Pictures put on the walls for the pleasure of beholders, ought to be
kept scrupulously clean, and if they cannot be, the bare walls are
preferable. As with pictures, so with carpets ; and since the latter
are so hard to keep clean, the quality ought to be carefully con-
sidered in buying them.
Carpets were first used in little squares, and the people of the East,
who had no chairs, invented them to sit upon. They were made of
plaited rushes, and when used a certain length of time, were thrown
aside. Hence it would seem that their inventors originally intended
them only for temporary use, and that as they could not be kept clean,
or washed when they were soiled, they were discarded; two simple
rules which should remind moderns that, if they are more cunning in
handicraft than were their ancestors, they are not more neat.
If our floors were what they should be, we would not be confined
to carpets so exclusively as we are. Women, who ought really to
have the most to say about house-building, have the least, and floors
and closets, the two most important features in houses, do not receive
the consideration that is their due, for men do not realize the defects
in these things always, and builders do not trouble to give better
work than is required. The sight of a beautifully even and smooth
floor, accurately laid and perfectly finished, is one worth seeing, but
it is rare to eyes accustomed to even the finest of houses. We make
much of our looms and our manufactures ; and show their produc-
tions in all portions of the house, but the oak and the cedar, the
HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 45
hickory and the walnut woods that are to be had in such profusion in
this country, are not generally utilized in our flooring, and not
dreamed of as being more desirable than woollen carpets.
If we cannot have Eastern floors of rare woods, we can have
smooth ones, fit to put carpets over, and we ought to demand that
they shall be a protection for them, rather than what they are — one
of the most destructive elements against which they contend but a
short time before they wear out.
In buying carpets, choose for every room in the house, small pat-
terns— Persian designs, or something as admirable in American styles.
Get oak color, and with a blue border, for one room, and a serviceable
shade of brown, with a crimson border about it, for another; or,
buy a mixed pattern and the half-yard deep borders made specially
for it.
Velvet used to be preferred to all other kinds of carpets, but the
popular voice is in favor of English body Brussels, or some of the
other varieties of lighter carpets. Neutral tints last longest, and
patterns should be small. The old-time flower-beds that were once
laid out on carpets, and composed of blossoms of every kind, are
relegated to the garret or the auction-room. The simpler st\dcs are
growing in favor, and those who know of the beauty of quiet colors,
and the restfulness that a tasty carpet can give, select such carpets
for their homes. Cheap carpets are costly, since they have to be
renewed so often, and are, when at their best, only dust catchers ! A
good three-ply Kidderminster or an English Brussels will give most
satisfaction for a dining-room, sleeping apartment or room.
Page 23
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Pictures put on the walls for the pleasure of beholders, ought to be
kept scrupulously clean, and if they cannot be, the bare walls are
preferable. As with pictures, so with carpets ; and since the latter
are so hard to keep clean, the quality ought to be carefully con-
sidered in buying them.
Carpets were first used in little squares, and the people of the East,
who had no chairs, invented them to sit upon. They were made of
plaited rushes, and when used a certain length of time, were thrown
aside. Hence it would seem that their inventors originally intended
them only for temporary use, and that as they could not be kept clean,
or washed when they were soiled, they were discarded; two simple
rules which should remind moderns that, if they are more cunning in
handicraft than were their ancestors, they are not more neat.
If our floors were what they should be, we would not be confined
to carpets so exclusively as we are. Women, who ought really to
have the most to say about house-building, have the least, and floors
and closets, the two most important features in houses, do not receive
the consideration that is their due, for men do not realize the defects
in these things always, and builders do not trouble to give better
work than is required. The sight of a beautifully even and smooth
floor, accurately laid and perfectly finished, is one worth seeing, but
it is rare to eyes accustomed to even the finest of houses. We make
much of our looms and our manufactures ; and show their produc-
tions in all portions of the house, but the oak and the cedar, the
HOME-MAKING AND HOME-MANAGEMENT. 45
hickory and the walnut woods that are to be had in such profusion in
this country, are not generally utilized in our flooring, and not
dreamed of as being more desirable than woollen carpets.
If we cannot have Eastern floors of rare woods, we can have
smooth ones, fit to put carpets over, and we ought to demand that
they shall be a protection for them, rather than what they are — one
of the most destructive elements against which they contend but a
short time before they wear out.
In buying carpets, choose for every room in the house, small pat-
terns— Persian designs, or something as admirable in American styles.
Get oak color, and with a blue border, for one room, and a serviceable
shade of brown, with a crimson border about it, for another; or,
buy a mixed pattern and the half-yard deep borders made specially
for it.
Velvet used to be preferred to all other kinds of carpets, but the
popular voice is in favor of English body Brussels, or some of the
other varieties of lighter carpets. Neutral tints last longest, and
patterns should be small. The old-time flower-beds that were once
laid out on carpets, and composed of blossoms of every kind, are
relegated to the garret or the auction-room. The simpler st\dcs are
growing in favor, and those who know of the beauty of quiet colors,
and the restfulness that a tasty carpet can give, select such carpets
for their homes. Cheap carpets are costly, since they have to be
renewed so often, and are, when at their best, only dust catchers ! A
good three-ply Kidderminster or an English Brussels will give most
satisfaction for a dining-room, sleeping apartment or room.