The Room.—Some of the conditions affecting bedrooms have been already discussed on p. [101]. It is not necessary to say anything about the special ventilation of bedrooms, for the same principles apply to them as to other rooms; but, in passing, it will be well to mention that there should be a floor space of at least 42 ft. to each person, and at least 500 cub. ft. of air space—more if possible; 12 ft. is quite high enough for ordinary rooms; all space above this is wasted, so far as health is concerned. There should be as little in the way of carpeting, bed and window curtains, as is consistent with comfort. Light metal bedsteads are the best. The floor is best stained and polished. Avoid crowding with heavy furniture as much as possible. If the bed is out of the way of direct draught, it is a good plan in summer to let down the top sash of the window a little way. Sleep will be more refreshing and sounder than if the window had been closed all night.
Edis would have the whole floor of the room stained and varnished, or painted, and strips of carpet, matting, or rugs thrown down only where required; these can be taken up and shaken every day without trouble, and the evil of fixed carpets is thus avoided. If, however, a carpet must be laid down, let it on no account go under the bed or within 2 ft. of the walls; the spaces under the bed or wall furniture would rarely be swept, and under heavy wardrobes and chests of drawers there would be a gradual accumulation of dirt and dust, until such time as the annual general turn-out and cleansing takes place. At least, leave the floor uncarpeted underneath a bed, so that the boards can be swept daily and scoured weekly. But if the room is close carpeted, a tightly-stretched piece of holland should be pinned down under the bed to receive the flue, which is certain to accumulate; the holland cloth can be taken away and replaced as frequently as occasion requires.
For the walls, Edis suggests a dark matting dado as a base, and the remainder of the wall to be distempered of some grateful soft tint, with graceful pattern border and frieze stencilled on, and here and there panels formed in the decoration, with enclosing lines of bright and well-selected colours, wherein might be enframed looking glasses, and here and there watercolours or photographs, as forming part of the decoration of the room, but not standing out of it in any too prominent manner. All this kind of work can be treated simply, and at little cost, and the distemper work can be rubbed over with bread crumbs, or brushed down, and so easily cleaned.
The general woodwork of the doors, windows, and skirtings should be painted in some plain colour to harmonise or contrast with the wall decoration, and the whole varnished; woodwork finished in this way can be easily washed or cleaned, and the extra expense of varnishing will be saved in a few years. Now that good painted tiles can be obtained at small expense, they may be used in washing stands with good effect, or the wall above might be lined entirely with them to a height of 2-3 ft.
With regard to warming bedrooms. It surely requires but very little common sense to see that it must be thoroughly bad for people to spend their evenings in warm comfortable rooms, with the thermometer at 60° F., and then to take their departure for chilly bedrooms, along cold passages, and to undress in a temperature of 30°-35° F. Even the strongest constitution must suffer more or less by such a proceeding. The favourite argument against warm bedrooms is that it is weakening. Sleeping in badly ventilated, hot rooms, may be weakening; but sleeping in a temperature of 50°-60° F. cannot possibly be so. If it were, then healthy sleep in the summer would be impossible. It is, of course, essential that the heating apparatus—be it a stove, a fire-place, hot-water pipes, hot-air ducts, or gas-stoves—should not consume the oxygen from the room without at the same time provision being made for the admission of fresh air from without. This fresh air from without need not, however, come into the room in a cold state. It may be first warmed by passing near to the fire or heating apparatus. Providing the above precautions be taken, there is no fear of warm rooms being injurious to health. Some grates suited to bedrooms have been described on pp. [61-71], especially the “Eagle”; but all grates possess objections for a bedroom, and probably the very best warming medium would be a soda acetate stove, as spoken of on p. [82].
As to flowers in a bedroom, it seems pretty safe to assume that the mischief of a dozen or two is theoretical rather than practical, and that those who like flowers in their bedroom may indulge their fancy quite safely. But it should be borne in mind that certain plants may throw off much larger quantities of carbonic acid gas than others; and some emit unpleasant odours. In any case, where flowers are grown in bedrooms, there should be very free ventilation.
The position of the bed in the room is of much importance, although many are utterly regardless of it. It depends on the size of the room, the part occupied by the fireplace, and the position of the windows. If possible, the bedstead should always be put between the door and windows; not at the end of a long room, where the fresh air can never blow upon it; and not opposite to the windows, as the glare from them is not agreeable on first awakening. It is not easy to lay down fixed rules, but the housewife should give this a proper amount of thought and care. It is wrong to place beds sideways against a wall, as they invariably spoil the paper or paint, and will very likely be badly made.
Servants are very often put in attics without fireplaces. This is an unwholesome plan which should be avoided, as without a chimney there cannot be proper ventilation. When an attic is the only available servants’ room, some ventilation should be effected by boring holes in the wall, or by making one large hole and inserting a grating. An open grate is, however, far preferable, as it greatly conduces to the wholesomeness of any sleeping room to have a fire lighted in it several times in the course of the winter. Bare boards, with good strips of carpet round the beds, a chest of drawers, looking-glass, and neat washstand for each servant, and a couple of cane chairs, would be quite enough for a room occupied by two maids. Each maid should certainly have a separate bed, and a comfortable one. Servants’ beds should never have valances round them, as it encourages a habit of keeping boxes and rubbish under the beds, which is most untidy and unwholesome. There should be a couple of bags hung up for soiled linen, unless a wash-basket can be spared. The room should be not only swept out every week in turn with the other bedrooms, but also well scrubbed all over with carbolic soap, and left to dry with windows and door open. If this is done, the room will never get stuffy. Encourage everything in the way of neatness and refinement. Cotton, twill, or unbleached linen is suitable for sheeting. Each servant should have one clean sheet a week, changing the upper one to the lower regularly. A clean pillowcase every week is generally necessary, and one large or two small towels. A bell communicating between the mistress’s room and the servants’ is a great convenience for calling them in the morning. Insist on having the beds stripped and the window opened as soon as the servants are up.
The Bed.—To revert to the bedstead, its size and length are well worthy of consideration. Of course these may vary according to the fancy of the occupant; but, unless in exceptional cases, a bed should never be less than 6 ft. 6 in. in length for a grown person. A tall man may be made utterly miserable by a bed too short for him, while the extra inches make but little difference, even in a small room. The width must vary as the tenant likes; but a bedstead to contain 2 persons should certainly never be less than 5 ft. 6 in., and will be better at 6 ft. in width.
The feather bed is now acknowledged to be a mistake, and detrimental to health and strength. It is both enervating and luxurious; it heats and relaxes the spine, and enfeebles the whole frame. Notwithstanding that warmth is considered of the utmost necessity for an infant, feather beds are now never put in their cots or bassinettes, wool and hair mattresses being used instead. In larger bedsteads in private houses, spring and hair mattresses have almost completely taken the place of the feather bed. Nevertheless, it should by no means be tabooed in the case of the old and infirm, who, having lost the quick pulsation so necessary for the warmth of the body, and still more the pliability of their limbs, require the surrounding softness of the feather bed to afford them the caloric they so much need, and a greater support and more yielding substance than the mattress to afford them rest. For them the feather bed is highly useful and desirable; but for the vigorous and the young there is not this excuse, and it should never be allowed. Besides which it is expensive, and requires much care to protect it from the moth.