er, but, on the contrary, a paper covered with a small pattern
makes a room look larger, and a striped paper, the stripes running
from ceiling to floor, makes a low room look higher.

307. Kitchen Floors.

The best covering for a Kitchen Floor is a thick unfigured oil-cloth,
of one colour. Linoleum or kamptulicon is warmer to the feet than the
ordinary painted oilcloth.

308. Family Tool Chests.

Much inconvenience and considerable expense might be saved if it were
the general custom to keep in every house certain tools for the
purpose of performing at home what are called small jobs, instead of
being always obliged to send for a mechanic and pay him for executing
little things that, in most cases, could be sufficiently well done by
a man or boy belonging to the family, if the proper instruments were
at hand.

309. The Cost

of these articles is very trifling, and the advantages of having them
always in the house are far beyond the expense.

310. Example Contents.

For instance, there should be an axe, a hatchet, a saw (a large wood
saw also, with a buck or stand, if wood is burned), a hammer, a
tack-hammer, a mallet, three or four gimlets and bradawls of different
sizes, two screw-drivers, a chisel, a small plane, one or two
jack-knives, a pair of large scissors or shears, and a carpet fork or
stretcher.

311. Nails.

Also an assortment of nails of various sizes, from large spikes down
to small tacks, not forgetting some large and small brass-headed nails.

312. Screws.

An assortment of screws, likewise, will be found very convenient, and
iron hooks of different sizes on which to hang things.

313. Container.

The nails and screws should be kept in a wooden box, made with
divisions to separate the various sorts and sizes, for it is very
troublesome to have them mixed.

314. Maintain Supply.

And let care be taken to keep up the supply, lest it should run out
unexpectedly, and the deficiency cause delay and inconvenience at a
time when some are wanted.

315. Tool Closet.

It is well to have somewhere, in the lower part of the house, a roomy
light closet, appropriated entirely to tools, and things of equal
utility, for executing promptly such little repairs as may be required
from time to time, without the delay or expense of procuring an
artisan. This closet should have at least one large shelf, and that