Its most usual defect is a want of keeping. A want of keeping is observable sometimes in the character of the several pieces of furniture, but generally in their colours or modes of adaptation to use. Very often the eye is offended by their inartistic arrangement. Straight lines are too prevalent too uninterruptedly continued or clumsily interrupted at right angles. If curved lines occur, they are repeated into unpleasant uniformity.
Undue precision spoils the appearance of many a room.
Curtains are rarely well disposed, or well chosen in respect to the other decorations. Carpets are better understood of late than of ancient days, but we still very frequently err in their patterns and colours. A carpet is the soul of the apartment. From it are deduced not only the hues but the forms of all objects incumbent. Every one knows that a large floor should have a covering of large figures, and a small one must have a covering of small yet this is not all the knowledge in the world.