" Only a connoisseur can
ever hope to know about the furniture of every period, but all of us can
easily learn the ear-marks of the furniture that is suited to our homes.
I shan't talk about ear-marks here, however, because dozens of
collectors have compiled excellent books that tell you all about curves
and lines and grain-of-wood and worm-holes. My business is to persuade
you to use your graceful French sofas and your simple rush bottom New
England chairs in different rooms--in other words, to preach to you the
beauty of suitability. Suitability! _Suitability!_ SUITABILITY!!
It is such a relief to return to the tranquil, simple forms of
furniture, and to decorate our rooms by a process of elimination. How
many rooms have I not cleared of junk--this heterogeneous mass of
ornamental "period" furniture and bric-a-brac bought to make a room
"look cozy." Once cleared of these, the simplicity and dignity of the
room comes back, the architectural spaces are freed and now stand in
their proper relation to the furniture. In other words, the architecture
of the room becomes its decoration.
III
THE OLD WASHINGTON IRVING HOUSE
I have always lived in enchanting houses. Probably when another woman
would be dreaming of love affairs, I dream of the delightful houses I
have lived in.
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