there the similarity ends. Miss
Marbury's color plan is different: her walls are a soft gray, the floor
is covered in a solid blue carpet rug, rather dark in tone, the chintz
also has a black ground, but the pattern is entirely different in
character from the room below. There is a day bed, similar to mine, but
where my bed has been upholstered with brocade, Miss Marbury's has a
loose slip cover of black chintz. The spaces between the windows in my
room are filled with bookshelves, and in Miss Marbury's room the same
spaces are filled with mirrors. The large wall-space that is background
to my old secretary is in her room given up to long open bookshelves of
mahogany. My over-mantel is mirrored, and hers is filled with an old
painting. The recessed spaces on each side of the chimney breast hold
small semi-circular tables of marquetry, with a pair of long Adam
mirrors hanging above them. Another Adam mirror hangs above the
bookshelves on the opposite wall. These mirrors are really the most
important things in the room, because the moldings and lighting-fixtures
and picture frames have been made to harmonize with them.

The lighting-fixtures are of wood carved in the Adam manner and painted
dark blue and gold. The writing-table has been placed squarely in front
of the center window, in which are hung Miss Marbury's bird cages. There
are a number of old French prints on the wall. The whole room is quieter
in tone than my room, which may be because her chosen color is old-blue,
and mine rose-red.

In a small house where only one woman's tastes have to be considered, a
small downstairs sitting-room may take the place of the more personal
boudoir, but where there are a number of people in the household a room
connecting with the bedroom of the house mistress is more fortunate.
Here she can be as independent as she pleases of the family and the
guests who come and go through the other living-rooms of the house.
Here she can have her counsels with her children, or her tradespeople,
or her employees, without the distractions of chance interruptions, for
this one room should have doors that open _and_ close, doors that are
not to be approached without invitation. The room may be as austere and
business-like as a down-town office, or it may be a nest of comfort and
luxury primarily planned for relaxation, but it must be so placed that
it is a little apart from the noise and flurry of the rest of the house
or it has no real reason