_Decoration as a Corrective._--But this does not prevent him from attempting to counteract the blunders of faulty design and bad architecture. Such correction, indeed, forms a large part of the work of decorators and furnishers, both professional and amateur. If the lines and space divisions of a room be not good, the decoration must be planned with a view to giving the needed harmony of proportions, or at least the appearance of it. If the ceiling be too high, it may be made to "look" lower by carrying the ceiling paper or tinting one or two feet down the walls of the room to meet the picture moulding. The effect of reduced height is accentuated by a high base board or by wainscoting. If the ceiling be too low, the depressing effect may be largely overcome by extending the picture moulding along the top of the wall spaces close to the ceiling. This is a desirable thing to do in the living rooms of most modern houses. Striped wall papers of proper tones may be used in low rooms with good effect in increasing their apparent height. Bad wall spacing may also be corrected by enlarging door-ways, substituting portières for the doors, and by arranging the drapery over windows to give the effect either of increasing or of diminishing their height, as the conditions may require. _Wall Papers._--Probably no element of decoration furnishes so many pitfalls to ensnare the unwary as wall papers do. It is easy to fall a victim to a captivating design as it appears in the few square feet of wall paper displayed on the dealer's rack. The same interesting figure, spread out in endless repetition on the four walls of the living room, may create an atmosphere of unrest and positive discomfort keenly felt by sensitive persons. A wise choice cannot be made in the absence of all the conditions that should really determine it. After all, it is not the paper which is beautiful in the roll that should be selected, but only that which will become beautiful when hung upon the walls of a certain room. Papers with large figures should be avoided unless there is a special reason for using them. They always have the effect of reducing the apparent size of everything associated with them. They make a small room appear dwarfish and a large one over decorated unless well relieved by plain spaces harmonizing in colour with the large-figured patterns. Strong contrasts in colour values should also be avoided, not only between the designs and the ground colour of the wall paper itself, but also between the paper and other objects of importance in the room. The principle of gradation in colour values, which does not as a general thing allow the placing together of light and dark shades or tints, is almost as important as harmony of colour tones.