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93 
We had been married about three years, and been 
living in a rented house all that time, when we be¬ 
gan thinking of building a house of our own. 
How to plan one that would come within 
our means, which was but a few hundred, and 
still have one that would be cosey and con¬ 
venient, was what bothered us. But was 
there ever a woman that was not interested 
in a new house, “ be it ever so humble ” 9 
So for some months before we built I would 
often sit down and draw some kind of a 
house on anjr little piece of paper I happened 
to pick up. My husband said if I could plan 
one to suit myself he would have it built as I 
wished. We both wanted a cottage, but 
how to divide it into rooms puzzled us. So 
one day a very dear lady friend came to 
spend the day-with me, and together we set¬ 
tled on the plan of this house as it is now, 
and I have never wished to have it different. 
I will describe it as near as possible, in hope 
that it may help others that must build with 
small means. In size it is hventy-six by 
twenty-eight feet; there is a little hall four 
by nine, with glass over the front door to 
light it; a parlor thirteen by fourteen, with 
two south windows and one west—“ it is a 
splendid room for plants in the winter.” Back of 
the parlor there is a bedroom ten by twelve, with two 
windows, and a closet for clothes three by six. There 
are folding-doors between parlor and bedroom, which 
I thought would be nice if we should ever 
want to use it as double parlors. There is a 
door opening out of the parlor into our sit¬ 
ting-room; this room is thirteen by fifteen 
and a half feet, and off this room .there is a 
small bedroom nine by nine; that is quite 
small, but I have a bed, wash-stand, and two 
chairs in it, and room enough to move the bed 
from the wall and get around it with ease. 
There is an inside stair that leads from this 
room to an attic the whole size of the house; 
it is eight feet high in the centre, and lighted 
by a skylight; I call this the most convenient 
room in the house, for it is just the kind of a 
place one wants to store things in that are not 
in every-day use. The front of the house 
faces the south, and the sitting-room the 
east; this room has an outside door that 
opens out to my flower garden, which is just 
lovely to see in the summer. Now, back of 
this upright is a wing fourteen by twenty-two, 
which is divided into a small dining-room 
with china closet, and kitchen with pantry; 
there is a door opening out of my dining¬ 
room to my small fruit-garden. I have a 
cellar twelve by twelve, which I go to from 
the kitchen. Back from the house we have 
a nice wood-shed, chicken-coop, and barn, 
with a good kitchen-garden, which my husband 
plants and cares for before and after his day’s work. 
We are quite proud of our little home, and everyone 
that has been here seems surprised to find so much 
room in so small a looking house. 
Now I must tell you of some tilings I have done to 
make my home pleasant. In the first place, I try to 
keep everything tidy b)^ doing my work regular and 
when it should be done, although sometimes I dread 
Lamp-Mat ix Applique Work. 
to begin; still I always feel repaid when I see every¬ 
thing look neat. I always try to have my table look 
clean and bright, and something good to eat. In my 
dining and sitting rooms 
I have bright rag-carpets 
Chinese Embroidery. 
(my own make), as I could not afford to buy all- 
wool carpets for all my rooms. In the parlor the 
carpet is crimson and gray; one of my bedrooms is 
furnished in scarlet, the other in blue. And here I 
must tell you about the lambrequins I made for 
my blue room from a hint I got in the Cabi¬ 
net last spring. I took an old sheet, and after 
washing and blueing it quite blue, I tore it into 
strips one inch wide, and ravelled out both edges, 
leaving only four threads in the centre. 
When all was ravelled I took a board long 
enough to reach across the window, which 
made it forty-two inches long, and leaving 
it four inches through the centre. I ran it 
to about half an inch at each end; then I 
made a lead-pencil mark at every inch clear 
across the edge of the board, and on every 
mark I tacked one strip of the fringed cot¬ 
ton; then I divided them into lots of six 
strips each, which made seven lots. The 
middle lot I left two feet long, the next 
two and a half, the next three, and the out¬ 
side ones three and a half. At the bottom 
of each lot I fastened a large tassel, made of 
one strip of the fringe, and tied it with blue 
ribbon, and across the top I put a band of 
blue ribbon one and a half inches wide, which 
covered the tacks. It just took half of a 
sheet for each window. My friends said 
they were very pretty. 
I covered an old box with some blue 
cambric for a stand, and took some dotted 
muslin (an old dress) and puffed it over 
the cambric, and looped it where necessary 
with blue ribbon. I made a wall-protector for back 
of the stand of the muslin, and lined it with the 
cambric. I learned that from the Cabinet, too. I 
made a rug of some old socks; as I have never seen 
this kind of rug spoken of in the Cabinet, I 
will tell you how I made mine. I toot old 
woollen socks or stockings, and cut them in 
pieces lengthwise, cutting them two inches 
wide and as long as the sock will make 
them ; then I ravelled them from one edge, 
leaving about half an inch on the other edge 
without ravelling. When all was ravelled 
I took a piece of coarse cloth the size I 
wanted my rug, and began at the outside 
edge. I sewed piece after piece of the ravel¬ 
led socks to the cloth, letting each piece 
overlap the others just enough to hide the 
sewing until the cloth is all covered. One 
can use every little piece of socks or chil¬ 
dren’s stockings they happen to have, and if 
dyed bright colors they make handsome- 
Iooking rugs. I have a few nice pictures, 
among which are Vick’s cliromo, “Winter 
In-doors and Out,” and “Treasures of Gar¬ 
den and Woodland,” in frames that my 
husband made from some of the moulding 
o 
that was left after building. I stained and 
varnished them myself, and thej r look very 
well. 
I have a pretty little canary that a friend 
gave me for a Christmas present. But my 
plants are my pets. I have about a dozen, 
besides a large box of Scarlet Verbena, which is in 
bud. A. R. M. 
CM 
