ay of ingenious planning have been evolved where
necessity, the mother of invention, has ruled; and assuredly there is
no greater necessity than a healthful bedroom.

The children's bedroom in the house of six to eight rooms is likely to
be utilized as a nursery or playroom on rainy days or in winter. It
should have an abundance of sunlight. The largest and best room of all
should be used by the heads of the household. To reserve the choicest
apartment for the chance guest is an absurdity that sensible people
have abandoned. If we must, we may surrender our room temporarily to
the visitor, but the persons who live in a house twelve months of the
year are entitled to the best it affords. Flat living has taught us to
make use of all our rooms, and perhaps its influence is against
hospitality; but we need not neglect that very important feature of a
happy home in doing ourselves simple justice.

THINKING IT OUT

If we would be quite sure of it--to use a Hibernianism--we should live
in our house at least a year before it is built. We need an
imagination that will not only perceive our castle in all its stages of
construction but will picture us in possession. Advice is not to be
disdained, and a good architect we shall find to be a blessing; but the
happiness of our home will be in double measure if we can feel that
something of ourselves has gone into its creation. And this something
we should not expect to manifest genius, or even originality, but
tasteful discrimination.

CHAPTER II

FLOORS, WALLS, AND WINDOWS

Tradition has established the condition of her floors as the prime test
of a good house-keeper, and the amount of effort that faithful
homemakers have had to waste upon splintery, carelessly laid cheap
boards would, if it could be represented in money, buy marble footing
for all of us.

But we don't want marble floors. We are not building a palace or a
showplace, but a house to live in. We are not seeking magnificence,
but comfort and durability (which are almost always allied), as well as
sightliness (which is not always in the combination).

THE NECESSITY OF GOOD FLOORS

Happily, when we come to floors we find that those which may be
depended upon to endure and to give their share of home comfort are
also the best to look upon. It would be agreeable to say, further,
that they cost least, but that would be misleading. This book fails to
say not a few things that would be inte