A manual of home-making

Up to the present time, no ixTfeet flooring that is cheap enough for use in private homes has lieen evolved. The ma- terials most available are wood and linoleum. Uf the two, linoleum is thought to be preferable, because it can be cementetl tight to the unrier floor, it is practically crackless, anrl it is quiet and easy to walk on. Plain brown *' battleship'' linoleum is a reliable, standard product, or a modest inlaid pattern may be used instead. Inexperienced houseket^pers claim that linoleum with a pattern is both more attractive and easier to keep clean than is the plain color. Although good linoleum is not a cheap floor covering, its satisfactory and lasting nature commends it in spite of its cost. A maple or a beech floor of narrow boards is the next best material. Yellow pine and oak are too open graineil to make a I d PLANNING THE HOME KITCHEN satisfactory floor for kitchen use. Maple and beei'h are both light in color and do not make a very attractive floor under hard use, but they can be scrulibed and kept clean. A maple floor should l>e finished l>y saturating it with hot linseed oi! for a number of hours; then all the extra oil should be thoroughly wiped up. In this w^ay, the wood is practically impregnated against the al^sorptioii of grease- Kitchen w^ootlwork shotdd be plain, with as few grooves and moldings as possible. Wooden wainscotings in kitchen and bathroom should never be used* For the int^?rior finisli of the kitchen, nothing is comparable to clean, hght-colored paint for walls and woodwork. Warm grays, buffs, and other soft, neutral tints may be used. Some- times walls, woodwork, and furniture are all painted the sauie color, thereby imitiog the whole effect. Even ready-made cabinets, tables, and refrigerator's are far more attractive if painted a light color. A kitchen finished in stained oak or varnished pine, like the remainder of the liouse, is unnecessarily monotonous. It should be differentiatLnl from the other rooms in color scheme and general atnuospliere. Liglii colors, mixed on a basis of white, are not only cheering and restful to look at, but have the further advantage of reflecting and distributing the light so that there are no dark corncLs. Such a room becomes also an easy and economical one to light well at night. When gas or oil lamps are used, light colors are positively invaluable in the kitchen. Each w^all then becomes in reality a huge reflecting surface, so that a given amount of light is virtually used several times over. If an elec- tric fixture for indirect lighting^ — an inverte<l metal bowl — is placed centrally on a white ceiling, the entire kitchen is evenly lighted so that there are neither heavy shadows nor dark cor- ners to imptKle the work. Naturally, the lighter the general color scheme, the less the current that will be nt^ded. Light colors may, therefore, be considered as having a practical, as well as an aesthetic, value. I I I 120 A MANUAL OF HOME-MAKINO References Child, Georgie Boynton. The Efficient Kitchen. 1914. Frederick, Christine. The New Housekeeping. 1913. Goodnow, Ruby Ross, and Adams, Rayne. The Honest House. 1914. White, Charles E., Jr. Successful Houses and How to Build Them. 1912. PART II HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT CHAPTER IV GAME OF THE HOUSE By Helen Knowlton