things, but quite good enough to get along without pictures if
necessary. A wall that is broken into beautiful spaces and covered with
a soft creamy paint, or paper, or grasscloth, is good enough for any
room. It may be broken with lighting fixtures, and it is finished.

[Illustration: THE SCHEME OF THIS ROOM GREW FROM THE JARS ON THE
MANTEL]




VI

THE EFFECTIVE USE OF COLOR


What a joyous thing is color! How influenced we all are by it, even if
we are unconscious of how our sense of restfulness has been brought
about. Certain colors are antagonistic to each of us, and I think we
should try to learn just what colors are most sympathetic to our own
individual emotions, and then make the best of them.

If you are inclined to a hasty temper, for instance, you should not live
in a room in which the prevailing note is red. On the other hand, a
timid, delicate nature could often gain courage and poise by living in
surroundings of rich red tones, the tones of the old Italian damasks in
which the primitive colors of the Middle Ages have been handed down to
us. No half shades, no blending of tender tones are needed in an age of
iron nerves. People worked hard, and they got downright blues and reds
and greens--primitive colors, all. Nowadays, we must consider the effect