Produced by Al Haines
[Frontispiece: A $3,400 House.]
The COMPLETE HOME
EDITED BY
CLARA E. LAUGHLIN
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK
1907
Copyright, 1906, by
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
_Published November, 1906_
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
CHOOSING A PLACE TO LIVE
By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON
Taste and expedience--Responsibilities--Renting, buying or
building--Location--City or country--Renunciations--Schools and
churches--Transportation--The butcher, the baker, and the candlestick
maker--The home acre--Comparative cost in renting--The location
sense--Size of lot--Position--Outlook and inlook--Trees--Income and
expenditure--Style--Size--Plans for building--Necessary rooms--The sick
room--Room to entertain--The "living room"--The dining room and
kitchen--The sleeping rooms--Thinking it out
CHAPTER II
FLOORS, WALLS, AND WINDOWS
By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON
The necessity of good floors--Material and cost of laying--Ornamental
flooring--Waxed, varnished, and oiled floors--Carpets, linoleum, and
mats--The stairway--Rugs--Oriental rugs--Kitchen and upper
floors--Matting and cardoman cloth--Uses of the decorator--Wood in
decoration--Panels and plaster--The beamed ceiling--Paint, paper, and
calcimine--Shades and curtains--Leaded panes and casements--Storm windows
CHAPTER III
LIGHTING AND HEATING
By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON
Necessity of sunlight--Kerosene--Gas and matches--Electric
light--Pleasing arrangement--Adaptability--Protection--Regulated
light--The two sure ways of heating--The hot-air furnace--Direction of
heat--Registers--Hot water and steam heat--Indirect heating--Summary
CHAPTER IV
FURNITURE
By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON
The quest of the beautiful--Ancient designs--The Arts and Crafts--Mission
furniture--Comfort, aesthetic and physical--Older models in
furniture--Mahogany and oak--Substantiality--Superfluity--Hall
furniture--The family chairs--The table--The
davenport--Bookcases--Sundries--Willow furniture--The dining
table--Discrimination in choice
CHAPTER V
HOUSEHOLD LINEN
By SARAH CORY RIPPEY
Linen, past and present--Bleached and
"half-bleached"--Damask--Quality--Design--Price and size--Necessary
supply--Plain, hemstitched, or drawn--Doilies and table
dressing--Centerpieces--Monograms--Care of table linen--How to
launder--Table pads--Ready-made bed linen--Price and quality--Real
linen--Suggestions about towels
CHAPTER VI
THE KITCHEN
By SARAH CORY RIPPEY
The plan--Location and finish--The floor--The windows--The sink--The
pantry--Insects and their extermination--The refrigerator and its
care--Furnishing the kitchen--The stove--The table and its care--The
chairs--The kitchen cabinet--Kitchen utensils
CHAPTER VII
THE LAUNDRY
By SARAH CORY RIPPEY
Laundry requisites--The stove and furnishings--Irons and
holders--Preparing the "wash"--Removing stains--Soaking and
washing--Washing powders and soap--Washing woolens--Washing the white
clothes--Starch--Colored clothes--Stockings--Dainty laundering--How to
wash silk--Washing blankets--Washing curtains--Tidying up and
sprinkling--Care of irons--How to iron
CHAPTER VIII
TABLE FURNISHINGS
By SARAH CORY RIPPEY
Dining-room cheer--Stocking the china-cupboard--The groundwork--Course
sets--Odd pieces--Silver and plate--Glass--Arrangement--Duties of the
waitress--The breakfast table--Luncheon--Dinner--The formal dinner--The
formal luncheon--Washing glass--Washing and cleaning silver--How to wash
china--Care of knives
CHAPTER IX
THE BEDROOM
By SARAH CORY RIPPEY
Light and air--Carpets versus rugs--Mattings--Wall covering--Bedroom
woodwork--Bedroom draperies--Bedroom furnishing--Careful
selection--Toilet and dressing tables--Further comforts--The
bedstead--Spring, mattress, and pillows--Bed decoration--Simplicity--Care
of bedroom and bed--Vermin and their extermination
CHAPTER X
THE BATH ROOM
By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON
Plumbing--Bath room location and furnishing--The tub--The lavatory--The
closet--Hot water and how to get it--Bath room fittings
CHAPTER XI
CELLAR, ATTIC, AND CLOSETS
By SARAH CORY RIPPEY
The cellar floor--Ventilation--The partitioned cellar--Order in the
cellar--Shelves and closets--The attic--Order and care of
attic--Closets--The linen closet--Clothes closets--The china
closet--Closet tightness--Closet furnishings--Care of closets and contents
CHAPTER XII
HANGINGS, BRIC-A-BRAC, BOOKS, AND PICTURES
By SARAH CORY RIPPEY
The charm of drapery--Curtains--Portières--Bric-a-brac--The growth of
good taste--Usefulness with beauty--Considerations in
buying--Books--Their selection--Sets--Binding--Paper--Pictures--Art
sense--The influence of pictures--Oil paintings--Engravings and
photographs--Suitability of subjects--Hanging of pictures
CHAPTER XIII
THE NICE MACHINERY OF HOUSEKEEPING
By SARAH CORY RIPPEY
Monday--Tuesday--Wednesday--Thursday--Friday--Saturday--House
cleaning--Preparation--Cleaning draperies, rugs, carpets--Cleaning
mattings and woodwork--Cleaning beds
CHAPTER XIV
HIRED HELP
By SARAH CORY RIPPEY
The general housemaid--How to select a maid--Questions and
answers--Agreements--The maid's leisure time--Dress and personal
neatness--Carelessness--The maid's room--How to train a maid--The daily
routine--Duties of cook and nurse--Servant's company
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A $3,400 House. . . . . . . . Frontispiece
A Unique Arrangement of the Porch
A Homelike Living Room
An Attractive and Inexpensive Hall
An Artistic Staircase Hall
An Oriental Rug of Good Design: Shirvan
Good Examples of Chippendale and Old Walnut
A Chippendale Secretary
The Dining Room
The Kitchen
The Laundry
Wedgwood Pottery, and Silver of Antique Design
A Collection of Eighteenth-century Cut Glass
The Bedroom
The Bathroom
The Drawing-room
THE COMPLETE HOME
CHAPTER I
CHOOSING A PLACE TO LIVE
Blessed indeed are they who are free to choose where and how they shall
live. Still more blessed are they who give abundant thought to their
choice, for they may not wear the sackcloth of discomfort nor scatter
the ashes of burned money.
TASTE AND EXPEDIENCE
Most of us have a theory of what the home should be, but it is stowed
away with the wedding gifts of fine linen that are cherished for our
permanent abode. We believe in harmony of surroundings, but after
living, within a period of ten years or so, in seven different
apartments with seven different arrangements of rooms and seven
different schemes of decoration, we lose interest in suiting one thing
to another. Harmony comes to mean simply good terms with the janitor.
Or if (being beginners) we have some such prospect of nomadic living
facing us, and we are at all knowing, we realize the utter helplessness
of demonstrating our good taste, purchase any bits of furniture that a
vagrant fancy may fasten upon, and give space to whatever gimcracks our
friends may foist upon us, trusting that in the whirligig of removals
the plush rocker, the mission table, and the brass parlor stand may
each find itself in harmony with something else at one time or another.
Some day we shall be freed from the tyranny of these conditions and
then----!
RESPONSIBILITIES
But when the time comes to declare our independence of landlord and
janitor, or at least to exchange existence in a flat for life in a
rented cottage, we find that freedom brings some perplexing
responsibilities as well as its blessings. Even if our hopes do not
soar higher than the rented house, there is at least the desire for a
reasonable permanency, and we have no longer the excuse of custom-bred
transitoriness to plead for our lack of plan. Where the home is to be
purchased for our very own the test of our individuality becomes more
exacting. A house has character, and some of the standards that apply
to companionship apply to it. In fact, we live with it, as well as in
it. And if we have a saving conscience as to the immeasurability of
home by money standards we are not to be tempted by the veriest bargain
of a house that does not nearly represent our ideals. To blunder here
is to topple over our whole Castle of Hope.
RENTING, BUYING OR BUILDING
But the test is most severe of all when good fortune permits us to
choose locality, site, and building plans, and to finish and furnish
the house to suit our tastes, even though less in accordance with our
full desires than with our modest means. Now we may bring out our
theory of living from its snug resting place. It will need some
furbishing up, maybe, to meet modern conditions, but never mind!
Whether we mean to rent, to buy, or to build, the problem of where and
what and how is before us. As folk of wholesome desires, we insist
first of all upon good taste, comfort, and healthfulness in our
habitats; and since we may agree upon the best way to attain these
essentials without ignoring our personal preferences in details, we may
profitably take counsel together as to what the new home should be.
LOCATION
Thought of a location should begin with the birth of the home idea,
even if the purchase-money be not immediately available. We should not
only take sufficient time to study conditions and scheme carefully for
the home, but must sagaciously bear in mind that where real estate is
in active demand anxiety to purchase stiffens prices. To bide one's
time may mean a considerable saving. However, life, as we plan now to
live it, is short enough at most, and we should not cheat ourselves out
of too much immediate happiness by waiting for the money-saving
opportunity.
The question of neighborhood, if we decide to remain within city
limits, is a difficult one. In most of the larger places no one can
accurately foretell the future of even the most attractive residence
district. Factories and business houses may not obtrude, but flats are
almost sure to come. Few cottages are being constructed in cities,
partly because of lack of demand, but principally because they do not
pay sufficient income on the investment. Consequently the houses that
are to be had are seldom modern. Sometimes they pass into the hands of
careless tenants and the neighborhood soon shows deterioration. Still,
if we are determined to remain in the city and take our chances, it is
possible by careful investigation to discover congenial surroundings.
Many of the essential tests of the suburban home that we shall discuss
hereafter will apply also to the house in a strictly residence district
of a large city; practically all of them to the house in a smaller town.
CITY OR COUNTRY
The chances are, however, that we shall choose the suburb. But before
we desert J 72, or whatever our shelf in the apartment building may be,
we may well remind ourselves that we are also to desert some of the
things that have made city life enjoyable. For one thing, with all our
growling at the landlord, we have been able to cast upon him many
burdens that we are now to take upon ourselves. Some of our sarcasms
are quite certain to come home to roost. The details of purchasing
fuel, of maintaining heat, of making repairs, are now to come under our
jurisdiction, and we shall see whether we manage these duties better
than the man who is paid a lump sum to assume them.
RENUNCIATIONS
Living in a flat, or even in a city house, we do not know, nor care to
know, who the people above or next door to us may be; and they are in
precisely the same position with regard to us. Mere adjacency gives us
no claim upon their acquaintance, nor does it put us at the mercy of
their insistence. Our calling list is not governed by locality, and we
can cut it as we wish without embarrassment. Choice is not so easy in
the suburb. There, willynilly, we must know our neighbors and be known
by them. Fortunately, in most instances they will be found to be of
the right sort, if not fully congenial.
The theater, too, must become rather a red-letter diversion than a
regular feature of our existence, if it has been so. Whatever
enthusiasm we may possess for the opera, an occasional visit, with its
midnight return, will soon come to satisfy us. Our pet lectures, club
life, participation in public affairs, frequent mail delivery,
convenience of shopping, two-minute car service, and freedom from time
tables--these suggest what we have to put behind us when we pass the
city gates.
It is also the part of wisdom not to forget that, though the country is
alive with delights for us when all nature is garbed in green and the
songbirds carol in the elms and maples, there cometh a time--if we are
of the north--when fur caps are in season, the coal scoop is in every
man's hand, the snow shovel splintereth, and the lawn mower is at rest.
Then it is that our allegiance to country life will be strained, if
ever--particularly if we have provided ourselves with a ten-minute walk
to the station. Wading through snow against a winter wind, we see the
"agreeable constitutional" of the milder days in a different light.
We should think of all these things, and of some sacrifices purely
personal. It is better to think now than after the moving man's bill
has come in. Reason as we may, regrets will come, perhaps loneliness.
But the compensations, if we have chosen wisely, will be increasingly
apparent, and we shall be the very exceptions of exceptions if, before
the second summer has passed, we are not wedded beyond divorce to the
new home.
Once determined upon forswearing urban residence, a multitude of
considerations arise. First of these is "Which place?" Our suburban
towns have been developed in two ways. Some are "made to order," while
others were originally rural villages but have come under metropolitan
influence. Living in the latter is likely to be less expensive, and
local life may have more of a distinctive character; but the husk of
the past is almost certain to be evident in the mixture of old and
modern houses and in a certain offish separation of the native and
incoming elements. The "made-to-order" town is likely to exhibit
better streets and sidewalks, to be more capably cared for, to be freer
from shanties, and to possess no saloons. Land and living may demand
greater expenditure, but they will be worth the difference.
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES
With ninety-nine out of a hundred families the deciding argument in
favor of going to the suburb has just got into short dresses and begun
to say "Da-da." Already we see pointings to the childish activities
that we would not check. No one who stops to think about it chooses to
have his children play in the city streets or be confined to a flat
during the open months. For the children's sake, if not for our own,
we turn to the country, and one of our first thoughts is for the
children's school.
I called on a young business acquaintance recently and found him
engrossed in examining a pile of college catalogues. "Going in for a
post-grad?" I inquired. "Why, haven't you heard?" he responded. "It's
a boy--week ago Saturday. Er--would you say Yale or Harvard?"
This was preparedness with a vengeance, to be sure; but almost before
we realize that infancy is past, the boy and girl will be ready for
school, and it is important to know that the right school will be ready
for them. Happily, the suburban school is usually of special
excellence, and the chief thought must be of distance and whether the
children will need to cross dangerous railroad tracks.
We shall, of course, wish to be where there are strong churches, with a
society of our chosen denomination, if possible. It may be that the
social life which has its center there will provide all the relaxation
we require; if we seek outside circles, it is desirable to know whether
we are likely to please and be pleased. Always there is the suburban
club; but not always is the suburban club representative of the really
best people of the town.
TRANSPORTATION
On the practical side a question of large importance is that of
transportation. The fast trains may make the run in twenty minutes,
but we shall not always catch the fast trains, and the others may take
forty. Morning and evening they should be so frequent that we need not
lose a whole hour on a "miss." In stormy weather we must find shelter
in the station, comfortable or uncomfortable. On the husband's monthly
ticket the rides may cost only a dime; when the wife and her visiting
friends go to the matinée each punch counts for a quarter, and four
quarters make a dollar. To the time of the train must be added the
walk or ride from the downtown station to the office, and the return
walk from the home station. A near-by electric line for emergencies
may sometimes save an appointment. None of these things alone will
probably give pause to our plans, but all will weigh in our general
satisfaction or disagreement with suburban life.
THE BUTCHER, THE BAKER, AND THE CANDLE-STICK MAKER
Not every suburb is blessed with a perfectly healthful water supply.
We must make sure of that. We want to find stores and markets
sufficient to our smaller needs, at least, and to be within city
delivery bounds, so that the man of the house shall not be required to
make of himself a beast of burden. We hope, if we must employ a cook,
that the milkman, iceman, and grocery boy will prove acceptable to her,
for the policeman is sure to be a dignified native of family. We want
the telephone without a prohibitive toll, electric light and gas of
good quality at reasonable rates, streets paved and well cared for,
sidewalks of cement, reasonable fire and police protection, a
progressive community spirit, and a reputation for our town that will
make us proud to name it as our place of abode.
THE HOME ACRE
All these things may be had in scores of American suburbs and smaller
cities. But when we have selected the one or more towns that may
please us, and get down to the house or lot, our range of choice will
be found rather narrow. In the neighborhoods we would select, it is
probable that few houses are to be rented. Most of them have been
built for occupancy by their owners, who, if forced to go elsewhere,
have preferred selling to renting. There is no prejudice against
renters, but the sentiment is against renting, and this sentiment is
well grounded in common sense. Still, some families find it advisable
to rent for a year or so, meanwhile studying the local conditions and
selecting a building site. This plan has much to commend it, though it
makes a second move necessary. Others, who do not feel assured that a
change in business will not compel an early removal, wisely prefer to
rent, if a suitable house can be found for what they can afford to pay.
COMPARATIVE COST IN RENTING
The proportion of income that may be set aside for rent depends on what
that payment covers. In a steam-heated city flat with complete janitor
service, for instance, the rent at $40 is really no higher than the $25
suburban house, for heat and water rent are included. With the former,
perhaps as much as a third of one's income could be spared for the
fixed charge of rent; but in the country the proportion cannot with
safety be greater than a fifth. Few satisfactory suburban houses can
be rented under $35, and to this must be added the cost not only of
coal and water, but of maintenance. On the whole, we are pretty sure
to decide that it is better and cheaper to buy than to rent.
THE LOCATION SENSE
There is some advantage in being able to secure a lot in a square
already built up. If present conditions are satisfactory we may feel
reasonably sure that they will remain so. We know who our neighbors
are to be, the sort of houses and other improvements that will affect
the sightliness and value of our own property, and the surroundings
that should in some degree govern the style of our abode. There is
little of the speculative in such a choice, but we shall have to pay
something extra for our assurances.
In a well built-up town, however, we are likely to find a more eligible
natural site at less cost if we are not too insistent upon being close
to the railway station. The best sites in the older sections are
already occupied or are held at a premium. If we have an eye for
location and the courage of our convictions, we may chance upon an
excellent lot that can be had for a comparatively small price because
of its detachment. It may be so situated that the approach is through
the choicest part of the village, affording us much of the charm of
suburban life without additional cost. Provided sewer, water, light,
sidewalks, and paving are in, a little greater distance from the center
may be well repaid by the beauty of the site, and after the family
becomes accustomed to it the distance is scarcely noticed. Where there
are telephones and local delivery of mail and groceries, occasions for
going uptown are not frequent.
SIZE OF LOT
The lot should have at least 50 foot frontage; and be from 150 to 200
feet in depth. Many subdivisions are now platted without alleys, which
are not desirable unless scrupulously maintained. The site should, if
practicable, be on a plateau or elevation that gives an outlook, or at
least make natural drainage certain. A lot below street level means
expensive filling to be done.
POSITION
There can be little question as to the special desirability of an east
frontage. With this exposure the morning sunlight falls upon the
living room when least in use, while the afternoon glare finds the
principal work of the kitchen accomplished. The indispensable veranda
on the east and south is also usable for a maximum portion of the day,
while the more solid side of the structure, being opposed to the
prevailing winter winds, makes the heating problem easier.
[Illustration: A unique arrangement of the porch.]
OUTLOOK AND INLOOK
Though we should not pay too much premium for an east front, it is
always most salable, and the difference will come back if we should
dispose of the property later. Outlook and protection against being
shut in should be assured. Our own property may be "gilt edge," but if
the man across the way has backed up a barn or chicken yard in front of
us our joy in life will be considerably lessened. Our home is both to
look at and to look out from, and we do more of the latter than of the
former. There are only two ways to make sure of not being shut in,
unless the adjacent lots are already improved. These are to buy enough
ground to give space on either side, or to secure a corner. Sometimes
a corner at a higher price is the cheaper in the end.
Certainly it is advisable, even though our own house be not
high-priced, to discover if there is a building restriction to prevent
the erection of cheap structures near by. This is regulated usually by
a stipulation in the deeds from the original subdivider. Without this
guaranty even a high price for lots does not insure that some fellow
who has put most of his money into the ground may not put up a woodshed
next door and live in it until he can build a house. We shall not find
it amiss either, to know something of the character of the owners of
the adjoining property, for if they are real-estate men there is a
probability of their putting up houses built to sell. Non-resident
owner may be expected to allow their vacant lots to remain unkempt and
to object to all improvement assessments.
TREES
Trees on the lot are a valuable asset, though dislike for sacrificing
them, if carried too far, may result in shutting out the sunlight that
is more essential than shade to health. Cottonwood, willows, and even
the pretty catalpa are to be shunned in the interest of tidiness. On a
50- or even 100-foot lot we cannot have many trees without
overshadowing the house. A few away from the building, not crowded
together, will give more satisfaction than a grove and be less a
detriment to health. Ordinarily grass will not grow to advantage where
there is much shade; and a beautiful lawn, though open to the sunlight,
is not only more attractive but much more serviceable than ground in
heavy shadow and covered with sparse grass.
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
Prices of vacant property in different sections vary so greatly that
one cannot safely approximate the cost of a building lot. It is safe
to say, though, that if values are figured on a proper basis, a
satisfactory site for a moderate-priced home can be purchased for
$1,000 in the town of our choice.
We have made it clear to ourselves that a home--anyone's home--should
be much more than a house plumped down upon any bit of ground that will
hold it. When we come to consider the house itself, we are confronted
by the knowledge that here the tastes and habits, as well as the size
and resources of the family, must govern the decision of many problems
considered. Numbers alone are not always a fair guide, for sometimes
the man or the woman of the house, or the baby, counts for much more
than one in figuring space requirements.
We have in mind here that we are a family of four, that we have an
income of from $1,500 to $2,500, and that we are prepared to spend or
obligate ourselves to spend from $2,000 to $3,500 for a house to go on
a lot to cost $1,000. The house we think of would be not too large for
two and certainly would comfortably accommodate five or even six,
depending upon their relations to one another. The extremes of income
mentioned would scarcely affect our plans, and the difference in cost
is accounted for by the choice of nonessentials and not by differences
in the principal features of the house.
STYLE
Now, if we have already set our hearts upon having a house just like
that "love of a place" we saw in Wayout-on-the-Hill the other day, we
shall have to reconsider the entire lot proposition. We may as well
face the fact that the house which is everything appropriate and
artistic in one place may in another be simply grotesque. In this
phase of the selective work we will profit by the advice of the
architect, if he be something of an artist and not simply a
draughtsman. At any rate, if we have the lot, let us decide what style
of house should be on it; if we are surely settled upon the house, then
by all means let us get a lot it will fit--and have a care, too, with
regard to the style of architecture (or lack of it) in our prospective
neighbors' houses.
There have been two extremes in later American home
architecture--overornamentation and absolute disregard for appearance.
The first arose from a feeling that every dollar spent in the interest
of art (!) should be so gewgawed to the outer world that all who passed
might note the costliness and wonder. The second extreme had its birth
in an elementary practicality that believes anything artistic must be
both extravagant and useless.
None of us can afford to build a house merely for its artistic
qualities. Yet we feel that we owe it to our neighbors and to the
community to make the house sightly. Most of all, we owe it to
ourselves, for the product of our plans will be the concrete expression
of our personality. Fortunately showiness is neither necessary nor
desirable; while artistic qualities are not so much a matter of money
as of thought. A few days ago, in a suburb of a Western city, I passed
two houses recently constructed. One was simply an enlarged drygoods
box with a few windows and doors broken into its sides--altogether a
hideous disfigurement to the charming spot on which it was erected.
Across the way stood the other cottage, with the same number of rooms
as its _vis-à-vis_, but really exquisite in its simple beauty. And the
latter, I was told, though equally spacious, cost less than the
monstrosity across the way! Into the one, there was put thought; into
the other none. Can we resist an opinion as to which home will be
happier?
SIZE
Should we be somewhat limited in funds, we may have to make a selection
between a large house finished in cheaper materials and a small house
of the best quality all through. Doubtless much of the "hominess" that
attaches us to some houses is due to their snugness, but not all of it.
Size is secondary to adaptation to the family requirements. Waste
space is an abomination, because it adds unnecessarily to the burden of
the housekeeper; yet to be so cramped that everything must be moved
every day is not a satisfactory alternative. There should be some
reserve not only for emergencies but for future needs that may be
foreseen. As the children grow up they will demand more room, and we
shall want to give it to them. If we do not care to maintain surplus
space for possible needs, the house should at least be planned with a
view to making additions that will be in keeping with the general
effect and will readily fall in with the practical arrangement of the
house.
What is said about emergency space applies principally to the sleeping
apartments. There is an altogether happy tendency in these days to
simplify the living rooms and to plan them for constant use. We of the
East have something to learn from the Californians, whose bungalows and
cottages are so often models of simplicity without the crudeness of
most small houses in other sections. Our coast brethren have
demonstrated that a four- or five-room cottage will satisfactorily
house a considerable family, and that it may be given the
characteristics that charm without increasing the cost.
PLANS FOR BUILDING
The simplest and in many instances the prettiest cottages are of only a
single story. But more than four rooms in one story makes a
comparatively expensive house, besides using up a great deal of ground.
With the foundation, first story, and roof provided for, the second
story adds little to the cost compared to the space gained. Where
ground and labor are cheap the single story is to be considered; but in
most places it would not be practicable for us.
In planning the house due regard must be had for the dispositions of
the respective members of the family. In any event we shall not please
all of them, but the less the others have to complain about the happier
the rest of us shall be.
NECESSARY ROOMS
If paterfamilias is accustomed to depositing his apparel and other
belongings rather promiscuously about, expecting to find things where
they were left on his return in the evening, it may be better to plan
his room where it may stand undisturbed rather than to attempt the
breaking of a habit which shows that he feels at home in his own house.
Likewise, some place there should be where the mistress may conduct her
sewing operations without wildly scrambling to clean up when the
doorbell rings; the children should have at least one place in the
house where they may "let loose" on a rainy day, and the master should
have somewhere a retreat safe from interruption, as well as a workroom
in the basement in which the tools and implements that quickly
accumulate in a country home may be secure.
THE SICK ROOM
Sickness, too, may come, and the questions of privacy without an
unwholesome curb upon both children and adults, of convenience to hot
water and the bathroom, of saving steps for the nurse, should be
thought of. An upstairs chamber is likely to be best on account of the
ventilation, lighting, and distance from ordinary noises; but frequent
journeys to the kitchen mean an excess of stair climbing. Whether
there be sickness or not, there should be somewhere provision for
individual privacy, where absolute rest may be gained.
A large indulgence in entertaining must have its influence in settling
both size and arrangement. Ordinarily, however, we may expect to be
reasonably hospitable without enlarging our home into a clubhouse. If
we do not consider this matter in building, propriety must compel us
afterwards to limit our company to numbers that we can comfortably care
for.
ROOM TO ENTERTAIN
A good many of us who have contrived very nicely to live in a six-room
city flat seem to think that we cannot get along with that number of
rooms in a suburban house, though the latter would be considerably more
spacious, not taking the basement into account. So far, however, as
absolute essentials go, a six-room house, carefully planned, will
provide for a family of four very comfortably, and it can be built in
an artistic and modern style for $2,500 near Chicago, about ten per
cent. more in the vicinity of New York, and probably for a less sum in
smaller cities. An eight-room house would cost about a third more, and
is, of course, in many ways more desirable. But, generally speaking,
we demand more room than we really need, and then put ourselves to
additional expense filling up the space with unnecessary furniture.
THE "LIVING ROOM"
In small houses there cannot be great variation in the proportioning of
space, but it is important that the use of each room should be well
understood and that it should be planned accordingly. If that is not
done our decorative and furnishing schemes later on will be misapplied.
Families differ as to their dispositions toward rooms. Most of us
would not think of calling for an old-fashioned parlor in a small house
nowadays, but merely to change the name from "parlor" to "living room"
doesn't change our habits. The living room is meant to take the place
of parlor, library, reception hall, and sitting room. If the family
adjust themselves to it a great saving of space is effected, and the
home life is given added enjoyment. Not all of us, however, can fit
ourselves to new ideas, and it is better to suit ourselves than to be
uncomfortable and feel out of place in the home.
[Illustration: A homelike living room.]
The living-room plan in a small house reduces the reception hall to
something little more than a vestibule, but where six rooms are
exceeded the reception hall may be enlarged and made serviceable. The
first impression counts for much, not only with our guests but with
ourselves, and if the hall be appropriately finished and fitted it
seems fairly to envelop one with its welcome. One thing that must be
insured, whatever form the entrance may take, is that it shall not be
necessary to pass through the living room to reach other parts of the
house.
THE DINING ROOM AND KITCHEN
Vastness is not essential to the dining room. Under usual conditions
we are not likely to seat more than a dozen persons at our table, and a
dinner party exceeding that number is too large for common enjoyment.
Connection with the kitchen should be convenient without having the
proximity too obvious. City kitchens are now usually made just large
enough to accommodate required paraphernalia and to afford sufficient
freeway for the cook. Many families do no home baking, and where fruit
and vegetables are preserved the basement is utilized. Compactness in
the kitchen saves hundreds of steps in the course of a day, and though
it is difficult for us to forget the spacious room thought necessary by
our parents, we may well learn, for our own comfort, to profit by the
modern reasoning that opposes waste space. Still, it is better to defy
modern tendencies and even to pain the architect than that the faithful
house-keeper who clings tenaciously to the old idea should be made
miserable. Some persons feel perpetually cramped in a small room,
whereas others only note the snugness of it.
THE SLEEPING ROOMS
The general well-being of the family is more directly affected by the
character of the bed chambers than by any other department of the
house. However we may permit ourselves to be skimped in the living
rooms, it is imperative that the sleeping apartments should be
large--not barnlike, of course--well lighted, dry, and airy. Three
large rooms are in every way preferable to four small ones. It is, to
be sure, sometimes difficult to put the windows where they will let in
the sunlight, the registers where they will heat, and the wall space
where it will permit the sleeper to have fresh air without a draught.
But marvels in the way 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.