THE ART OF A FLOOR CLOTH - UNIQUE AND PRACTICAL

Alexandra Designs here about floor cloths. Floor cloths are used to highlight a room's decor. They are durable and meant to be walked on.

The great houses of colonial American all had them. What? Floorcloths. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had them and they were in the White House.

Their purpose was mainly as a carpet substitute used to protect more expensive carpeting in high traffic areas in the home, such as under dining room tables, in the kitchen, hallways, en entry halls and entry ways. While the historical patterns are certainly attractive, they have a limited audience. Having a floor cloth that matches your style and color scheme, in a design you choose and the size and shape you want, is a decorating dream. Unique and practical. Since they are handmade, no two are identical.

Allergy sufferers, here is a perfect design element. Floor cloths are also popular among folks who rent and don't want to invest time and money in permanent decoration.

A well made modern floor cloth should be as rugged as any ever made. A good grade of canvas, properly sized and painted, then coated at least six times with an excellent grade of varnish, will stand up to years of wear. The only care necessary is to clean gently with soap and water. For extremely hard use, a fresh coat of varnish will keep it attractive. While it is water resistant, it is not water proof. Make sure to use a slip resistant protector under the floor cloth to keep it from sliding and keep it on a flat surface.

I hope you will consider painted canvas art for your home. These decorative paintings can be made in almost any size, shape, color or pattern and be used on the floor, the wall, as placemats and whatever you can come up with.

Please check my store for examples of fun designs and more traditional designs. The designs can be translated to other sizes not shown on the site. Thank you for your time and I hope you have found this helpful and interesting. See some of my designs

The following is the most interesting history on floor cloths I have come across. Reprint from Early American Floorcloths by Dennis Belanger

One of the earliest forms of interior decoration, now scarcely remembered, was the painting of "floorcloths in various patterns and colors." Though only scraps of these painted carpets have been preserved, they may be observed in numerous paintings of the period and we can tell how striking and vivid they were in the early rooms.

The very first floor covering used in American was a heavy coated sailcloth painted in patterns which covered the entire floor. In the seventeenth century, from as early as about 1650, these floorcloths were painted in tile-like designs. The contrasting blocks of color - dark red and ochre for example (but most often black and white) were sometimes solid, sometimes marbleized.

By the eighteenth century, the geometrical patterns were being replaced by freer and more elaborate designs, with a much greater variety of colors. Floorcloths are advertised in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston papers after 1720, but were evidently at their peak from the middle to the end of the century, when numerous advertisements bear witness to their popularity. An item in a Newburyport paper dated 1747 reads: "Painted Canvass at Great Bargains. A large assortment of Painted Carpeting, comprising many styles and quantities at prices which cannot fail to give satisfaction. S. Sweetser & Sons, 5 Liberty St."

A Boston News-Letter of the late 1760's carries the typical advertisement of a George Killcup who advertises that he "Paints Carpets & other articles." At this time painted carpets were also imported from London, as evidenced by a number of old bills for imported floorcloths. The painted carpets, manufactured in quantity in American from about 1750, were adapted from designs that were developed in England before 1650. The late eighteenth century American floorcloths, with their elaborately designed repeat patterns, may be seen in numerous paintings by Gilbert Stuart, Edward Savage, and John Brewster, Jr.

By the nineteenth century the carpet patterns were generally stenciled rather than painted, and the method by which they were done is described by Rufus Porter in a little book called Curious Arts, published in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1825.