A careful study of the Japanese principles of decoration is an ideal way of learning the art of simplicity.  It is impossible to deny the immense decorative value of a single objet d’art, as one flower in a simple vase, provided it is given the correct background.

Background in decoration is like a pedal-point in music; it must support the whole fabric, whether you are planning a house, a room or a table.

PLATE XXIX

Shows how a too pronounced rug which is out of character, though a valuable Chinese antique, can destroy the harmony of a composition even where the stage is set with treasures; Louis XV chairs, antique fount with growing plants, candelabra, rare tapestry, reflected by mirror, and a graceful console and a settee with grey-green brocade cushions.

[Illustration:  Example of a Charming Hall Spoiled by Too Pronounced a Rug]

CHAPTER XXXVII

WHAT TO AVOID IN INTERIOR DECORATION:  RULES FOR BEGINNERS

We all know the saying that it is only those who have mastered the steps in dancing who can afford to forget them.  It is the same in every art.  Therefore let us state at once, that all rules may be broken by the educated—­the masters of their respective arts.  For beginners we give the following rules as a guide, until they get their bearings in this fascinating game of making pictures by manipulating lines and colours, as expressed in necessary furnishings.

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Avoid crowding your rooms, walls or tables, for in creating a home one must produce the quality of restfulness by order and space.

As to walls, do not use a cold colour in a north or shaded room.  Make your ceilings lighter in tone than the side walls, using a very pale shade of the same colour as the side walls.

Do not put a spotted (figured) surface on other spotted (figured) surfaces.  A plain wall paper is the proper, because most effective, background for pictures.

Avoid the mistake of forgetting that table decoration includes all china, glass, silver and linen used in serving any meal.

In attempting the decoration of your dining-room table avoid anything inappropriate to the particular meal to be served and the scale of service.  Do not have too many flowers on your table, or flowers not in harmony with the rest of the setting, in variety or colour.

Do not use peasant china, no matter how decorative in itself, on fine damask or rare lace.  By so doing you strike a false note.  The background it demands is crash or peasant laces.

Avoid crowding your dining-table or giving it an air of confusion by the number of things on it, thus destroying the laws of simplicity, line and balance in decoration.

Avoid using on your walls as mere decorations articles such as rugs or priests’ vestments primarily intended for other purposes.