TO grasp the new point of view one must first sweep away the old preconceptions of decorating and furnishing and approach the subject with a free and unbiased mind. Decoration, it must be remembered, is a structural thing just the same as the building of a house, the painting of a picture, or the writing of a piece of music, and is composed of many small parts which must be carefully articulated and inter-related.

The big planes are represented in the walls, floors, and ceilings. They provide the setting, and it is upon their happy solution that the ultimate success of the decoration largely depends.

The subject of walls is too frequently dismissed with the hasty inspection of samples in a wall-paper shop and an impulsive selection prompted by the suggestions of the clerk, or by what appears to be the greatest value for the allotted expenditure.

The infinite variety of treatment for walls, however, is not limited by the stock in the shops or by the amount of money to be expended upon them. Some of the most interesting results are obtained with very simple and inexpensive processes.

One has to make choice for each room between a decorative scheme based on a neutral, or a colored background. Neutral walls, grays, creams, and deep ivories, have come into great favor recently as a reaction to the hideous vivid reds, greens, and blues, or the muddy browns and yellows of the preceding epoch. They are always safe and if sufficient interest is introduced in the hangings and furniture they are usually satisfactory in any decorative scheme.

Colored walls have value both in overcoming certain physical defects of a room and in providing an interesting and positive foundation. Great care should be exercised that the colors are good and clear and pleasant to live with. They should usually be in the medium or light scale. Dark backgrounds should be avoided unless a great deal of interest and coloring is introduced into the furnishings. Walls replace the atmospheric boundaries of the out of doors and should lend themselves to the feeling of space and freedom.

If a room is dark, nothing tends to preserve and radiate what light there is as a yellow background. One can scarcely realize what positive qualities lie in color until the metamorphosis of a dingy and melancholy room through the use of a luminous yellow background is witnessed. Never employ a dark background in a dark room.

If a room is small, an azure or sea-blue background will be found to create the greatest illusion of space, although any light plain wall has the same tendency.

Never employ a large-figured dark paper in a small room.

In rooms which receive unusually bright or glaring light from without, medium shades of green, blue, or violet tend to mediate and softly diffuse it. A warm, cozy background frequently pulls the extremities of a large and ungainly shaped room together. Interesting, well-colored walls are invaluable in large rooms where the furniture is sparse or insignificant.

Colored walls are always helpful in softening the effect of awkward or questionable furniture, as they can be made to blend with the coloring of the wood and thus relieve the sharp contrast their outlines would display against a light neutral ground. Mulberry walls have this effect on oak furniture, while yellowish mustard or reddish ochre exert it upon mahogany. If one wishes to subordinate the objectionable outlines of furniture, it can often be accomplished by using a color on the walls as near as possible to that of the wood, or by painting the furniture and the walls the same color.

After the color of the walls has been decided, the texture or material must be determined. Painting the walls is, on the whole, the most generally effective modern method - especially for new houses. Painted walls are sanitary, can be made to carry out any color scheme, and have a soft fine texture which gives a well-groomed appearance to a room. The paint is best applied directly to the plaster which has been especially prepared for this purpose. Of course a general even tone throughout the whole room is the safest and the most usual, but many varied and charming effects can be obtained by allowing the paint to be applied somewhat crudely and unevenly. It lends to the atmospheric appearance and provides a subtle melting background, but should not be used except by an experienced painter.

Painted wooden walls have recently received many interesting treatments. One unusual dining-room was paneled in two-foot squares of wood to the ceiling. The paneling was painted a deep grayish blue which under artificial light appeared gun metal, and the squares were outlined in narrow lines of Chinese red. Against this background stood cabinets of black and gold and red Chinese lacquer. The hangings and rug were gold color, edged with black, and the table and chairs were white outlined with the deep gray blue, this was an exceptional use of a dark background which was rendered possible by the enlivening red,-gold, and white of the furniture.

Another interesting modern room was paneled to the ceiling in one-foot wooden squares which were painted a deep violet. The window had a number of huge windows which were curtained in thin violet silk. The furniture was of greenish blue slightly deeper than turquoise, alternated with a few pieces of bright red orange. The background melted into velvety darkness amid which the bright toned furniture took its place well. The room was, of course, a very large and naturally bright one.

Many old oak paneled walls, the ponderous effects of which are those of a past epoch, have been scraped to raw wood and touched with pure color, or stained a silvery gray, or painted deep ivory.

Unfinished plaster walls have been found to have great decorative possibilities and are particularly suited to primitive or architectural schemes. One can obtain various degrees of roughness by the admixture of sand which often tints the walls a natural yellow or terracotta shade. Conspicuously rough walls are not advisable except in very large rooms where the furnishings are carried out on a generous and simple scale. Blue gray, lavender gray, orange, yellow, and yellow green are delightful in plaster walls.