Upon the decoration and furnishing of the living-room depend much of the warmth, comfort, and pleasure to be obtained from it. The old-fashioned fire-place is again coming into vogue, as the warmth and light of a good wood or coal fire add greatly to the cheer of the home. The mantelpiece and surroundings should not be receptacles for odds and ends that may be placed there by various occupants of the room, but should be tastefully decorated with a mantel clock, vases of flowers or dried grasses, and one or two ornamental articles. Overcrowding should be avoided. On each side of the mantel should be hung suitable and suggestive pictures, neatly framed, always avoiding the cheap penny pictures, which do nothing more than encumber the walls. A few choice pictures are much more to be desired than many cheap prints. Books should be arranged on shelves, or in bookcases specially prepared for them. Care should be taken that they be properly arranged in such order as may be agreed upon, whether by titles or by sizes. Window draperies for the living-room should always be bright in color and serviceable. There are several ways of hanging them; probably the most serviceable one is by rings from poles placed across the window.