There is only one picture in
this room, and that is the portrait of a long gone lady, framed in a
carved gilt frame, and hung against the huge wall-mirror which is
opposite the fireplace end of the room.
I believe, given plenty of light and air, that comfortable chairs and
good tables go further toward making a living-room comfortable than
anything else. In the Harkness living-room you will see this theory
proven. There are chairs and tables of all sizes, from the great sofas
to the little footstools, from the huge Italian tables to the little
table especially made to hold a few flower pots. Wherever there is a
large table there is a long sofa or a few big chairs; wherever there is
a lone chair there is a small table to hold a reading-light, or flowers,
or what not. The great size of the room, the fine English ceiling of
modeled plaster, the generous fireplace with its paneled over-mantel,
the groups of windows, all these architectural details go far toward
making the room a success. The comfortable chairs and sofas and the ever
useful tables do the rest.
So many people ask me: How shall I furnish my living-room? What paper
shall I use on the walls? What woodwork and curtains--and rugs? One
woman asked me what books she should buy!
Your living-room should grow out of the needs of your daily life.
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