Walls And Their Coverings

In tho old days of wainscots, when every room of any pretensions to olegance was banded with ü;jit or dark wood to a heiglit of throc or four feet froni the base, it was far easier to etfoctively ornament the portion of wall left uncovored, than it is whea au unbrokun surfaco sweops, as uow, from tloor to cciling. If tbo pattern whioh covors this surface bb largo uud positive, tüo effaot is to lossen the apparent size of the room, and confuse with vulgar repetition. If, on the contrary, it is small and ineonspicuous, there is a wearisorao effect of monotony displeasing toatrainedeyc. Even if the paper bo a plain tint, and intondod moroly as a background for piotures, etc., the eö'ect is enhanced by contrast and breaks in surfaco. Thoro aro varióos niethods to produce this result, as tor instance : A space corresponding to the ancient wainscot is left to the hüight of threo or four feet above the floor and filled in with paint or paper of solid color, harmonizing or eontrasting with that whioh is used on the upper part of the wall. This is uaually topped with a woodon rnoulding to serve as a "chairing," above which the lower tint of plain gray, pearl, green, is repeated in subduud pattern, the surfaco boing broken at top and bottom by a narrow band of contrasting color. Or again : tho paper, wbich is of miy quiet shade, is relieved above and below by a broad band ef vel vet paper, in rich, deep color, which, running also up tlie corners of tho room, frames the Balei tint, as it werf, into a number of largo panuls. Thia plan is sometimos carriod out very efïoetivoly. Auothor way is to paper in three horizontal band.!, the lower being of durk brown, simulating wainscot, tho ïiext of plain green or fawn, as background fot a line of piotures, and tho upper of delicate, fanciful pattern, linished at tho cornice by soft fresco tints. Of these three plans wo should recommend tho first to people of moderate means and tastes. It costs no moro to paper tho lower part of the wall with plain paper than with figured, the strip of moulding at top adds little to the expensu, aud the prettiness and effect of the whole is infinitoly enhanced by the uso of a cheap and simple method. Paint versus paper is a point on which rival housekeepers disagreo. Very beautiful rcsults eau certainly bo attained by paint, but the really beautiful ones are laborious and usually expensive. Kalsomine, which is a procoss of water-coloring, gives extremcly pretty erfects, and for ceilings, cómicos, or any placo not exposed to muuh rubbing or scraping, is surficiently permanent. The process of sandiug paint and painting over the sand produces ft depth aud riehness of coloi only equakd by velvet paper, and far superior to that in durability. Stenoiling on wood, on rough piaster, and on paint is so cheap and excellent a method of decoration that we wonder it is not more often resjrtod to. A row ot encaustic tiles aro often set in England, as a finish at top of wainscoting. These tiles, which are but little used ainong us, aro susceptible of inany gracoful applications to the ornamentation of houses, and wo hope the time will come for thcir fullor introduction on this side of the ocean. The tone of the ceiling should be lighter than that of the wall, and tho tone of tho wall lightor than that of the Hoor. Attontion to tltis siiuplo luw would obvi ate the distressing effect occasionaliy produced in modern houses, when, by reason of the lightness of tho carpet and the hoaviness of tho fresco, tho room seems in langer of falling in upon itself and its