Strips of blue and white oilcloth have been used to make this 
bath mat; these are woven as in a rag carpet 
Rugs for the Whole House 
for $400 
HOW ONE HOME MAKER SOLVED THE BIG 
PROBLEM OF FLOOR COVERINGS—WHAT 
WAS BOUGHT AND WHAT THEY COST 
For the bedroom with craftsman 
furniture a bungalow rug was used 
by Louise King 
For the billiard-room a runner of grass 
matting was found most serviceable 
A N ARTISTIC, enthusiastic, but inexperienced young matron 
furnishing her new home (an attractive three-story house) 
was supplied with a definite sum for this purpose, and a great 
point was made of her ability to keep within the amount. The 
walls were decorated, the furniture ordered, and the curtains on 
the way. On these a generous sum had been expended, when 
she discovered there was but $400.00 available for the floor 
coverings throughout. 
In disconsolately taking count of her requirements in this 
line, the well polished hardwood floors 
seemed to reflect discouragement, and the 
halls, living-room, dining-room, three 
second story bedrooms, third floor bil¬ 
liard-room and adjacent bachelor’s 
chamber intruded themselves insistently. 
She had never thought of any effect 
other than that supplied by the soft rich 
and enchanting color combinations of 
rare Oriental rugs, for her first floor, and 
these seemed to her absolutely neces¬ 
sary. She found the living-room alone 
would require one rug at least 81 by 
11 or 12 ft. and a runner in addition — 
to sufficiently cover its 14 by 18 dimen¬ 
sions. A hasty calculation showed her 
that she could not purchase an Oriental 
rug of the weave and colors she wanted 
for less than $300.00 even if she was 
lucky enough to strike an unusually 
good bargain. She felt she could not 
spoil the rest of her furnishings with 
inferior rugs, and some one suggested 
auction sales as the solution of her prob¬ 
lem. She attended one and for $25.00 
purchased a Saraband for her hall, which 
upon investigation she found at one end 
badly worn and for which she had bid¬ 
den against herself, raising the price 
from $20.00 (her own bid) to $25.00, 
when a kindly neighbor warned her of 
her mistake. However, she made the best of a bad bargain, 
although it left much of the floor uncovered. “ I will go to no 
more auctions and I will give up my Oriental dreams,” she 
decided, and proceeded to look up other weaves. She found 
Wilton carpets in lovely soft colors and small designs which 
could be made up into a rug of the desired size. When she had 
almost determined upon devoting $100.00 of the remaining 
$375.00 to the living-room floor, trusting to luck to see her through 
on the other rooms, she heard of some domestic rugs of excellent 
weave and soft colors, reproducing, it 
was said, beautiful Oriental designs. 
1'he pile of the fabric was deep and 
insured a long life to the rug. The 
walls of the living-room were covered 
with a tapestry paper, dull old blue, 
olive green and brown in tone. Her 
mahogany furniture was of good lines 
reproducing the quaint and delicate 
Sheraton style. The woodwork of the 
room had been enameled in a very 
deep tone of ivory which harmonized 
with the background of the paper. The 
rug she selected was a 9 by 12 size for 
$50.00 — in color a deeper shade of gray 
blue than the wall paper and showing a 
mosaic Oriental border, brown, dull 
olive and smoked gray in color. With 
this she used a runner of the same de¬ 
sign and color for which she gave $15.00. 
In the dining-room adjoining, the 
upper wall was covered in two tones of 
sage green above the English oak 
wainscot. A ready made rug of Royal 
Wilton in 9 by 12 size, costing $35.00, 
showed a ground of dull green with 
small blue figures. The Oriental dra¬ 
peries of raw silk were of dull blue and 
the portiere between the living-room 
and dining-room was of tapestry, of 
similar color and design to the living- 
A blue and white rag rug was selected to go with 
old mahogany furniture in the principal bedroom 
(128) 
