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192
The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
110
The
easiest
way
to
destroy
this
simplicity
is
to
litter
the
room
with
displays
of
silver
and
glass,
to
dot
the
walls
with
indifferent
pictures.
If
you
are
courageous
enough
to
let
your
walls
take
care
of
themselves
and
to
put
away
your
silver
and
china
and
glass,
the
room
will
be
as
dignified
as
you
could
wish.
Remember
that
simplicity
depends
on
balance
and
space.
If
the
walls
balance
one
another
in
light
and
shadow,
if
the
furniture
is
placed
formally,
if
walls
and
furniture
are
free
from
mistaken
ornament,
the
room
will
be
serene
and
beautiful.
In
most
other
rooms
we
avoid
the
"pairing"
of
things,
but
here
pairs
and
sets
of
things
are
most
desirable.
Two
console
tables
are
more
impressive
than
one.
There
is
great
decorative
value
in
a
pair
of
mirrors,
a
pair
of
candlesticks,
a
pair
of
porcelain
jars,
two
cupboards
flanking
a
chimney-piece.
You
would
not
be
guilty
of
a
pair
of
wall
fountains,
or
of
two
wall
clocks,
just
as
you
would
not
have
two
copies
of
the
same
portrait
in
a
room.
But
when
things
"pair"
logically,
pair
them!
They
will
furnish
a
backbone
of
precision
to
the
room.
The
dining-room
in
the
Iselin
house
is
a
fine
example
of
stately
simplicity.
It
is
extremely
formal,
and
yet
there
is
about
it
none
of
the
gloominess
one
associates
with
New
York
dining-rooms.
The
severely
paneled
walls,
the
fine
chimney-piece
with
an
old
master
inset
and
framed
by
a
Grinling
Gibbons
carving,
the
absence
of
the
usual
mantel
shelf,
the
plain
dining-table
and
the
fine
old
lion
chairs
all
go
to
make
up
a
Georgian
room
of
great
distinction.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
