DRAPERIES Draperies are not always considered as a part of furnishings, yet in truth--as far as decorative necessities are concerned--they should come immediately after wall and floor coverings.

The householder who is in haste to complete the arrangement of the home naturally thinks first of chairs, sofas, and tables, because they come into immediate personal use, but if draperies are recognised as a necessary part of the beauty of the house it is worth while to study their appropriate character from the first.

They have in truth much more to do with the effect of the room than chairs or sofas, since these are speedily sat upon and pass out of notice, while draperies or portieres are in the nature of pictures--hanging in everybody's sight.

As far as the element of beauty is concerned, a room having good colour, attractive and interesting pictures, and beautiful draperies, is already furnished.

Whatever else goes to the making of it may be also beautiful, but it must be convenient and useful, while in the selection of draperies, beauty, both relative and positive, is quite untrammelled.
As in all other furnishings, from the aesthetic point of view colour is the first thing to be considered.