A third possibility is that this small, isolated room near the bathroom would have been used as a sick room. Illness was common in the era before modern medicine and most people were nursed at home. The painted walls of this room would have made it particularly easy to clean up after an illness. The harsh disinfectants of the 19th century, such as carbolic acid and chloride, would have been too destructive for wallpaper, but not necessarily for a painted surface.

Frequently reported diseases of the 19th century included: cholera, yellow fever, malaria, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and typhoid.

One of the pests, which contributed to some of the great epidemics in 19th-century New Orleans, was the mosquito.  Mosquito netting, such as you see here, was only used to protect people while they slept from the annoyance and itching of mosquito bites. People in the 19th century did not realize the true danger of mosquitoes. It was not until after the turn of the twentieth century and years of heated debate that it was determined that mosquitoes were more than a nuisance; they also spread diseases, such as yellow fever and malaria.