Indeed there is an opportunity to display much decorative originality in devising colour treatments that were not customary at the time but are yet quite within the bounds of artistic and decorative propriety. In close connexion, too, with the question of colour and stuffs for upholstery and hangings must we consider the possibilities of sundry fabrics and especially several varieties of old-fashioned needle work that are being successfully revived.

"Between furniture and architecture there exists an obvious and close relationship which, however, in spite of its potency and propinquity, we sometimes lose sight of." To preserve a reasonable congruity, therefore, between the furniture and the place it is to occupy, one must consider their mutual fitness. It would be sheer madness and folly to fill an Elizabethan oak panelled room with gilded tables and brocaded chairs of the Louis Quinze period and equally fatuous and inappropriate to thrust heavy and rugged Jacobean cupboards and settles into an Adam room of exquisite delicacy and refinement. These, to be sure, are extreme cases, but they serve to illustrate the point that the kind of house things are going to be used in must be considered.

It is not always possible and is certainly not always desirable to furnish a room or a suite of rooms in the exact style of a single period. On the other hand, it is often necessary and, at the same time, most desirable to adopt a scheme that follows several closely related historic periods that merge almost imperceptibly one into another. The happy results frequently achieved quite justify this course. Two or more rooms equipped in this way simply represent a consistent slice out of an evolutionary process. Then, again, to furnish a single room in a "no-period" mode, that is to say, with a combination of harmonious period forms, is often more agreeable than to adhere strictly to a straight period interpretation. The method assuredly has more artistic elasticity. "We may add that the practice is obtaining more and more favour as the subject of interior decoration increasingly engages popular interest and patronage. At the same time, the acceptable achievement of this method of furnishing demands vastly more skill and judgment than the following of rigid period precedents." This "trend in favour of 'no-period' furnishing is especially apparent in houses of a less formal character.

The heavy expense entailed by a strict adherence to period modes and the aspect of extreme and occasionally oppressive formality that is sometimes concomitant have been partly responsible for a rebellion against the too narrow confines of a rigid purism. Our tendency is to become more and more catholic minded in our appreciation of individual things, things beautiful, and our proclivities are eclectic so that we are prone to pick here and choose there and surround ourselves only with what most appeals to us."

"There is vast satisfaction in doing this but, if we are not careful to govern our choice by some constructive canons of selection and good taste, some knowledge of the principles of judicious combination and arrangement, we shall find ourselves landed, the first thing we know, in a maze of heterogeneous incoherence." In the first place, by way of one guiding principle, it is worth remembering that a great unifying influence may be exerted by the general colour scheme. In other words, one must have a care to the floor covering, curtains and walls to secure a valuable factor in bonding miscellaneous things together. Then, too, the harmonising and amalgamating effect of upholstery must be kept in mind.

Comparative bulk should also always be considered in combining articles of different periods as well as shape and line. One should not place a dainty Sheraton chair in the same room with a heavy, sprawling Queen Anne arm-chair.

In placing the various objects of furniture, a broken line of heights must be kept; that is to say, all the pieces of furniture in a room, particularly the large pieces, must not be of the same height but some must be tall and some low. At the same time, do not attempt to put all large things or all small things together; intersperse them. Be very careful about putting large pieces in small rooms; the result is apt to be oppressive and smothering.

Beware of crowding; nothing will destroy the charm of a room more quickly. The effect of crowding, however, is often due to merely injudicious arrangement, for "with the same room and precisely the same furniture, without the addition or subtraction of a single piece - you may so alter the apparent size and shape in three or four or five different ways, as the case may be, that you will be astonished."1 In avoiding the appearance of crowding, the preservation of a sense of balance is most important. In this connexion it is perfectly clear that all the large, heavy pieces of furniture must not be congested at one end of a room nor ranged along one side while other parts are comparatively bare, having only small or insignificant pieces. However, the attainment of balance in a room's furnishing means more than breaking congestions of heavy pieces and dotting them about at intervals. For one thing, the architectural affinities of the furniture must be considered and its relationship to the physical character of the room.

Massing, especially with reference to light and shadow, must be carefully planned.

Closely allied to all the foregoing is the consideration of grouping, which should always be logical and natural, each group being consistently composed of the right units. "It is the natural, obvious and logical grouping of furniture that gives a room the delightful air of being really lived in. By the arrangement and grouping of furniture, more than in any other way, may we express in our rooms all degrees of feeling from the stiffest formality down to the most invertebrately luxurious cosiness." 1 Another reason for a crowded appearance is sometimes found in the meaningless scattering of the furniture or else the grouping of it in the middle of the room. A logical grouping always makes for space.

Last of all, but by no means least, if there is a fireplace it must always be regarded as the central point towards which everything tends and with respect to which everything must be considered and planned.

1 McClure and Eberlein: House Furnishing and Decoration.

No explanation of "whys" and "wherefores" has been attempted in the foregoing paragraphs. Only the most general hints have been jotted down as cautions and reminders. An expanded treatment of the matter of furniture arrangement belongs in a book upon house furnishing and decoration and, if the reader is intent upon mastering the subject, he or she will naturally consult some such.

Last of all a word must be added about the care of old furniture. Before all else, keep it always in good condition. Do not wait till it begins to show the need of attention. Keep it always well groomed and trim as you would your own person. Every week or two every piece ought to be gone over. "Furniture polishes" are unnecessary and some of them are deleterious; for properly finished period furniture use only what the cabinet-makers themselves use - rubbing oil - and this should be secured from a thoroughly reliable cabinet-maker. Plain linseed oil has sometimes been employed but it has the fault of stickiness. Oil should be applied with a small piece of soft woollen rag, very sparingly, using only enough to oil the surface over. After leaving this on for a moment or two polish with a larger piece of the same sort of rag. In this connexion we frequently hear much of "elbow grease," but there should be no hard rubbing - the surface is to be polished, not scrubbed. A fair pressure should be used and the oil should be rubbed in or rubbed off; none should be left upon the surface, for successive coagulations of dried oil will only obscure the polish.

A little double boiled linseed oil on a soft woollen rag may be used also with excellent results on old furniture, or else the compound of beeswax and turpentine referred to in the section on Finish in the Sheraton chapter. If furniture has been neglected and the wood has become very dry one or two additional treatments may be necessary to secure an even polish. With large pieces it is better to oil but a portion, polish, and then go on to another portion.

Another factor in the proper care of old furniture is a proper amount of fresh air. Without it the wood will in time become dull and lifeless. This condition may be seen at any time in furniture that has been stored away for a long period in a dry, unaired place. It is necessary, too, that a certain amount of moisture should accompany the fresh air.

The fresh, moist air is particularly necessary for the health and preservation of furniture brought from England to America. The drier American climate and the generally warmer houses are severely trying to British furniture until it has become thoroughly acclimated, a process that often takes a year or more. Lacquered articles, veneer upon oak and painted furniture are apt to require more careful watching than plain walnut or mahogany. For the sake of the furniture, if not for personal health, an open vessel of water ought to be in every room during the months that artificial heat is necessary so that the evaporation may somewhat neutralise the extreme dryness.

Old furniture is one of our most precious material heritages - a heritage from a rich past, and having once acquired it either by inheritance or by search and purchase it deserves our reverent and affectionate care.