Again, Nature makes a thousand and one shades of green leaves to harmonize with her flowers; the yellow green of the golden rod, the silver green of the milkweed, the bright green of the nasturtium.  Notice the woods in wintertime with the wonderful purple browns and grays of the tree trunks and branches, the bronze and russet of the dead leaves, and the deep shadows in the snow.  Everywhere one turns there are lessons to learn if one will only use seeing eyes and a thinking mind.

A house should be looked at as a whole, not as so many units to be treated in a care-free manner.  A room is affected by all the rooms opening from it, as they, in turn, are affected by it.  There can be variety of color with harmony of contrast, or there can be the same color used throughout, with the variety gained by the use of its different tones.  The plan of each floor should be carefully studied to get the vistas in all directions so that harmony may reign and there will be no danger of a clashing color discord when a door is opened.  The connecting rooms need not be all in one color, of course, but they should form a perfect color harmony one with another, with deft touches of contrast to accent and bring out the beauty of the whole scheme:  This matter of harmony in contrast is an important one.  The idea of using a predominant color is a restful one, and adds dignity and apparent size to a house.  The walls, for instance, could be paneled in white enameled wood, or plaster, and the necessary color and variety could be supplied by the rugs, hangings, furniture, and pictures.

Another charming plan is to have different tones of one color used—­a scheme running from cream or old ivory through soft yellow and tan to a russet brown would be lovely, especially if the house did not have an over supply of light.  Greens may be used with discretion, and a cool and attractive scheme is from white to soft blue through gray.  If different colors are to be used in the different rooms the number of combinations is almost unlimited, but there must always be the restraining influence of a good color sense in forming the scheme or the result will be disappointing, to say the least.

A very important matter in the use of color is in its relation to the amount and quality of the light.  Dreary rooms can be made cheerful, and too bright and dazzling rooms can be softened in effect, by the skillful use of color.  The warm colors,—­cream white, yellows—­but not lemon yellow—­orange, warm tans, russet, pinks, yellow greens, yellowish reds are to be used on the north or shady side of the house.  The cool colors,—­white, cream white, blues, grays, greens, and violet, are for the sunny side.  Endless combinations may be made of these colors, and if a gray room, for example, is wished on the north side of the house, it can be used by first choosing a warm tone of gray and combining with it one of the warm colors, such as certain shades of soft pink or yellow.  We can stand more brilliancy of color out-of-doors than we can in the house, where it is shut in with us.  It is too exciting and we become restless and nervous.  No matter on what scale a house is furnished one of its aims should be to be restful.