Should look warm in winter, and cool in summer. The carpet should be a rich Turkey or Axminster - not quite covering the floor, but leaving a border of polished oak. The sideboard should be (in the country) of old oak carved, all the furniture matching it; in London, of polished mahogany, the cellaret to match. The dining-table should be oval, of polished mahogany; the chairs of the same, with leather cushions, harmonizing in colour with the curtains. The side-tables should not be too large; the chimney-ornaments of bronze; on the walls, family portraits, or well-chosen landscapes - not paintings of any painful subject.

The colour of the dining-room should be bright and rich, suiting the aspect, but we may suggest that green (of a grey tint, not arsenical green) is a good colour, as it is warm-looking in winter and has the effect of looking cool in the summer. It harmonizes also with the rich colours of the carpet. The walls should not be papered, but painted delicate green and varnished - the cornice picked out with tints of green and soft greys. The curtains should be of rep or damask, the leather of the chairs of the same colour; or, of a perfect interval of shade between them and the wall.

Dinner Table Ornaments

The dinners a la Russe exact more splendid ornaments for the dinner-table than were formerly required. The Exhibition of 1878 has furnished several specimens of beautiful dinner-table decorations.

About one of the prettiest is the looking-glass plateau with the scented fountain, represented in the plate. Of course, the difficulty of drawing it has been great, but it will be understood that the vases of flowers standing on it, the perfumed water, and the fruits and creams are all reflected in the looking-glass, which will also shine and glitter in the gas-light above. The rim, filled with sand, holds flowers. Nothing can be prettier than this for a Russian dinner; we think, even the splendour of a silver plateau cannot surpass its effect.

These dinner ornaments may fairly be classed, we think, with furniture, although they are, of course, only used at dinner-time.