XXX. Carpets and Rugs

In the choice of carpets it would be well to avoid the dirty drab and biscuit-brown tones which make the average villa such a depressing place. Whatever else the carpet may be, it should at least be cleanly and pure in its colouring. It is well to secure, if possible, a colouring which will not show the dirt; but this principle may be carried too far, and while one may be content with dirty colours chosen on these grounds for railway carriages or steamboats, one can hardly be satisfied with them in the home, where the appearance of cleanness and freshness is invaluable. Better a floor of scrubbed deal than a frowsy carpet which, however clean or however unclean it may be, always looks dirty.

On the other hand, it would be well to avoid what is quaintly described as the “Art Square”; first, apparently because it is seldom square, and secondly, because there is little art about it. If we are to carpet at all, let the carpet extend right to the edges of the room. Round the margin of the art square custom has declared there must be a sort of Tom Tiddler’s Ground of boards, stained a dark brown and varnished. This constitutes one border, and the art square provides a second inner border, which is one of those accommodating patterns which does not mind being cut to fit any size, and so the floor in a small room resolves itself into a series of borders. First there is the art square, which immediately breaks out into border, and then border again in the shape of varnished boards. All this frittering away of the floor surface reduces the apparent size of the room, and the carpet is too large to be considered a rug and too small for the room as a carpet. It is usually adorned with flights of birds and trees laid out flat, and the pattern, instead of developing from centres, develops from the side. Surely, of all the furnishings labelled with that fatal prefix, the art square is the least to be desired.

Although, from a practical point of view, it is extremely desirable that rooms subjected to much wear should be uncarpeted, it must be confessed that nothing gives such a sensation of luxurious comfort to a room as a deep pile carpet, where footsteps are noiseless. Carpets like Brussels, which have no softness and depth, are unsatisfactory; and, if a carpet is decided on, it is best to get the full possibilities of this means of floor treatment. A plain green Axminster makes an excellent floor covering, and realises that meadow-life effect which has already been alluded to. Or a deep red carpet makes a. fine basis for a warmer scheme of colour, while a good blue is almost equally desirable, though this colour is not quite so reliable. In all cases it is well to avoid borders and central ornaments, and to have an absolutely plain colouring, confining whatever pattern may be used to the rugs which may be placed at the fireside and at doorways.

The soft reds, blues and greens of the Turkey carpets are excellent for certain rooms, and the possession of an old Turkey carpet would indeed justify its possessor in taking it as the basis for a decorative scheme. Persian rugs and carpets are also of great beauty, and have been so long associated with Western furnishings, that they do not seem to demand an Oriental character in the treatment of the rooms they occupy.

This is not the case, however, with many other traditional types of carpet, which are only possible in rooms furnished in the traditional styles.

Cheap carpets may be obtained of jute, but when dyed these are rarely to be relied upon, and, if used, it is better that they should be undyed, and this natural “string colour” will form an excellent floor covering for a cottage-like room.

Some allusion has been made to that silent tyranny which inanimate things have the power of exercising over their possessors. This tyrannical attitude is chiefly noticeable in the carpet, and to reduce it to a proper subjection a yearly beating with rods is necessary. In the case of rugs, this annual drubbing is not demanded, and an occasional shaking is all that is required. In most cases it is therefore desirable that carpets should not be universally used in the house, and that they should be easily removable.