A music room, to deserve its title, should be furnished with a sympathetic understanding of the art for which it stands. The first provision is, naturally, for the performer. The placing of the piano is of importance, and the best rule to follow is that observed on the concert stage, where the soprano part of the keyboard is always toward the listeners.

If the upright piano can be placed at an angle from the wall without too much isolation for the player, the acoustic effects will be better than if the instrument stands close to the wall. The first arrangement is practicable only in a room of good size, with window and artificial light conveniently distributed. The back of a piano so situated must have some kind of light opaque drapery to conceal the works.

The true music lover will do away with all bric-a-brac from the top of the piano, as this is liable to cause a distracting jingle and vibration of the strings. For protecting the polished surface of the lid an embroidered scarf may be laid upon it. If the instrument must be left for a long time in a closed house, it is worth while to buy a rubber cover to keep off the dampness.

A piano stool is sold with the piano, but many persons prefer the revolving chair, and with graceful spindles for the back and lines of inlay the latter is a more pleasing article of furniture. In a home where there is duet playing, a bench for two players will be found more satisfactory than two stools or chairs.

The keeping of music in orderly fashion away from the dust can be achieved only with a cabinet having doors - a point that, in some music cabinets, is overlooked. One of the new devices for a music cabinet is to have two small doors open simultaneously, and on the inside of each door a ledge corresponding with the inside supports for the shelves on which the shelves may be rested when drawn out.

The lighting of the piano, when gas and electricity cannot be employed, is a problem. A small hand lamp with a shield on one side is made for the grand piano, and candlesticks are attached to the upright panels of the cottage piano. A standard lamp in brass or wrought iron can be used close to the piano. Lamp shades are better if nearly colourless.

After the performer's requirements are assured that of the listener may receive attention. Seats that are restful and a light that is pleasantly tempered are the two main considerations, but the musical environment is not complete without the introduction of some plaster casts, bronzes, pictures and books. These, if selected from musical subjects, will impart educational and artistic value to the room.

All decorative effect in a music room should be subordinate to the use to which the room is given. A harmony of colour is as imperative as the musical harmony produced by instruments or voices. The single-colour scheme, in which red, green, blue or yellow alone is used throughout the room, is too dominant for the room allotted to music. A better plan is a diffusion of colours in a low key.

There are numberless fabrics besides papers and burlaps that will make rich and quiet hangings for the walls - Japanese printed cottons, velveteens, jutes, linens and tapestries. While a plain colour may seem essential, the preference may fall equally well to a design in a self-woven texture, or a pattern that is printed in another tone of the same colour as the background.

If the side-walls are over ten feet high, the upper part may be decorated with a wide English border pictorial in motive, or a plain colour may have a conventional pattern painted upon it with a stencil. The plaster relief work that is made here and across the water gives the Elizabethan effect when applied to a ceiling, and when it is brought in touch with the wall paper by the right tinting it produces an appropriate decoration for the music room. This plaster work is also employed on the lower wall as a wainscot, or on the upper part for a border.

As important as the fireplace is in every division of the house, it offers in the music room an unrivalled opportunity for characteristic treatment. A capable architect will not pass by such a chance without originating something worthy of attention, but in a home where the conventional mantel is already in possession the only recourse is to add some attractive picture or piaster relief above the mantel. The famous Delia Robbia singing children, in one, two, or three plaster panels, may be framed like the woodwork and fitted into the wall, or a photographic copy of some mural painting relating to the art of music may be procured.

A set of portraits of musicians and composers makes a stronger appeal when hung close together than when distributed in various parts of the room. Narrow, dark wood frames in uniform sizes will further set off the little gallery of famous faces.

On the selection of furniture depends a large share of the distinctive quality that should mark the interior of the music room. The pictures may be noteworthy, the instruments of the highest class, the colouring harmonious, yet a pervading sense of something wanting means that the furniture must be inartistic. The chairs should be well-built and of varying shapes and sizes. Rocking-chairs may be omitted. Tables may be placed wherever they will be of service for holding books, flowers or music. Small rugs, not too heavy in weight, and door and window draperies as light as practicable will not lessen the sound of the instruments or voices enough to be given up for technical reasons.