CHAPTER THIRTY 



CARPETS AND RUGS 



N the choice of carpets it would be well to avoid the dirty 

 drab and biscuit-brown tones which make the average villa 

 such a depressing place. Whatever else the carpet may be, it 

 should at least be cleanly and pure in its colouring. It is well 

 to secure, if possible, a colouring which will not show the 

 dirt ; but this principle may be carried too far, and while one may be content 

 with dirty colours chosen on these grounds for railway carriages or steamboats, 

 one can hardly be satisfied with them in the home, where the appearance of 

 cleanness and freshness is invaluable. Better a floor of scrubbed deal than 

 a frowsy carpet which, however clean or however unclean it may be, always 

 looks dirty. 



On the other hand, it would be well to avoid what is quaintly described 

 as the " Art Square " ; first, apparently because it is seldom square, and 

 secondly, because there is little art about it. If we are to carpet at all, let 

 the carpet extend right to the edges of the room. Round the margin of the 

 art square custom has declared there must be a sort of Tom Tiddler's Ground 

 of boards, stained a dark brown and varnished. This constitutes one border, 

 and the art square provides a second inner border, which is one of those 

 accommodating patterns which does not mind being cut to fit any size, and so 

 the floor in a small room resolves itself into a series of borders. First there 

 is the art square, which immediately breaks out into border, and then border 

 again in the shape of varnished boards. All this frittering away of the floor 

 surface reduces the apparent size of the room, and the carpet is too large to 

 be considered a rug and too small for the room as a carpet. It is usually 

 adorned with flights of birds and trees laid out flat, and the pattern, instead 

 of developing from centres, develops from the side. Surely, of all the furnish- 

 ings labelled with that fatal prefix, the art square is the least to be desired. 



Although, from a practical point of view, it is extremely desirable that 

 rooms subjected to much wear should be uncarpeted, it must be confessed 

 chat nothing gives such a sensation of luxurious comfort to a room as a deep 

 pile carpet, where footsteps are noiseless. Carpets like Brussels, which have 

 no softness and depth, are unsatisfactory ; and, if a carpet is decided on, it is 

 best to get the full possibilities of this means of floor treatment. A plain 

 green Axminster makes an excellent floor covering, and realises that meadow- 

 life effect which has already been alluded to. Or a deep red carpet makes a 

 fine basis for a warmer scheme of colour, while a good blue is almost equally 

 desirable, though this colour is not quite so reliable. In all cases it is well to 

 avoid borders and central ornaments, and to have an absolutely plain colouring, 

 confining whatever pattern may be used to the rugs which may be placed at 

 the fireside and at doorways. 



The soft reds, blues and greens of the Turkey carpets are excellent for 

 certain rooms, and the possession of an old Turkey carpet would indeed justify 

 its possessor in taking it as the basis for a decorative scheme. Persian rugs and 

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