Well-to-do wallpaper manufacturer Thomas and his wife still worry and fuss over their now grown children, Ralph and Phyl, even though the younger Thomases try to exert their independence and a "modern" moral outlook. Ralph, who designs wallpaper for his father's company, wants to become a serious painter, while Phyl wants to be free to pursue a relationship with Duff Wilson, an unhappily married man. Two months after Ralph has promised his father to turn down an offer to study art in Paris for a year, Phyl tearfully confesses to Mr. Thomas that she has been spending every weekend with Duff and wants to get her own apartment to be with him. Though shocked, Thomas gently comforts his daughter, but the next day dies of a stroke. After the funeral, Mrs. Thomas, who does not approve of Phyl's behavior, begs Ralph to keep his promise to stay a year so that she will not be alone. When the year is up, Ralph finally goes to Paris to study with famed art teacher Bodvin, despite his mother's pleadings. Some time later, Phyl tells her mother that Duff's wife has agreed to a divorce and they soon will marry. Though still uneasy with each other, Mrs. Thomas and Phyl reconcile, and Mrs. Thomas tells her maid Alice that she will no longer interfere in her children's lives. On Phyl and Duff's honeymoon in Paris, they go to see Ralph, who has sunk lower and lower since being told by Bodvin that as an artist he could only be successful as a designer or decorator. Though impoverished and homesick, he refuses to go with Phyl, saying that he can't go home yet. Several months later, Ralph does return, though, unaware that Phyl had sent him a telegram saying that their mother is very ill. Mrs. Thomas is overjoyed when Ralph says that he is going to stay, but dies after they drink a toast to his return. About a year later, Phyl and Duff and their twin babies are happily living in the Thomas family home. While Ralph and stuffy old Aunty Doe visit for dinner one evening, one of the twins puts a button up his nose. As Phyl, Duff and Ralph become panic-stricken, Aunty Doe calmly helps the baby sneeze the button out. With the resolution of the momentary crisis, Ralph realizes that he has missed family life, and Duff and Phyl happily invite him to live with them. As he and Duff leave to get his things, Phyl tells them not to be out too late, and they laughingly realize that history is repeating itself as the younger generation starts to act like their parents.