IN the country home that is occupied only during the summer months the conventional rules for furnishing and decorating may be set aside for something more original, characteristic and unique. In each and every departure, however, from accepted lines, the idea of comfort should not be excluded.

The common mistake in fitting up a summer home in the woods or by the sea is to introduce too many articles of a trivial nature, a style of furnishing that is obviously unsuited to the main objects that are sought for in vacation days - rest and recreation. Another incongruous element that may often be found in the country home of moderate-priced construction is an attempt to install all the luxurious appointments of the modern hotel. A useful simplicity is the true way to bring the temporary shelter into harmonious relations with its surroundings.

If there are shutters at the windows one set of hangings may be the entire inner outfit. In one country home a cretonne was hung at all of the windows in colours and designs to suit the different walls. In the bedrooms some chintz effects were adopted; in the living room some foliage patterns that resembled tapestry. The washable nature of this material, its good texture and interesting designs made it a pleasant change from muslin draperies. In making up the cretonne curtains a hem was sewed at the top of each breadth and rings attached to slip over a brass rod an inch in diameter. When the room needed screening or darkening the curtains were easily drawn across the glass.

Awnings impart a great deal of style to the exterior of the country house in addition to their having a utilitarian object. Green-and-white stripes are cool-looking for homes with little foliage around them, but their fleeting colour makes them a luxury. Brown-and-white stripes fade to quiet tones of grey and white that harmonise with white houses with green blinds. Red-and-white stripes appear the best on well-shaded grounds and give a festive appearance to the home, but the colours are not permanent either in sun or rain. Orange-and-white stripes, in various widths, assimilate with stonework, weather-stained shingles or grey paint and this variety stands the exposure the best of any of the coloured duck that is used for awnings.

In the furniture for the living room of the country home there is wide scope for making a picturesque interior. The contiguity of the piazza, lawn or garden may be remembered by selecting chairs and tables that may be easily transported from one place to the other. Some of the willow pieces fulfil this triple service, and the white canvas chairs, with arms, that are used on shipboard, may be chosen. A steamer chair may be folded together for carrying about, and floor cushions may be shifted without trouble.

A swinging settle may be hung near the fireplace if the ceiling beams will sustain its weight. The mission make is the heaviest, but lighter varieties are made in cane and willow. A single swinging seat has also been manufactured for rooms that are too small to accommodate the double size. A lounge chair made of willow or rattan makes a half-reclining bed that may be luxuriously fitted with cushions and pillows. Such a chair may be stationed in any part of the room, and does not exact the wall space needed by a lounge or sofa. A wide divan, however, is the acme of comfort, and a pine or maple frame fitted with a good spring and laid with a well-made mattress may, with a suitable cover and soft pillows, be as satisfactory as the most expensive kind of sofa.

If a plain spread is laid over a divan, the same material may be used upon three large square pillows that are put at the back to

If upholstered furniture must do duty during the warm weather, it may have slip covers of chintz in the glazed finish, or linen taffeta. The plain, striped linens may be reserved for the covers in rooms that are not occupied during the summer, but their lack of interest bars them from the living room in the country home.

The production of painted furniture has been revived during the past few years, and if the painting can be accomplished at home the unfinished pieces may be bought at a less cost than when enamelled in colours.

If small tables that are light in weight are chosen for the living room, their usefulness will extend out-of-doors. Willow, bamboo, matting, cane, rattan and wicker, each by itself or in combination with wood, make a variety, and the shapes may be round, square or oblong to fit into different niches.

Covers for tables are not as much in demand as mats, but one or the other may be an individualising note in the room. Round or square leather mats may be of undecorated materials, or the finest tooling may be added, or a border painted. Heavy linen cut in circular shape may be ornamented with a wide band of embroidery in deep tones of a contrasting colour.

The writing desk or table may be of lighter construction than the one in the town house, but should have the usual accommodations for note paper, pens, ink and other paraphernalia for correspondence. If space is scant, a shelf on hinges, to turn down against the wall, when not in use, is a convenient place for writing or working. Such a table may be a valuable little serving stand in the dining room. A picture screen is a novelty that, intended originally for the living room of the country house, may be utilised with almost as much satisfaction in any other part. The upper portions of the panels are fitted with coloured prints that give a brief pictorial story of hunting adventures. The lower part of the panel may he fitted with a textile fabric or the heavy coverings made for walls - crash or burlap. An expedient used for screening a corner of a living room when meals were in progress was effected with a large clothes-horse (the kind sold for laundry work) which was covered with a linen taffeta printed in a bold, floral design.