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Indoors

A carpet is any loom-woven, felted textile or grass floor covering. The term was also used for table and wall coverings, as carpets were not commonly used on the floor in European interiors until the 18th century. The hand-knotted pile carpet probably originated in central asia between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. The Crusades brought Turkish carpets to all of Europe. Only with the opening of trade routes in the 17th century were significant numbers of Persian rugs introduced to Western Europe.

Some use the words carpet and rug interchangeably. Historically, however, some have distinguished between carpet and rug based on size (the former being larger) or use (carpets on floors, rugs on beds or on the hearth). In the real estate and home improvement industries a distinction is made between carpet (or carpeting) and a rug. The former indicates a covering that is affixed to a floor and the latter a floor covering that is loose-laid, most often for decorative purposes.

Homes

The Lou Henry and Herbert Hoover House, located on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, USA, is a large, rambling house, resembling "blocks piled up." It was designed by Lou Henry Hoover, wife of Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States. After several consultations the Hoovers convinced Arthur B. Clark, a Stanford art professor who practiced freelance architecture during the summer, to be their architect. Clark agreed on the condition that Mrs. Hoover design the house and that Clark would serve in an advisory capacity.

The problem of size was solved by the hillside site with the house disappearing into the slope of San Juan Hill and hence appearing much smaller. The irregularly shaped house was built on a reinforced concrete slab foundation and rises two stories in the front and three stories in the rear. Resembling early International style homes, Mrs. Hoover's designs were modeled after North African Algerian homes. Elements of Mission Revival Style architecture can also be found in its design.

Outdoors

Water gardens, also known as aquatic gardens, backyard ponds and garden ponds, have become popular in recent years. Usually referring to a man-made feature, these gardens typically combine a pool with aquatic plants and often ornamental fish. Fixed items such as rocks, fountains, statuary, waterfalls and watercourses can be combined with the pool to add visual interest and integration with the local landscape and environment.

Often the reason for having a pond in your garden is to keep fish, often koi, though many people keep goldfish. Both are hardy, colorful fish which require no special heating, provided you live in an area which does not have extremes of temperature that would affect the fish. If fish are kept, pumps and filtration devices usually need to be added in order to keep enough oxygen in the water to support them. In winter, a small heater may need to be used in cold climates to keep the water from freezing solid.

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