ORIENTAL RUGS

The subject of oriental rugs, to be intelligently discussed, would require an entire book, and there are books that may be and should be studied by those who can afford orientals.  Most of us cannot.  There are, indeed, good reasons for the high cost of the genuine oriental, in its superior coloring, wide range of design, and wonderful durability.  The right sort grows richer with age.  But our plans are not so much for posterity as for present uses, and we can get along very well without testing our wits in the oriental rug market.  It is a test of wits, for there are no standards of size or price, and spurious goods sometimes get into the best of hands.  Small Daghestans and Baloochistans may be had even lower than $20, but anything we would care to have in living room or dining room would take $150 to $200 from our bank account.

[Illustration:  An oriental rug of good design:  Shirvan.]

KITCHEN AND UPPER FLOORS

In the kitchen, and perhaps in a rear vestibule, unless the floor is of a sort to be easily wiped up, linoleum may be demanded.  The upper hall will require a continuation of the stair runner, with perhaps a rug if it broadens out at the landing.  For the bed chambers the question of individual use must be thought of.  Brussels rugs will do in most cases.  A large rug means considerable shifting to get at the floor, but is the more comfortable.  Smaller rugs will permit sweeping under the bed without moving it far, and should be placed under the casters, which will injure the hard-wood floors if allowed to rest directly thereupon.

MATTING AND CORDOMAN CLOTH

Next in choice would be to spend 25 or 30 cents a yard for matting and cover the entire floor, adding one or two rugs to head off the shivery feeling that arises from a contact of bare feet with cold matting on a winter morning.  The casters will cut the matting, too; we must look out for that.  A border of flooring, painted or not, may be left; but generally, if anything is to be fastened down, it should cover the entire space, avoiding the ugly accumulation of dust that otherwise gathers under the edges.

More expensive than matting, but likely to be quite satisfactory, is cordoman cloth, a floor covering that comes in plain colors and may be easily swept and wiped up.  It costs from 45 to 55 cents per yard, and the wadded cotton lining that goes with it is very cheap.  Considering its greater durability than matting, cordoman is really the more economical, and the homemaker will do well to investigate its merits.

CHILDREN’S ROOM AND “DEN”

For the children’s room linoleum will probably stand the wear and tear, prove more hygienic, and do as much toward deadening noise as anything short of an impossible padding could do.  On the porch a crex-fiber rug or two—­the sort that stand rain and resist moths—­may be desired, but they can wait until we are settled and have found our bearings.  The “den,” if there is to be one, or the separate library, may in the one instance be left to individual caprice, in the other to good judgment in suiting it to the prevailing thought.