Pot-pourri from a Surrey garden

However, things are infinitely better than they used to be. In the last century one or two footmen used to sleep on mattresses in the front hall of the crowded little houses in Mayfair; and even in my childhood the custom of putting three or four men or women into one room was quite a usual thing. To those about to furnish I would say, ' Never buy new things when you can get them second-hand.' Procure an ordinary illustrated price list from one of the large 282 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN furnishing shops, and with that, by which to test prices, go to second-hand shops and sales. If you get a well- made second-hand piece of furniture that you really want for the same price as, or cheaper than, you could buy painted or varnished deal — well, you know you have not done badly. If you buy an old bookcase, or table, or sofa, for even a little more than you would give for the inferior modern ones, you may still congratu- late yourself. The only marked difference that I can see between my house and most others, both in the country and in London, is that I never have a roller blind. They are expensive to put up, expensive to maintain, and very difficult to keep clean in London. I never have them in my own rooms, in bed-rooms or servants' rooms, in the stable or gardener's cottage. What I do have is an inner curtain hung from a small rod on the window. It can be made of any variety of material, to suit the different windows and the requirements of the room — thin silk (the effects of light through silk — orange, red, yellow, or green — are very pretty), chintz, muslin, or the thickest dark blue or green twill lined with calico, to keep out light in the bedrooms in the country (in London I think light blue or green twill unlined is sufficient) ; and the most useful of all is the common red Turkey twill, lined or unlined, which washes year after year, and always looks fresh, clean, and bright, and practically never wears out. In many modern windows these inner curtains enable you to dispense with heavy outside curtains altogether — to my mind an advantage, as drawn curtains almost always make a room stuffy and nearly as airless as did the shutters of our forefathers. All the same, thick curtains are, of course, required in the country in winter for warmth. For an outside effect in London, it is very pretty if the wood of the window is painted dark or light FURNISHING 283 green, red, or blue, and if the silk curtains inside are of the same colour to match the paint. On first doing up a house, keep as many rooms as you can plainly whitewashed (' white distemper ' it is call ed) , but see that it is white, and not mixed with black, blue, or yellow, such as painters delight in using. I think every- thing looks well against a white wall. Covering a wall with coarse canvas and then distempering it gives a variety to the surface. Some people think white walls unbecoming. I cannot agree with this. What suits the rose and the tulip as a background ought to suit a pretty woman in her pretty clothes. In a white room dark furniture never looks heavy (not even the darkest oak), and light furniture never looks poor. But white rooms must be kept clean, as ceilings are. This necessity is a great merit, and renewing is not expensive.