The Editor will gladly-answer queries pertaining to individual problems of interior decoration and furnishing. When an immediate reply is 
desired, please enclose, a self-addressed stamped envelope. 
Japanese Wall-Papers 
A NOVELTY in the way of fall dec¬ 
orations is the hand-printed Jap¬ 
anese panel that comes in wonderfully 
effective colorings and designs and may 
be had singly or in sets. The single panels 
are highly decorative, and are for the 
most part printed in rather delicate col¬ 
ors, the patterns including wistaria, iris, 
cherry blossoms, storks and all of the 
favorite effects that are particularly Jap¬ 
anese-}'. 
The panels are about three feet wide 
and average eight to ten feet in length, 
and the prices are anywhere from twenty 
to thirty dollars each. The work on them 
is really wonderful, the larger part of the 
design being at the lower end of the panel, 
the upper part shading off into the most 
exquisite colorings. Framed with strips 
of bamboo they make stunning decora¬ 
tions for walls, particularly in high ceiled 
rooms where there are great expanses of 
wall space. 
The panels that come in sets are neither 
so elaborate nor so expensive as the sin¬ 
gle ones, and are intended to be used as 
wall paper rather than as separate decora¬ 
tions. They are decidedly different too 
in color and design, being printed in 
rather more neutral tones and, instead of 
small "figures there is a Japanese land¬ 
scape effect that covers the entire length 
of the panels. Each of the sections is 
printed in a different design and when 
fitted together the result is rather like 
the old Colonial wall paper that showed 
landscapes and hunting scenes on quite 
a large scale. A set of this sort contains 
twenty-four panels and costs one hun¬ 
dred and eighty dollars. 
Less expensive are the panels of heavy 
paper that look exceedingly like burlap 
and have a sheen of gold over the surface. 
They come in dark rich colors, browns 
and greens and blues, and each panel has 
a conventionalized figure in solid color at 
the top. A heavy Japanese paper that 
is sold by the roll rather than by the panel 
is in plain dark colors with an all-over 
design like a fine network in gold. 
For effective tones there is nothing 
more satisfactory than the Japanese straw 
paper that has been in use for some time. 
Besides the solid colors, in which there 
are a number of excellent tints, this ma¬ 
terial is now shown with a conventional¬ 
ized figure of rather small size, and 
splotches of dull gold in the background, 
cleverly designed to look as though a 
thread of gold had been woven in at ir¬ 
regular intervals. 
Charming friezes in poster effect for 
a child's room are also included in the 
new Japanese wall papers. Quaint fig¬ 
ures of little girls and boys that look ab¬ 
surdly like the familiar Japanese doll, 
with tea tables and parasols, are printed 
in gay colors and silhouetted on a cream 
ground, making a fascinating procession 
for the nursery wall. 
Indian Drugget Rugs 
ITT OUSEHOLDERS having difficulty 
in keeping Mission furnished 
rooms in perfect harmony may find a so¬ 
lution of their problem in an East Indian 
rug recently introduced here. The gen¬ 
eral texture of these rugs and their form 
and design resemble the Navajo work. 
The weave is like a loose kilmarnock or 
like that found in the so-called Bungalow 
Rugs. Two colors are used, browns and 
greens predominate, although there is a 
A good use for old Chinese embroideries— 
held under a glass plate as decoration for 
a mahogany sewing-tray 
large variety of shade and tone. The pat¬ 
tern is woven through making the rugs 
the same on both sides. In the center 
there is a light ground with a few strong- 
conventionalized figures. Drugget bor¬ 
ders are generally wide, darker than the 
center and with an Indian scroll design. 
Several sizes are to be had, with about 
8 x 12 feet as standard. The price is 
around $25 for this size. 
The severe plainness of line and the 
soft neutral tones make a very happy 
combination with the form and color of 
Mission or fumed oak furniture. The 
bold design, also, and the loose weave are 
thoroughly consistent with sturdy oak 
furniture. 
Trays Made of Chinese Embroidery 
HE present fashion of wearing Chi¬ 
nese Mandarin coats for evening 
wraps has caused an enormous demand 
for these garments, and as a result the 
buyers for Oriental houses are securing 
everything in the way of a Mandarin 
coat that they can get hold of. 
They are really so valuable that not one 
is overlooked on account of its condition, 
and even though a coat is so old and worn 
that the material is in tatters, it finds a 
ready purchaser. The coat itself may be 
hopelessly beyond repair, but the hand¬ 
some embroidery with which it is orna¬ 
mented is still intact and some use is made 
of every stitch of it. 
One of the ingenious schemes for pre¬ 
serving the embroidery as well as show¬ 
ing it to the best advantage is to use the 
various pieces for the bottoms of trays, 
the size and shape of each tray depend¬ 
ing, of course, on the particular piece of 
embroidery. The rims are of mahogany 
or cherry, some with carved handles, 
others consisting of merely the smooth 
beveled edges of wood, and the embroid¬ 
ery wbicb forms the bottoms is under 
glass. 
The big embroidered discs that orna¬ 
ment so many of the more elaborate Man¬ 
darin coats are used for the circular trays 
that are from eight to ten inches in diam¬ 
eter. The bands around the sleeves are 
made up into the long narrow cocktail 
trays. Sometimes a single band is used 
(44) 
