ers, or none may be used. In that
case the bulbs may be toned down by using ground glass and painting them
with a thin coat of raw umber water color paint. Bedroom shades follow
the same rule of appropriateness that applies to the other shades in the
house. There should be several sets of candle shades for the
dining-room.

There is really no reason why so many houses should be so badly lighted.
Often simply rearranging the lamps and changing the shape of the shades
will do wonders in the way of improvement. Radical changes in the wiring
should be carefully thought out so there will be no mistakes to
rectify.

_Painted Furniture_

The love of color which is strong in human nature is shown in the
welcome which has been given to painted furniture. If we turn back to
review the past we find this same feeling cropping out in the different
periods and in the different grades of furniture. The furniture of the
Italian Renaissance was often richly gilded and painted; the carved
swags of fruit, arabesques, and the entwined human figures, were painted
in natural colors, or some of the important lines of the furniture were
picked out with color or gold, or both. As the influence of the
Renaissance spread to France and England, changed by the national
temperament of the different countries, we find their furniture often
blossoming into color--not covered by a solid coat of paint but picked
out here and there by lines and accenting points. During the time of
Louis XIV everything was ablaze with gold and glory, but later, during
the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, a gentler, more refined love of
color came uppermost, and the lovely painted furniture was made which
has given so much inspiration to our modern work. The simpler forms of
the Louis XV period, and the beautiful furniture of the Louis XVI
period, were often painted soft tones of ivory, blue, green, or yellow,
and decorated with lovely branches of flowers, birds, and scenery where
groups of people by Fragonard and other great painters disported with
all their eighteenth century charm. These decorations were usually
painted on reserves of old ivory with the ground color outside of some
soft tone. Martin, the inventor of famous "vernis Martin," flourished at
this time, and the glow of his beautiful amber-colored finish decorated
many a piece of furniture from sewing boxes to sedan chairs. In England
the vogue of painted furniture was given impetus by the genius o