hts of salmon-pink, then bring in a touch of blue
in a sofa cushion, a footstool or small chair, or in a beautiful vase
which charms by its shape as well by reproducing the exact tone of
blue you desire. There are some who insist no room is complete without
its note of blue. Many a room has been built up around some highly
prized treasure,--lovely vase or an old Japanese print.

A thing always to be avoided is monotony in colour. Who can not recall
barren rooms, without a spark of attraction despite priceless
treasures, dispersed in a meaningless way? That sort of setting puts a
blight on any gathering. "Well," you will ask, "given the task of
converting such a sterile stretch of monotony into a blooming joy, how
should one begin?" It is quite simple. Picture to yourself how the
room would look if you scattered flowers about it, roses, tulips,
mignonette, flowers of yellow and blue, in the pell-mell confusion of
a blooming garden. Now imitate the flower colours by _objets d'art_ so
judiciously placed that in a trice you will admire what you once found
cold. As if by magic, a white, cream, beige or grey room may be
transformed into a smiling bower, teeming with personality, a room
where wit and wisdom are spontaneously let loose.

If your taste be for chintzes and figured silks, take it as a safe
rule, that given a material with a light background, it should be the
same in tone as your walls; the idea being that by this method you get
the full decorative value of the pattern on chintz or silk.

Figured materials can increase or diminish the size of a room, open up
vistas, push back your walls, or block the vision. For this reason it
is unsafe to buy material before trying the effect of it in its
destined abode.

Remember that the matter of _background_ is of the greatest importance
when arranging your furniture and ornaments. See that your piano is so
placed that the pianist has an unbroken background, of wall, tapestry,
a large piece of rare old sills, or a mirror. Clyde Fitch, past-master
at interior decoration, placed his piano in front of broad windows,
across which at night were drawn crimson damask curtains. Some of us
will never forget Geraldine Farrar, as she sat against that background
wearing a dull, clinging blue-green gown, going over the score,--from
memory,--of "Salome."

The aim is to make the performer at the piano the object of interest,
therefore place no diverting objects, such as pictures or orna