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A LIGHT, GAY DINING-ROOM
gloomy basement dining-rooms of the conventional
brown-stone houses of the late eighties we forgot how
nice a dining-room can be. Even though the city din-
ing-room is now more fortunately placed in the rear
of the second floor it is usually overshadowed by other
houses, and can be lightened only by skilful use of color
in curtains, china, and so forth. Therefore, I think
this is the one room in the city house where one can
afford to use a boldly decorative paper. I like very
much the Chinese rice-papers with their broad, sketchy
decorations of birds and flowers. These papers are
never tiresomely realistic and are always done in very
soft colors or in soft shades of one color, and while if
you analyze them they are very fantastic, the general
effect is as restful as it is cheerful. You know you can
be most cheerful when you are most rested!
The quaint landscape papers which are seen in so
many New England dining-rooms seem to belong with
American Colonial furniture and white woodwork,
prim silver and gold banded china. These landscape
papers are usually gay in effect and make for cheer.
There are many new designs less complicated than the
old ones. Then, too, there are charming foliage papers,
made up of leaves and branches and birds, which are
very good.
While we may find color and cheer in these gay
papers for gloomy city dining-rooms, if we have plenty
of light we may get more distinguished results with
paneled walls. A large dining-room may be paneled
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