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DECORATION UNDER FOOT—THE 
ADAPTABILITY OF VARIOUS TYPES 
OF RUGS TO PARTICULAR FLOORS 
by Lydia Le Baron Walker 
Rag rugs, the negligee of floor coverings 
sufficient to give her a refined appearance 
tion may be made regarding the floor of a 
priately covered, a tone is im¬ 
parted to the whole. This is 
being appreciated more and 
more. The present purpose is 
to outline certain new ideas 
that have been developed on 
this important subject. It is 
not to be expected, however, 
that changes in rug styles will 
be as radical or frequent as 
those that affect feminine 
fashion. Changes, of course, 
there ar.e; but one must for the 
moment divest his mind of the 
American penchant for light¬ 
ning changes, and remember 
that the best rugs are still the 
products of the more leisurely 
Orient. Not that current in¬ 
fluences fail to be felt even 
there. That they are felt is 
evidenced by the modifications 
that bring even the Oriental 
rugs into harmony with our 
Western decorative ideas. 
Some of the changes notice¬ 
able in the latest rugs may be 
indicated by broad generaliza¬ 
tions. Take the matter of col¬ 
or, for example. The colors of 
the present rugs in a measure 
reflect those recent art tenden¬ 
cies which have attracted so 
much attention. They are 
brighter than heretofore. 
S OMEONE has 
said that if the 
neck and feet of a 
woman are neatly 
attired, that alone is 
A similar observa- 
room; if it is appro- 
Eor bathrooms and nurseries, rag rugs 
A chaste arrangement of small rugs is 
adaptable are the Orientals 
Among the colors, blues 
are coming into strong 
favor. The vogue for a 
pronounced color in Ori¬ 
ental rugs generally lasts 
for about three years; for inconspicuous colors, even longer. 
Among the latter are browns and tans, favored by many on 
account of their adaptability to 
general surroundings where 
the strict matching of positive 
colors is not an object. As 
already intimated, the stronger 
feeling of the moment is to¬ 
wards pronounced color. 
Again, the new rugs reveal 
altered ideas as to shape and 
proportion. The shape of such 
floor coverings for many of the 
most important rooms in the 
house is square, or almost so. 
Like the color element above 
referred to, this accords with 
the recent art tendencies, which 
have also their dimensional 
aspects. For less important 
rooms, the “rule of square" is 
relaxed. For them, as for 
porches, sun parlors, and the 
like, the round or oval shape is 
prominent and interesting; but 
even the traditional oblong is 
not out of place. Thus it will 
be seen that what is correct and 
fashionable for one room 
would not be for another; and 
what is demanded for a city 
residence is not needed for a 
country bungalow. There are 
rugs which may almost be 
called the “negligee” of floor 
covering, all right in their 
place. They will be referred to 
advisable for the hallway, especially 
of inconspicuous coloring 
222 
