But if we eliminate the house itself, and the heavy furniture from the “home” possessions, what have we left?  The little girl was right:  “My home is where my dishes is.”  My possessions, whatever they are—­the things I can call my own under all circumstances make my home.  These circumstances change from time to time, but the ideal is there.  As a concrete instance:  let us have books, not a lot of books, but books that are friends with whom one may spend a comforting hour anywhere; books that have power to charm away the gloom of discontent, books to lend gayety to festal days.

Rugs and draperies a few, those you find satisfying to your sense of color, of design, and with which you feel at home.  Ugly tables, chairs, and “sofas” disappear under an Indian shawl.  A Persian or a Navajo blanket covers a multitude of aesthetic sins.  Only let these harmonize with each other, let them be chosen once for all to go in company; then if they are distributed, it will not matter; but in any case avoid the “museum” look given by mere collecting.  Alas! these are expensive articles, and the young people may not be able to get all at once.  Let society then turn over a new leaf in the wedding-present line, and cease this senseless giving of cut-glass and silver to those who may go to a mining-camp in the Rockies or to Mexico, or even into a ten-by-twelve New York apartment.  Let there be a committee—­we are so fond of committees—­to receive contributions in a money-bank or in sealed envelopes, and then when all is collected, let this committee scour the shops for articles of value, and when found consult the bridal pair as to their preferences.  The choice may be made of one or more, as the money permits.  The particular gift will still be a surprise and yet of permanent value.  Lace and embroideries are always good, but let the waste of money on the “latest” in orange-knives, oyster-plates, go up higher, that is, to the class with money for conspicuous waste, if it must still exist, but let sensible people be sensible, and not require the young folks to live up to their hopes for future advancement.  Wedding gifts are meant to be kindly help to a young housewife, not a burden which drags her down to the level of a drudge.  But if the house is surely their own, and in the country, there will be shelves to fill and walls to cover; then is the opportunity for individual gifts of china, glass, and pictures.

To make the best of the increasing tendency to a semi-country living, there is need for students of domestic architecture, women with a trained taste added to an experience in doing things, not merely seeing them already done.  Let these evolve beautiful exteriors, with interiors so finely proportioned that they will be a delight to all beholders, so adapted to their purposes that no one will wish to change them.  There is a right dimension, in relation to other dimensions, which is always satisfying and independent of furniture or decoration.