January, 1914 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
9 
Three different designs for wall paper in the Chinese style 
happy selection of wall covering depends 
such a number of associated details that 
: hesitates to dictate any certain color, 
tern or absence of pattern, for certain 
ms unless due consideration is given to 
those seemingly unimportant factors go- 
ing to make up the individual character of the room for 
which wall covering is to be chosen. 
Inquiry on those points often elicits the response: “The 
room has no individuality of its own; it is just four square 
walls with windows and doors.” 
The purpose or use of the room, however, at once 
determines important factors to be taken into consid- 
eration in the selection of the wall covering, and, more 
than all else, the lighting of the room must be first 
considered for its effect on papering. 
The walls of rooms lighted by 
direct sunlight from numerous win- 
dows naturally take tones of blue 
and green in their darker shades. 
The reason for this is that these tones 
absorb light and do not reflect any 
light as the yellow and pale red colors 
do, thus creating more light in rooms 
where they form the wall covering. 
In rooms having plenty of strong 
sunlight the further reflection of light from the wall cov- 
ering is not desired. 
I he constant color of the sky in sunlight and the most fre- 
quent color of the earth during the time of the year when 
the sun gives us his strongest rays are just those two colors, 
blue and green, of all others the most restful to the eyes. 
It is often wise to take a hint from nature in the selection 
of colors forming the background of our home life on 
the walls of such rooms as are used commonly by inmates 
of the household. 
Whatever one may choose for the walls of large state 
apartments, the great hall or the smaller reception-room, 
the living-room, dining-room and chambers of a house must 
always be associated with personal preference. Singular 
sensitiveness to certain colors often shown by individuals 
must be taken into account when 
choosing colors for the walls of 
rooms in which they expect to spend 
certain hours of their existence if 
they are to live happily in them. To 
the individual who has no personal 
preference whatever in the matter 
of the color of the walls of the 
room he or she is to occupy, this 
sensitiveness on the part of those pos- 
sessing it often seems mere caprice 
on 
on 
pat 
roc 
all 
