horizontally?

If the room be small and not high, or the wall be much broken by
pictures and tall pieces of furniture, I would not divide it
horizontally. One pattern of paper, or whatever it may be, or one
tint may serve us, unless we have in hand an elaborate and
architectural scheme of decoration, as in a makeshift house is not
like to be the case; but if it be a good-sized room, and the wall be
not much broken up, some horizontal division is good, even if the
room be not very high.

How are we to divide it then? I need scarcely say not into two
equal parts; no one out of the island of Laputa could do that. For
the rest, unless again we have a very elaborate scheme of
decoration, I think dividing it once, making it into two spaces is
enough. Now there are practically two ways of doing that: you may
either have a narrow frieze below the cornice, and hang the wall
thence to the floor, or you may have a moderate dado, say 4 feet 6
inches high, and hang the wall from the cornice to the top of the
dado. Either way is good according to circumstances; the first with
the tall hanging and the narrow frieze is fittest if your wall is to
be covered with stuffs, tapestry, or panelling, in which case making
the frieze a piece of delicate painting is desirable in default of
such plaster-work as I have spoken of above; or even if the
proportions of the room very much cry out for it, you may, in
default of hand-painting, use a strip of printed paper, though this,
I must say, is a makeshift of makeshifts. The division into dado,
and wall hung from thence to the cornice, is fittest for a wall
which is to be covered with painted decoration, or its makeshift,
paper-hangings. As to these, I would earnestly dissuade you from