nne; the beautiful chintzes as we know them were
unknown. Now there are literally thousands of these excellent fabrics of
old and new designs in the shops. The gay designs of the printed cottons
that came to us from East India, a hundred years ago, and the fantastic
chintzes known as Chinese Chippendale, that were in vogue when the Dutch
East India Company supplied the world with its china and fabrics; the
dainty French _toiles de Jouy_ that are reminiscent of Marie Antoinette
and her bewitching apartments, and the printed linens of old England and
later ones of the England of William Morris, all these are at our
service. There are charming cottons to be had at as little as twenty
cents a yard, printed from old patterns. There are linens hand-printed
from old blocks that rival cut velvet in their lustrous color effect and
cost almost as much. There are amazing fabrics that seem to have come
from the land of the Arabian nights--they really come from Austria and
are dubbed "Futurist" and "Cubist" and such. Some of them are inspiring,
some of them are horrifying, but all of them are interesting. Old-time
chintzes were usually very narrow, and light in ground, but the modern
chintz is forty or fifty inches wide, with a ground of neutral tone that
gives it distinction, and defies dust.

When I began my work as a decorator of houses, my friends, astonished
and just a little amused at my persistent use of chintz, called me the
"Chintz decorator." The title pleased me, even though it was bestowed in
fun, for my theory has always been that chintz, when properly used, is
the most decorative and satisfactory of all fabrics. At first people
objected to my bringing chintz into their houses because they had an
idea it was poor and mean, and rather a doubtful expedient. On the
contrary, I feel that it is infinitely, better to use good chintzes than
inferior silks and damasks, just as simple engravings and prints are
preferable to doubtful paintings. The effect is the thing!

One of the chief objections to the charming fabric was that people felt
it would become soiled easily, and would often have to be renewed, but
in our vacuum-cleaned houses we no longer feel that it is necessary to
have furniture and hangings that will "conceal dirt." We refuse to
_have_ dirt! Of course, chintzes in rooms that will have hard wear
should be carefully selected. They should be printed on linen, or some
hard twilled fabric, and the ground color should