etimes one sees bedrooms
and small boudoirs where the walls and curtains show the same design,
but it must be done with skill, or disaster is sure to follow.

Plain casement cloth or the different "Sunfast" fabrics are attractive
with plain or figured papers, especially in bedrooms of country houses.

If one has to live in the town house through the summer do not make the
fatal mistake of taking down the curtains and living in bare discomfort
during the hot season. If the curtains are too handsome to be kept up,
buy a second set of inexpensive ones that can be washed without injury.
It is better that they should stop the dust, and then go into the tub,
than that one's lungs should collect it all. Curtains are useful as well
as ornamental, and a house without them is as dreary as breakfast
without coffee.

_Floors and Floor Coverings_

In planning a room the color values should be divided into the natural
divisions of the heaviest, or darkest, part at the bottom, which is the
floor; the medium color tone in the middle, which is the wall; and the
lightest at the top, which is the ceiling. This keeps the room from
seeming top-heavy and gives the necessary feeling of support for the
wall and ceiling. The walls and floor serve as a background and should
not be insistant or startling in color; and the size and height of the
room, the amount of wall space, the position of doors, windows and
fireplace, the quantity and quality of the light, and the connecting
rooms will all be factors in the color scheme and materials chosen.

The floor of a room must be right or all the character of the
furnishings will be lost. One should first see that it is in perfect
condition. If it is a hardwood or parquetry floor it should not be
finished the bright and glaring yellow which is sometimes seen, but
should be slightly toned down before the finish is put on. Samples of
different tones should be submitted to be tried with samples of the rug
and stuffs to be used before the decision is made. A wax finish is
better than the usual coats of shellac, for the wax has a soft and
beautiful glow, while shellac has a hard commercial glare. A waxed
floor, if properly taken care of, which is not difficult, wears
extremely well and does not have the distressingly shabby appearance of
a partly worn shellaced floor. If the floor is old and worn and is to be
painted or stained all cracks should be filled, and the color chosen
should be a neutra