small room, and can be easily taken out and cleaned, but a more
commodious room requires the dressed look imparted by the larger rug.
Whatever its size, avoid large figures and strong colors, choosing
rather a small, somewhat indistinct pattern woven in the deeper shades
of the other decorations of the room, at the same time supplying a
foundation which, without calling attention to itself, becomes a good
support for the general decorative plan--a base strong but neither
heavy nor striking. Since we were made to stand erect and look up, it
is irritating to have one's eyes drawn downward by the unattractive
attraction of an ugly rug. The colonial cotton rag rugs are quite the
most desirable for bedroom use, from a sanitary as well as an artistic
standpoint, and are woven to produce charming effects. The usual
combination is two colors--white with blue, yellow, green, or pink,
black with red, different shades of the same color, etc. Occasionally
three colors are used, but more are apt to destroy the dainty
simplicity which is the chief charm of rugs of this kind. They are
woven like any other rag rug, and of any dimensions.

MATTINGS

Mattings, if preferred to the bare floor, come in a variety of patterns
and colors and look neat and fresh, and cool in summer if used without
rugs. They are a yard wide and range in price from 10 to 50 cents a
yard for the Chinese, and from 20 to 60 cents for the Japanese. There
is very little choice between the two, though the Chinese wears a
little better, perhaps. Matting is easily broken and should not be
used where the bed must be drawn away from the wall to be made, or
heavy furniture moved about.

WALL COVERING

Passing from floor to walls, we reach that portion of the room which
gives it its real atmosphere and supplies a background for all that it
contains, of both "things and people." The bedroom seems to be
preeminently a woman's room: here she reads and writes, rests and sews;
it is her help in trouble, her refuge in times of storm. The
intangible something which surrounds the eternal feminine clings about
her room and tells a very truthful tale of the individuality of its
occupant. Her favorite color peeps out from wall and drapery; her
books, well-thumbed and hearing evidences of intimate association, lie
cozily about, and her workbasket reveals the source of certain dainty
covers and indescribable nothings which so materially refine the whole
aspect o