60 
House & Garden 
WALL PAPERS FOR LIVING ROOMS 
JJ alls Covered with Interesting and Colorful Papers Come As a 
Relief After the Long Period of Plain and Paneled Effects 
LUCY D. TAYLOR 
years of plain walls in living rooms, one 
turns eagerly to all the new and the de¬ 
lightful papers that bring a certain interest 
to a room besides providing a decorative 
background. 
It is possible to have plain walls and still 
use paper. Nothing makes a more charm¬ 
ing living room than a silver or gold tea 
chest paper. This comes with a faint de¬ 
sign that takes away from the flat look 
and, in the case of silver, it can be glazed 
in a color, giving a delightful, old effect, 
and one warmer in tone than the plain 
silver. Plain papers are procurable in all 
the neutral tones and these have a certain 
softness of texture that gives a warm tone to 
a wall. A plain paper in a blue-green shade 
makes a delightful living room, especially 
A 
,,r 
A ROOM has no virtue in itself. Only 
in so far as it reflects the lives of 
the people and furnishes them with 
a happy and congenial setting does it come 
to have meaning. This applies most of all 
to a living room. 
In planning a room of this kind the first 
question always should be,—what do you 
like? Surround yourself frankly with the 
things that impress you and do not try to 
have a living room done in the Italian 
Renaissance manner because the woman 
across the street has one. 
In planning any room, the first step is 
naturally the finish of the walls. These 
are the surroundings, the frame, as it were, 
of the picture. For a long period we have 
had a deluge of plain painted walls, or 
ones done in paneled ef¬ 
fects. There is nothing 
wrong with this type of 
decoration, and with cer¬ 
tain kinds of furnishings, 
walls of this kind make the 
ideal setting. But after 
An excellent paper jor 
living rooms is the 
stencil design at the 
right which comes in 
tan on a buff ground. 
From Richard E. Thi- 
baut 
if a chintz with terra cotta and yellow in it 
is used for curtains. 
We are too careless of our papers. We 
do not stop often or long enough to con¬ 
sider the part they play in creating an 
atmosphere. In reality we are not buying 
a strip of paper. We are buying colors 
and patterns that weave themselves into our 
lives. If we realized this, perhaps we 
would be a little more careful and select 
more thoughtfully, and not quibble with 
the salesman when he names a price, for it 
is a question of buying ideas, atmosphere 
and setting, for our home life. 
The first consideration in selecting a 
paper for a living room is the character of 
the room itself. No one can give a gen¬ 
eral rule, for there are all kinds of furni- 
niture, all sorts and condi¬ 
tions of rugs, and the 
ornaments and pictures rep¬ 
resent often the varied 
tastes and interests of each 
one of the half dozen mem- 
(Continued on page 114) 
The design of the 
paper at the left is 
black on gray. The 
woodwork might be 
painted blue-green. 
From Richard E. Thi- 
baut 
The paper below 
would be charming in 
an early American liv¬ 
ing room. It is in soft 
tones of gray. From 
M. II. Birge & Sons 
A reproduction of a paper 
found in an old house in 
Salem has a picturesque 
design in grav. From W. 
H. S.'Lloyd 
Below is a paper in 
brilliant colors that 
wojdd be effective shel¬ 
lacked and set into 
panels. Courtesy of 
Richard E. Thibaut 
Bradley & Morrill 
