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192
The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
42
I
once
saw
a
little
serving-maid
wearing
a
calico
gown,
black
crosses
on
a
white
ground,
and
I
was
so
enchanted
with
the
cool
crispness
of
it
that
I
had
a
glazed
wall
paper
made
in
the
same
design.
I
have
used
it
in
bedrooms,
and
in
bathrooms,
always
with
admirable
effect.
One
can
imagine
a
girl
making
a
Pierrot
and
Pierrette
room
for
herself,
given
whitewashed
walls,
white
woodwork,
and
white
painted
furniture.
An
ordinary
white
cotton
printed
with
large
black
polka
dots
would
make
delightful
curtains,
chair-cushions,
and
so
forth.
The
rug
might
be
woven
of
black
and
white
rags,
or
might
be
one
of
those
woven
from
the
old
homespun
coverlet
patterns.
The
landscape
papers
that
were
so
popular
in
the
New
England
and
Southern
houses
three
generations
ago
were
very
wonderful
when
they
were
used
in
hallways,
with
graceful
stairs
and
white
woodwork,
but
they
were
distressing
when
used
in
living-rooms.
It
is
all
very
well
to
cover
the
walls
of
your
hall
with
a
hand-painted
paper,
or
a
landscape,
or
a
foliage
paper,
because
you
get
only
an
impressionistic
idea
of
a
hall--you
don't
loiter
there.
But
papers
of
large
design
are
out
of
place
in
rooms
where
pictures
and
books
are
used.
If
there
is
anything
more
dreadful
than
a
busy
"parlor"
paper,
with
scrolls
that
tantalize
or
flowers
that
demand
to
be
counted,
I
have
yet
to
encounter
it.
Remember,
above
all
things
that
your
walls
must
be
beautiful
in
themselves.
They
must
be
plain
and
quiet,
ready
to
receive
sincere
things,
but
quite
good
enough
to
get
along
without
pictures
if
necessary.
A
wall
that
is
broken
into
beautiful
spaces
and
covered
with
a
soft
creamy
paint,
or
paper,
or
grasscloth,
is
good
enough
for
any
room.
It
may
be
broken
with
lighting
fixtures,
and
it
is
finished.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
