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192
The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
32
Before
you
begin
the
decoration
of
your
walls,
be
sure
that
your
floors
have
been
finished
to
fulfil
their
purposes.
Stain
them
or
polish
them
to
a
soft
glow,
keep
them
low
in
tone
so
that
they
may
be
backgrounds.
We
will
assume
that
the
woodwork
of
each
room
has
been
finished
with
a
view
to
the
future
use
and
decoration
of
the
room.
We
will
assume
that
the
ceilings
are
proper
ceilings;
that
they
will
stay
in
their
place,
i.e.,
the
top
of
the
room.
This
is
a
most
daring
assumption,
because
there
are
so
many
feeble
and
threatening
ceilings
overhanging
most
of
us
that
good
ones
seem
rare.
But
the
ceiling
is
an
architectural
problem,
and
you
must
consider
it
in
the
beginning
of
things.
It
may
be
beamed
and
have
every
evidence
of
structural
beauty
and
strength,
or
it
may
be
beamed
in
a
ridiculous
fashion
that
advertises
the
beams
as
shams,
leading
from
nowhere
to
nowhere.
It
may
be
a
beautiful
expanse
of
creamy
modeled
plaster
resting
on
a
distinguished
cornice,
or
it
may
be
one
of
those
ghastly
skim-milk
ceilings
with
distorted
cupids
and
roses
in
relief.
It
may
be
a
rectangle
of
plain
plaster
tinted
cream
or
pale
yellow
or
gray,
and
keeping
its
place
serenely,
or
it
may
be
a
villainous
stretch
of
ox-blood,
hanging
over
your
head
like
the
curse
of
Cain.
There
are
hundreds
of
magnificent
painted
ceilings,
and
vaulted
arches
of
marble
and
gold,
but
these
are
not
of
immediate
importance
to
the
woman
who
is
furnishing
a
small
house,
and
are
not
within
the
scope
of
this
book.
So
let
us
exercise
common
sense
and
face
our
especial
ceiling
problem
in
an
architectural
spirit.
If
your
house
has
structural
beams,
leave
them
exposed,
if
you
like,
but
treat
them
as
beams;
stain
them,
and
wax
them,
and
color
the
spaces
between
them
cream
or
tan
or
warm
gray,
and
then
make
the
room
beneath
the
beams
strong
enough
in
color
and
furnishings
to
carry
the
impressive
ceiling.
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