ables, and the large table in the center of the room. In this room I
have successfully exploded the old theory that all furniture in a well
planned room must be of the same kind! In this room there are several
Marlborough chairs, a davenport and a semi-circular fireside seat
upholstered in a soft green leather, several chairs covered in a chintz
of bird and blossom design, and other chairs covered with old English
needle-work. The effect is not discord, but harmony. Perhaps it is not
wise to advise the use of many colors and fabrics unless one has had
experience in the combining of many tones and hues, but if you are
careful to keep your walls and floors in subdued tones, you may have
great license in the selecting of hangings and chair coverings and
ornament.

I gave great attention to the details of this room. Under the simple
mantel shelf there is inset a small panel of blue and white Wedgwood. On
the mantel there are two jars of Chinese porcelain, and between them a
bronze jardiniere of the Adam period; four figures holding a shallow,
oblong tray, which is filled with flowers. The lamp on the center-table
is made of a hawthorn jar, with a flaring shade. There are many low
tables scattered through the room and beside every chair is a
reading-lamp easily adjusted to any angle. The fireplace fittings are
simple old brasses of the Colonial period. There is only one picture in
this room, and that is the portrait of a long gone lady, framed in a
carved gilt frame, and hung against the huge wall-mirror which is
opposite the fireplace end of the room.

I believe, given plenty of light and air, that comfortable chairs and
good tables go further toward making a living-room comfortable than
anything else. In the Harkness living-room you will see this theory
proven. There are chairs and tables of all sizes, from the great sofas
to the little footstools, from the huge Italian tables to the little
table especially made to hold a few flower pots. Wherever there is a
large table there is a long sofa or a few big chairs; wherever there is
a lone chair there is a small table to hold a reading-light, or flowers,
or what not. The great size of the room, the fine English ceiling of
modeled plaster, the generous fireplace with its paneled over-mantel,
the groups of windows, all these architectural details go far toward
making the room a success. The comfortable chairs and sofas and the ever
useful tables do the rest.

So many people a