rooms. It is all very well to cover the
walls of your hall with a hand-painted paper, or a landscape, or a
foliage paper, because you get only an impressionistic idea of a
hall--you don't loiter there. But papers of large design are out of
place in rooms where pictures and books are used. If there is anything
more dreadful than a busy "parlor" paper, with scrolls that tantalize or
flowers that demand to be counted, I have yet to encounter it.

Remember, above all things that your walls must be beautiful in
themselves. They must be plain and quiet, ready to receive sincere