Painted walls are appropriate for all manner of homes, from the elaborate country or city house all through the list to the farm house or small bungalow, but if, for any reason, one cannot have painted walls, or prefers paper, one need not forego the restful pleasure of plain backgrounds, for there are many beautiful plain papers to be had.

Personal taste usually decides whether paint or paper is to be used.  Paint is thought by some to be too cold or hard in appearance (it is only so when badly done or when disagreeable colors are chosen,) or it is considered too formal, or, with the memory of New England farm houses in mind, too informal.  For those who wish paper, the possibilities are very great if the paper is properly chosen.  The reason why so many people are disappointed with the effect of their newly papered rooms is that they judged the paper at the shop from one piece, and did not realize that a design which appealed to them there might be overpowering when repeated again and again and again on the wall.  When choosing a figured paper several strips should be placed side by side to enable one to judge whether the horizontal repeat is as satisfactory and pleasant as the perpendicular.  When an acceptable one is found a large sample should be taken home to pin on the wall to show the effect in its future environment.  Samples of the curtains and furniture coverings should also be tried with the sample of paper before the final choice is made.  If a paper with a decided figure is chosen pictures should be banished, for their beauty will be killed by the repeated design.  The scale of the design in relation to the size of the room must also be taken into account.  A small room will be overpowered by a large figure, but often the repeat of a small figure is quite correct in a large room as it gives an all-over, unobtrusive effect.  If the wall space is much cut by doors and windows one should select a plain, neutral toned paper.  It would be a fatal error to use a figured paper, for the room would look restless and chaotic and probably out of balance.  If the windows are in groups and the doors balance each other the danger is lessened, but not done away with.  One of the beautiful features in fine old Colonial houses is this ordered position of doors, but in many a modern house the doors have a trying way of appearing in a corner, as if they were a bit ashamed of themselves; and they have good cause to be, for a badly placed door is a calamity.  If one is fortunate enough to plan one’s own house, this matter can be taken care of properly, but in the average ready made house one has to try to make the doors less conspicuous by having them painted in very much the tone of the wall.  With a gray wall, for instance, there should have a slightly lighter tone of gray for the woodwork, with a white and gray striped paper white paint may be used, with a soft tan a deep old ivory, and so on.