The preeminent importance of the room as a background for the application of the decorative idea cannot be too often emphasized. The question of value in relation to background is a delicate but important one. To arrange this background in such a way that no part of it becomes too important, aggressive, or forceful is the problem, and a right choice of values contributes more toward solving it successfully than, perhaps, any one quality in colour choice.

The old conviction that the trim must stand out as distinctly as possible from the wall cover is antagonistic to the background idea. If the wall cover and trim are different in hue, it is almost necessary that their values should be practically the same. In fact, if both hue and value are the same, the result is not only more pleasing, but far more sensible in cases where the trim is painted or enamelled. Where a natural-wood trim is involved, it is sometimes more difficult to adjust the question of hue; but if there is a hue difference, the value difference should not be in too great a contrast, as it immediately establishes hard and inconsistent lines. The strong appeal of these lines is hard to neutralize by decorative treatment without causing the room to become crude and unrestful in its final quality.

In some periods, it is true, ivory-white woodwork and a middle-value wall colour appear with mahogany furniture and, sometimes, mahogany doors. This, however, is a condition of period which was influenced somewhat by the popularity or vogue of mahogany wood, somewhat by the unusual idea of spick and span cleanliness which the Colonial period sought, not only to establish, but to promulgate, and somewhat by the desire for a note dark enough in value to give strength and definite form to the side wall, in order that it should relate itself in some way to a darker floor or, perhaps, darker rugs and carpets and furniture.

A. A HISTORIC ROOM IN THE STYLE OF LOUIS XVI, WHOSE BACKGROUND IS A PROPER SETTING FOR FURNITURE AND DECORATIONS.

B. A HISTORIC ROOM IN FRENCH STYLE WHOSE BACKGROUND IS UNSUITED TO FURTHER DECORATIVE EFFECTS AND WHOSE ARRANGEMENT DISREGARDS DECORATIVE LAW. WALL PAPERS ARE OFTEN USED IN MODERN ROOMS WITH THE SAME EFFECT.

We derive from those historic periods whose styles are most adaptable to our modern conditions the law of a lighter ceiling, a midway side wall and a darker floor.

This is reasonable and sensible, since man in his natural environment has lived under these conditions when outside the house. If one looks about him in the country he finds the sky lighter than the far-away hills, the far-away hills lighter in value than the shadow under the tree where he stands. This is taken by many as the fundamental reason why the room feels more comfortable when the value relations are placed in this order.

There is probably still another reason why one intuitively feels these relative positions. The law of gravitation, pulling or attracting always toward the centre of the earth, establishes in all persons a feeling for a strong base on which to rest and upon which other objects may repose. If the order of values is reversed, having the darkest value overhead, one cannot help feeling the possibility of a falling ceiling which must result in a crushed and crumbling floor, it not being dark enough to support the falling weight.

When the floor - sometimes a hardwood finish - is lighter than the wall, the value relations may be adjusted by the use of darker rugs. In fact, this is the only way to give the proper feeling of structure and rest to the room unit when it is completed. This, in part, settles the value relation of the floor to the walls and ceiling. Care is necessary, however, in final criticism, that the rugs do not spot or badly outline themselves against the light floor. It would be better to treat the floor in such a way that the rugs do not become an aggressive addition. It is the place of a rug to lie inconspicuously and quietly on a floor. The very function of the floor, the fact that we walk on it, and the horizontal position of the rug itself are all reasons why it should be modest, eliminating the disposition on the part of the individual to centre his interest upon a place where he should walk and place his feet without conscious calculation.

The value idea extends to something more than backgrounds. It is a quality of every single object in the decorating and furnishing scheme. \ The hangings are a decorative idea, and are to be used, as suggested in a previous chapter, to emphasize and beautify the structural opening with which they are associated. The question of their contrast with the background is in each case a new one but, fundamentally, they should be stronger in contrast than the trim with the wall , cover or the wall, as a whole, with the ceiling or floor. These background parts are to be seen as a unit.

The hangings constitute the first decorative idea to be considered in the scheme of furnishing. The starched white lace curtains of half a century ago - the strongest possible contrast in value between the wall and themselves - have generally disappeared as persons of refinement have appreciated, quite intuitively maybe, that these introduced an element in no way keyed to the rest of the wall, and generally in no way possible, since they seemed totally unrelated to their surroundings.

If the trim of some room perchance is white, the ceiling white, and the furniture painted white, the white lace curtains or white muslin ones are a part of the decorative scheme. Where colour, however, in hue dominates the decorative scheme, white curtains are quite impossible.