FURNISHING 281 



In London nowadays the houses of the young are 

 freshly done up and clean and healthy. Where I find the 

 greatest sanitary neglect is in the homes of the middle- 

 aged, especially those who have lived long in one place. 

 Even in the houses of rich and well-to-do people, in 

 London, the dirt in the upstairs rooms and passages is 

 inconceivable. The mistress of the house is lazy or in- 

 different ; and as we get older, the years run on so quickly 

 it is impossible to realise how long it is since the 

 last cleaning; nothing is ever looked over, replaced, or 

 renewed. A favourite economy, and one to which the 

 best of housekeepers have a tendency, is to put old 

 carpets out of dining-rooms or drawing-rooms into bed- 

 rooms of boys and girls, often without even going to the 

 expense of having them cleaned. The painted floor and 

 a small piece of new drugget, clean and sweet, would be 

 infinitely more healthy and more appropriate. Another 

 constantly neglected corner is what is called the house- 

 maid's closet. In houses where servants are not much 

 looked after, and even where they are, this is often the 

 glory-hole of dirt. I recommend the use of the white 

 enamel slop-pails, which are so infinitely easier to keep 

 clean than the old painted tin ones, though they, too, are 

 quite clean if they are only repainted often enough. The 

 whole system of living and housekeeping in England is 

 still sacrificed far too much to show large sitting-rooms, 

 small bed-rooms, and unclean attics. However, things 

 are infinitely better than they used to be. In the last 

 century one or two footmen used to sleep on mattresses in 

 the front hall of the crowded little houses in Mayfair; 

 and even in my childhood the custom of putting three or 

 four men or women into one room was quite a usual thing. 



To those about to furnish I would say, ' Never buy new 

 things when you can get them second-hand.' Procure an 

 ordinary illustrated price list from one of the large 



