It is the art of keeping the correct feeling which makes or mars a room of this kind, and no pieces of markedly modern and inharmonious furniture should be used.  In furnishing a house in Georgian or Colonial manner one need not keep all the rooms in the same division of the period, for there is a certain general air of harmony and relationship about them all, and the common bond of mahogany makes it possible to have a Chippendale library, an Adam drawing-room, a Hepplewhite dining-room and a Sheraton hall, or any other combination desired.  The spirit of all the eighteenth century cabinet-makers was one of honest construction and beauty of line and workmanship.  When they took ideas from other sources they made them so distinctly their own, so essentially English that there is a family resemblance through all their work.

Adam decoration and furniture makes most delightful rooms.  The painted satinwood furniture for dining-room, drawing-room and bedrooms, lends itself to lovely schemes with its soft golden tones, its delightfully woven cane chair backs and panels.  A room on the sunny side of the house, with a soft old ivory colored wall, dull blue silk curtains, and a yellow and blue Chinese rug, would be most charming with this satinwood furniture.

Then, as I have said before, there are the many different shades of enameled and carved furniture and also beautiful natural wood.  One can have more of a sideboard in an Adam than in a Chippendale room, as he used two pedestals, one at each end of a large serving-table.  He often made tables to fit in niches, which is a charming idea.

An Adam mantel is very distinctive and one should be careful in having it correct.  There are beautiful reproductions made.  The lamp and candle shades should also be designed in the spirit of the time.  There are lovely Adam designs in nearly all materials suitable for hangings and chair coverings.  Oriental rugs or plain colored carpets appeal to us more than large-figured rugs.  Adam sometimes had special rugs made exactly reproducing the design of the ceiling, but it is an idea that is better forgotten.

With Hepplewhite and Sheraton the same general ideas hold; keep to the spirit of the furniture, try to have a central idea in the house furnishing, so that the restful effect of harmony may be given.

[Illustration:  Pembroke tables were made by Hepplewhite.  This is a fine example and shows characteristic inlay and the legs sloping on the inside edge only.  The flaps fold down and make a small oblong table.]

[Illustration:  This fine Sheraton sideboard shows curved doors, and knife boxes with oval inlay of satinwood.  The center cupboard is straight.  The legs are reeded.]