2. Those which essentially are units in themselves, in which great expression of individuality in color and design is permissible. Such are library, bedrooms, and nursery.
The adjoining room.—The most common of house plans provide a central entrance hall, with rooms opening on either side, and stairway rising from it. This plan gives an air of spaciousness and, obviously, because two or more rooms are visible at once, calls for most harmonious floor treatment throughout. Rugs and carpets are extremely important in such a scheme. Properly chosen, they create a feeling of unity and pleasing color harmony. Lacking that unity and harmony, the result is far from pleasing, and may be a decidedly disturbing feature.
Use of identical fabrics.—Adjoining rooms may be covered with the same fabric, alike in color and pattern. Wall-to-wall carpeting or identical rugs of correct size achieve the pleasing result of unity and harmony secured by alikeness.
Use of fabrics harmonious but not identical in color.—Variation is pleasing as well as likeness; covering hall, for instance, in a strong color, and adjoining rooms in colors which harmonize through likeness or in the complementary ranges. This is, of course, more complicated, but an effect not difficult to achieve.
Combining plain and figured fabrics.—The use of a figured pattern in one room, and in the adjoining room a plain fabric which picks up and repeats the dominant color in the ground color or in the figures of the pattern produces a lively result, pleasing and effective.
Stair carpeting is important in the decorative picture. Stairs properly carpeted are soft under foot, safer, quiet, more comfortable. They supply a fine note in the decorative scheme. The stair carpet should repeat the dominant color of the hall or room from which they ascend.
For other rooms.—Rooms which may be considered as units in themselves permit of more individual treatment, an expression of the likes of the occupant or occupants. This group includes bedrooms which, statistics show, are the most sparely and poorly carpeted of rooms. Suggestions that consideration be given to bedroom floor coverings will appeal to a large percentage of customers.
During the showing of merchandise and discussion of the problems involved in the selection of the specific floor covering the customer comes to buy, remarks will often indicate the need for rugs or carpet for other rooms.