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192
The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
121
XIV
THE
BEDROOM
In
olden
times
people
rarely
slept
in
their
bedrooms,
which
were
mostly
chambres
de
parade,
where
everyone
was
received
and
much
business
was
transacted.
The
real
bedroom
was
usually
a
smallish
closet
nearby.
These
chambres
de
parade
were
very
splendid,
the
beds
raised
on
a
dais,
and
hung
with
fine
damasks
and
tapestries--tapestries
thick
with
bullion
fringes.
The
horror
of
fresh
air
felt
by
our
ancestors
was
well
illustrated
here.
No
draughts
from
ill-constructed
windows
or
badly
hung
doors
could
reach
the
sleeper
in
such
a
bed.
This
was
certainly
different
from
our
modern
ideas
of
hygiene:
In
those
days
furniture
that
could
not
be
hastily
moved
was
of
little
importance.
The
bed
was
usually
a
mere
frame
of
wood,
made
to
be
covered
with
valuable
hangings
which
could
easily
be
packed
and
carried
away
on
occasions
that
too
often
arose
in
the
troublous
days
of
the
early
Middle
Ages.
The
benches
and
tables
one
sees
in
many
foreign
palaces
to-day
are
covered
with
gorgeous
lengths
of
velvet
and
brocade.
This
is
a
survival
of
the
custom
when
furniture
was
merely
so
much
baggage.
With
the
early
Eighteenth
Century,
however,
there
came
into
being
les
petits
appartements,
in
which
the
larger
space
formerly
accorded
the
bedroom
was
divided
into
ante-chamber,
salon
or
sitting-room,
and
the
bedroom.
Very
often
the
bed
was
placed
in
an
alcove,
and
the
heavy
brocades
and
bullion
embroideries
were
replaced
by
linen
or
cotton
hangings.
When
Oberkampf
established
himself
at
Jouy
in
1760
France
took
first
place
in
the
production
of
these
printed
linens
and
cottons.
This
was
the
beginning
of
the
age
of
chintz
and
of
the
delightful
decorative
fabrics
that
are
so
suited
to
our
modern
ideas
of
hygiene.
It
seems
to
me
there
are
no
more
charming
stuffs
for
bedroom
hangings
than
these
simple
fabrics,
with
their
enchantingly
fanciful
designs.
Think
of
the
changes
one
could
have
with
several
sets
of
curtains
to
be
changed
at
will,
as
Marie
Antoinette
used
to
do
at
the
Petit
Trianon.
How
amusing
it
would
be
in
our
own
modern
houses
to
change
the
bed
coverings,
window
curtains,
and
so
forth,
twice
or
three
times
a
year!
I
like
these
loose
slip
covers
and
curtains
better
than
the
usual
hard
upholstery,
because
if
properly
planned
the
slips
can
be
washed
without
losing
their
color
or
their
lines.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
