In connection with the subject of furniture, a remark may be made on the
_room_ arrangement of the house, which might, perhaps, have been more
fittingly made when discussing that subject, in the designs of our
houses. Some people have a marvellous propensity for introducing into
their houses a _suite_ of rooms, connected by wide folding-doors, which
must always be opened into each other, furnished just alike, and devoted
to extraordinary occasions; thus absolutely sinking the best rooms in
the house, for display half a dozen times in the year, and at the
sacrifice of the every-day comfort of the family. This is nothing but a
bastard taste, of the most worthless kind, introduced from the city--the
propriety of which, for city life, need not here be discussed. The
presence of such arrangement, in a country house, is fatal to everything
like domestic enjoyment, and always followed by great expense and
inconvenience. No room, in any house, should be too good for occupation
by the family themselves--not every-day, and common-place--but
occupation at any and all times, when convenience or pleasure demand it.
If a large room be required, let the single room itself be large; not
sacrifice an extra room to the occasional extension of the choicer one,
as in the use of folding-doors must be done. This "parlor" may be better
furnished--and so it should be--than any other room in the house. Its
carpet should be not too good to tread, or stand upon, or for the
children to roll and tumble upon, provided their shoes and clothes be
clean. Let the happy little fellows roll and tumble on it, to their
heart's content, when their mother or elder sisters are with them--for
it may be, perhaps, the most joyous, and most innocent pleasure of their
lives, poor things! The hearth-rug should be in keeping with the carpet,
also, and no floor-cloth should be necessary to cover it, for fear of
soiling; but everything free and easy, with a comfortable, inviting,
hospitable look about it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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