Many houses still contain the high, old-fashioned, wooden mantelpieces, painted to imitate yellow-grained black marble, and a sore affliction to the eyes. A little paint may convert an eye-sore into an ornament. Ebonize the entire Surface, and paint a spray of flowers in each panel, taking care to select blossoms whose tints harmonize with the decorations of the room. In a chamber furnished with white and blue, a mantelpiece of this kind would be pretty painted white, with the panels outlined in blue. If desired, some geometrical design or figure in outline can be painted in each panel. Above the mantelpiece fasten two shelves, the upper one shorter than the lower, supporting them on brackets. In this manner a very unsightly mantel may be converted into a very pretty and attractive one.