If they
are wrong, what can be done? Show how papering can help the difficulty;
too low ceilings call for a narrow striped paper without a frieze; a too
high ceiling needs the calcimined ceiling carried down to a foot or more
on the wall, with a narrow molding where it meets the paper.

Study the subject of wall-paper, and show illustrations. The dark paper
absorbs the light. The gilt-medallioned paper is inartistic; hard,
bright colors are tiring to live with. Chintz papers are suitable for
bedrooms. Notice the value of self-toned papers, and of shades of tans
and pale browns.

_Hangings_--Have a paper or talk here. Describe the ugliness of highly
colored, fringed, two-toned, draped portieres, and of imitation lace
curtains, such as Nottingham, and contrast with the beauty of simple,
plain hangings and curtains of net or muslin of good styles. Show
pictures from catalogues of good and bad hangings. Do not overlook the
fact that if windows are too large or too small, too high or too low,
their outline can be altered by their treatment. Present the
possibilities of stenciling.

_Furniture_--This topic gives opportunity for a whole meeting. Get
catalogues from dealers, and illustrate papers on different styles of
furniture, English of several periods, French, German, Colonial, and the
modern varieties of no period at all. Read from Furniture of Olden
Times, by Alice C. Morse. Show how the plain lines of old mahogany are
forever beautiful. Contrast such furniture with the showy, ornate,
over-elaborate things we too often see to-day.

Make a point of the necessity of having few and simple chairs and tables
in small rooms; of the advantage of low bookcases over high ones; the
beauty of shaded lights over glaring white ones; of side lights and
lamps as better than a central chandelier or hanging lamp.

Pictures should be of good subjects; copies of great masters, and of
beautiful scenery or cathedrals, can be had in photographs; they should
be plainly framed, hung flat on the wall, and opposite the eye.
Bric-a-brac should be quiet in color and line, rather than complex and
pretentious; speak of the value of pottery, and, if possible, study a
little of what is being done in arts and crafts in all lines.

A practical discussion may follow on, What shall we do with our ugly
belongings? Let someone show how carpets can be dyed or made into rugs,
furniture simplified by removing the cheap ornamentation and staining
the whol