eeing the interest in painted floor cloths, Don thought why not wallpapered floor cloths?  Color would pull everything together.  The inspiration for the colors came from the "Red Hat" painting which dominates the space as shown on the previous page. 

It was decided the floor cloths would be in a stylized oriental pattern.  Many papers were tried until the right colors were found.  Each paper was tried and experimented with until a design was created.

Pieces were measured, cut, pasted and then applied to the canvas by double cutting one layer through another and removing the under layer so the top of the rug would ultimately be smooth with no ridges.  This is where Don's skill in knowing how much pressure to exert is involved.  More than that, the pieces must stay wet, for once a rug is started in this manner, it must be completely finished.  The finished work is allowed to dry for 48 hours and given five coats of clear polyurethane as a protective finish.

When completely dry, the canvas is cut down leaving two inches to be folder under all around the edge.  The hem is secured in place with double-sided tape.

This makes a very durable floor cloth, the Larkins say, adding that when a cloth becomes worn, another coat of polyurethane makes it new again. 

To show how durable a floor cloth can be, more than 15,000 traipsed across one that was part of a 2003 Vassar Show House space.