THE LIBRARY

The walls of the library should be hung with rich, dark colors, the latest style in wall paper being a black ground with old gold and olive-green designs.
The carpet comes in Pompeiian red, with moss-green and peacock-blue patterns. Statuary and the best pictures should find a place in the library. The library table should be massive and the top laid with crimson baize. There should be a few high-backed chairs, upholstered in leather, a reading-chair, soft rugs, foot-rests, a mantel mirror, a few mantel ornaments, and the piece de resistance—the bookcase. In large libraries the bookcases are built in the wall. It is quite in vogue to hang curtains on rods in front of bookcases instead of doors, but we think the old style is the best, inasmuch as the books may be seen and the glass doors exclude the dust.

Heavy curtains of raw silk, Turcoman, and canton flannel, with a full valance at the top, are used for the window drapery.

CHAMBERS.

The walls of bedrooms should be decorated in light tints and shadings, with a narrow rail and deep frieze. Most housekeepers prefer rugs and oiled floors to carpets, but this is a matter of individual taste. Rugs are as fashionable as they are wholesome and tidy. These floor-coverings should be darker than the furniture, yet blending in shade. If carpets are chosen they should be the lightest shades and in bright field-flower patterns. Avoid anything dark and somber for the sleeping-room. Pink and ceil blue combined are very pretty, scarlet and gray, deep red and very light blue. Dark blue with sprays of lily of the valley running through it is
exceedingly pretty for bedrooms. Dark furniture will harmonize with all these colors, but the lighter shades are preferable. Cretonnes in pale tints and chintzes in harmonizing colors are used for light woods. Square pillows of cretonne on a bamboo or wicker lounge are very pretty. Canton matting is often used, either plain or in colored patterns.

Formerly the bed-coverings were spotlessly white, but the profluent tide of color has included these also. The coverings now in vogue are: Nottingham lace, darned net, applique, antique lace, and Swiss muslin. These are used over silk and silesia for backgrounds, and are exceedingly pretty, with pillow shams to match. Cretonnes, chintzes, dimities, and silk in crazy work and South Kensington patterns are also used.
Cheese cloth, bunting, Swiss muslin, cretonne, and Swiss curtains are used for window drapery. These may be trimmed with the same fabric or antique lace. They are hung on poles above the windows and draped back with ribbons.

The appointments of a bedroom are a low couch, a large rocker, a small sewing-chair, a workbasket, footstools, a toilet table prettily draped with muslin, or a dressing-case, brackets for vases, flowerpots, a few pictures, small table, hanging shelves for books, etc., and the bed.
The washstand should have a full set of toilet mats, or a large towel with a colored border may be laid on it; also, a splasher placed on the wall at the back of the stand is very essential. A screen is a very desirable part of the bedroom appointments. A rug should be placed in front of the bed and dressing-case.

THE DINING-ROOM.

The dining-room should be furnished with a view to convenience, richness, and comfort. Choose deep, rich grounds for the walls—bronze-maroon, black, Pompeiian red, and deep olive—and the designs and traceries in old gold, olive or moss-green, with dado and frieze to correspond. Or, the walls may be wainscoted with oak, walnut, maple, etc. Some are finished in plain panels, with different kinds of wood; others, again, are elaborately carved, with fruit, flowers, and emblems of the chase.
The floor is the next point for consideration. It may be of tile or laid in alternate strips of different colored woods, with a border of parquetry. Rugs or carpets may be used on these floors or dispensed with, according to taste. If a carpet is used, the dark, rich shades found in the Persian and Turkish designs should be chosen.

The window drapery should be those deep, rich colors that hold their own despite time and use—the pomegranates, rich crimsons, dark blues, dull Pompeiian reds, and soft olives. These curtains may be hung on poles, and should fall in heavy folds to the floor, then looped back with a wide embroidered dado.
Screens of stained glass are now used in the windows. They are both useful and ornamental, for they exclude the strong rays of the sun, and the light filtering through them beautifies the room with its many mellow hues.
Dark wood should be used for the furniture. The chairs should be chosen in square, solid styles, and upholstered in embossed or plain leather, with an abundance of brass or silver headed nails which are used for upholstering leather and add much to the substantial appearance of the articles.

The dining-table should be low, square or bevel cornered, heavily carved, and when not in use should be covered with a cloth corresponding in shade to the window drapery.
A buffet may stand in one corner for the display of ceramics or decorated china. The sideboard should be of high, massive style, with shelves and racks for glassware and pieces of china.
A few pictures—two or three fruit pieces and one or two plaques of still life—are appropriate.
A case of stuffed birds, a few large pots of tropical plants, and a fernery are in keeping with the dining-room appointments. A three-leaf folding Japanese screen should not be forgotten; also, a lamp shade of antique lace, lined with crimson silk, is very desirable.

THE KITCHEN.

It is a remark too often made that this or that “is good enough for a servant.” If all knew that unpleasant surroundings made unpleasant servants and ill-prepared meals, we think more pains would be taken to have pleasant and comfortable kitchens. There should be a pleasant window or two through which fresh air and floods of sunlight may come, a few plants on the window sill, a small stand for a workbasket, an easy-chair that the servant may “drop into” when an opportunity offers, the walls painted or calcimined with some cheerful tint, and a general air of comfort pervading the whole kitchen.—The Popular Art Instructor.