. It sounds as if it should not be necessary
to warn people against these monstrosities, and I have never heard of
any one who buys them, but some one must do so or they would not be in
the shops.

Attractive and inexpensive painted furniture can be made to be used in
simple surroundings by buying slat-backed chairs with splint seats and a
drop-leaf pine table and having them painted the desired ground color
and then striped and decorated with a motif from the chintz to be used
in the room. A country house dining-room or bedroom could be most
charmingly fitted up in this way, chintz cushions could be used on the
chairs, and candle shades could be made to match. One can sometimes find
a bed or chest of drawers or other piece of furniture which is a bit
shopworn and can be had for a bargain. Old bureaus can be made to serve
as chests of drawers by taking the mirror off and using it as a wall
mirror. In many houses there are old sets of ugly furniture which can be
made useful and often attractive by having the jigsaw carving removed
and painting them. In a set of this kind, which I was doing over for a
client, there happened to be two beds with towering headboards, quite
impossible to use, but I combined the two footboards, thus making one
attractive bed. The furniture was painted a soft pumpkin yellow, striped
with blue and with little, old-fashioned nosegays, and a lovely linen
with yellow and cream stripes and baskets of flowers was used and turned
a dark and dreary room into a cheerful and pretty one.

One can find some kind of suitable painted furniture for nearly every
room in the average modern house. People everywhere are turning away
more and more from the heavy, depressing effects of a few years ago; but
unless they know the ground they are walking on they must tread with
care. The style chosen must be appropriate and in scale with the style
of house. The fine examples would look quite out of place in a bungalow
or very simple house, and the simple kind founded on peasant designs
would not be suitable in rooms with paneled walls and lovely taffeta
curtains. In Georgian and simple French designs there are fascinating
examples of chairs, settees and tables, corner cupboards and sideboards,
beds and dressing-tables and chests of drawers, mirrors and footstools
and candlesticks, everything both big and little which can be used in
almost any of our charming rooms in the average house, with their fresh
chintz and taff