It is possible now to obtain not only wall papers with suitable friezes in the blue bird motif, but also cretonnes for the summer hangings, 
bedcovers, etc., of similar patterns 
A Blue Bird Bedroom 
by Lydia LeBaron W a l ke k 
T HE latest impulse in the decorative treatment of rooms 
comes from what we may call the idea of character. This 
is something of an advance beyond former concepts. For ex¬ 
ample, we have had period rooms, color rooms and rooms which 
have been developed from the point of view of their particular 
functions, such as dining-rooms and nurseries. But to consider a 
room somewhat as a painter might regard his canvas, as some¬ 
thing to afford a vehicle for the expression of definite and mature 
ideas, in a word to 
give a room a newer 
and intenser touch of 
naturalness, individu¬ 
ality and even person- 
a 1 i t y — this is the 
promise of the recent 
development of the 
character room. 
It is not easy to con¬ 
vey the precise con- 
cep t i o n of such a 
room in a single sen¬ 
tence or paragraph ; 
but the outlines which 
follow, together with 
the illustrations, will 
probably suffice to 
make the meaning 
clear. 
The best way to ex¬ 
plain the genesis of a 
new room of the na¬ 
ture indicated, will be 
to take up a concrete 
example from which 
it will be seen how it 
is possible for rooms 
to reflect the contem¬ 
porary thought of the people. For some months the younger 
and older generations alike have been fascinated by the pictur¬ 
esque aspects of Maeterlinck's “Blue Bird,” while they have been 
touched by the deeper meaning of the sweet allegory. Now com¬ 
merce is becoming intimate. It seeks to divine prevailing senti¬ 
ment. and to appeal to it by reflecting it. And so we have various 
blue bird creations such as blue bird cretonnes, blue bird draperies, 
blue bird vases, blue bird bureau fittings and other accessories, 
and complete blue bird 
furnishings, including 
wall papers. These 
have followed natu¬ 
rally upon blue bird 
jewelry, millinery, 
stationery and similar 
fashionable innova¬ 
tions. Let us hope that 
this interesting flock 
of blue birds may suc¬ 
ceed in distributing a 
very large measure of 
happiness every¬ 
where. If it should 
chance that the reader 
is not familiar w ith 
the thought of the 
drama we may ex¬ 
plain that its symbol- 
ism calls the bird the 
“Blue Bird for Hap¬ 
piness.” 
The specific p u r- 
pose of these para¬ 
graphs is to present 
some essential char¬ 
acteristics of a blue 
b i r d room. At the 
The wall paper used here is a satin stripe in cerulean blue and it is treated with what 
is known as the “crown” effect—a silhouetted pattern from the paper on page 428 
(426) 
