ns with applique borders cut from flowered cretonne;
sometimes the cretonne is applique on net which is let into the curtain
with a four-inch hem at the bottom and sides. A simpler style has a band
of flowered muslin sewed on the white muslin, or used as a ruffle. It is
also added to the valance. There are many kinds of net and lace curtains
ready for use that will harmonize with any kind of room. Some of the
expensive ones are really beautiful examples of needlecraft, with lace
medallions and insertions and embroidery stitches.

When it comes to the question of side curtains the supply to choose from
is almost unlimited, and this great supply forms the bog in which so
many are lost. A thing may be beautiful in itself and yet cause woe and
havoc in an otherwise charming room. There are linens of all prices, and
cretonnes, both the inexpensive kind and the wonderful shadow ones;
there are silks and velvets and velours, aurora cloth, cotton crepe and
arras cloth, and a thousand other beautiful stuffs that are cheap or
medium-priced or expensive, whose names only the shopman knows, but
which win our admiration from afar. The curtains for a country house are
usually of less valuable materials than those for a town house, and this
is as it should be, for winter life is usually more formal than summer
life. Nothing can be prettier, however, for a country house than
cretonne. It is fresh and dainty and gives a cool and delightful
appearance to a room. Among the many designs there are some for every
style of decoration.

[Illustration: The arrangement of sofa and table are excellent, but
there should be other centers of interest in the room. As it is, this
room just misses its aim, and is neither a strict period room nor a
really comfortable modern one.]

The height and size of a room must be taken into account in hanging
curtains, for with their aid, and also that of wallpaper, we can often
change a room of bad proportions to one of seemingly good ones. If a
room is very low, a stripe more or less marked in the design, and the
curtains straight to the floor, will make it seem higher. A high room
may have the curtains reach only to the sills with a valance across the
top. This style may be used in a fairly low room if the curtain material
is chosen with discretion and is not of a marked design. If the windows
are narrow they can be made to seem wider by having the rod for the side
curtains extend about eight inches on each si