decorated with prim little garlands
of flowers painted in dull rose, blue, yellow and green.

The mauve chintz is used for the curtains, and for the huge armchair and
one or two painted chairs. There is a little footstool covered with
brocaded violet velvet, with just a thread of green showing on the
background. The lighting fixtures are of carved wood, painted in soft
colors to match the garlands on the furniture, with shirred shades of
lavender silk. Two lamps made of quaint old green jars with lavender
decorations have shirred shades of the same silk. One of these lamps is
used on the writing-table and the other on the little chest of drawers.

This little chest of drawers, by the way, is about the simplest piece of
furniture I can think of, for any girl who can use her brushes at all.
An ordinary chest of drawers should be given several coats of
paint--pale yellow, green or blue, as may be preferred. Then a thin
stripe of a darker tone should be painted on it. This should be outlined
in pencil and then painted with a deeper tone of green color; for
instance, an orange or brown stripe should be used on pale yellow, and
dark green or blue on the pale green.

A detail of the wall paper or the chintz design may be outlined on the
panels of the drawers and on the top of the chest by means of a stencil,
and then painted with rather soft colors. The top of the chest should be
covered with a piece of plate glass which will have the advantage of
showing the design of the cover and of being easily cleaned.
Old-fashioned glass knobs add interest to this piece of furniture. A
mirror with a gilt frame, or an unframed painting similar to the one
shown in the illustration would be very nice above the chest of drawers.

[Illustration: HERE ARE MANY LIGHTING FIXTURES HARMONIOUSLY ASSEMBLED
IN A DRAWING-ROOM]

VIII

THE PROBLEM OF ARTIFICIAL LIGHT

In all the equipment of the modern house, I think there is nothing more
difficult than the problem of artificial light. To have the light
properly distributed so that the rooms may be suffused with just the
proper glow, but never a glare; so that the base outlets for
reading-lamps shall be at convenient angles, so that the wall lights
shall be beautifully balanced,--all this means prodigious thought and
care before the actual placing of the lights is accomplished.

In domestic architecture light is usually provided for some special
function; to dress by, to read by, or to