We
have black papers patterned in color, and black velvet carpets, and
white coated papers sprinkled with huge black polka dots, and all manner
of unusual things. It goes without saying that much of this fad is
freakish, but there is also much that is good enough and refreshing
enough to last. One can imagine nothing fresher than a black and white
scheme in a bedroom, with a saving neutrality of gray or some dull tone
for rugs, and a brilliant bit of color in porcelain. There is no hint of
the mournful in the decorator's combination of black and white: rather,
there is a naive quality suggestive of smartness in a gown, or chic in a
woman. A white walled room with white woodwork and a black and white
tiled floor; a black lacquer bed and chest of drawers and chair; glass
curtains of white muslin and inside ones of black and white Hoffman
chintz; a splash of warm orange-red in an oval rug at the bedside, if it
be winter, or a cool green one in summer--doesn't this tempt you?
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.
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