It is quite possible that in the near future domestic weavings may come to the aid of the critical house-furnisher, so that the qualities of strength and pliability may be united with colour which is both water-fast and sun-fast, and that we shall be able to order not only the kind of material, but the exact shade of colour necessary to the perfection of our houses.

To be washable as well as durable is also a great point in favour of cotton textiles.  The English chintzes with which the high post bedsteads of our foremothers were hung had a yearly baptism of family soap-suds, and came from it with their designs of gaily-crested, almost life-size pheasants, sitting upon inadequate branches, very little subdued by the process.  Those were not days of colour-study; and harmony, applied to things of sight instead of conduct, was not looked for; but when we copy the beautiful old furniture of that day, we may as well demand with it the quality of washableness and cleanableness which went with all its belongings.

It is always a wonder to the masculine, that the feminine mind has such an ineradicable love of draperies.  The man despises them, but to the woman they are the perfecting touch of the home, hiding or disguising all the sharp angles of windows and doors, and making of them opportunities of beauty.  It is the same instinct with which she tries to cover the hard angles and facts of daily life and make of them virtuous incitements.  As long as the woman rules, house-curtains will be a joy and delight to her.  Something in their soft protection, grace of line, and possible beauty of colour appeals to her as no other household belonging has the power to do.  The long folds of the straight hanging curtain are far more beautiful than the looped and festooned creations which were held in vogue by some previous generations, and indeed are still dear to the hearts of professional upholsterers.  The simpler the treatment, the better the effect, since natural rather than distorted line is more restful and enjoyable.  Quality, colour, and simple graceful lines are quite sufficient elements of value in these important adjuncts of house furnishing and decoration.

CHAPTER XIII

FURNITURE

Although the forms and varieties of furniture are infinite, they can easily be classified first into the two great divisions of good and bad, and after that into kinds and styles; but no matter how good the different specimens may be, or to what style they may belong, each one is subject again to the ruling of fitness.  Detached things may be both thoroughly pleasing and thoroughly good in themselves, but unless they are appropriate to the place where, and purpose for which they are used, they will not be beautiful.

[Illustration:  COLONIAL CHAIRS AND SOFA (BELONGING TO MRS. RUTH MCENERY STUART)]