Ornamenting New Homes 27 



It is the practice of most of our people to build too high. 

 The house with most of the rooms on the first floor has a 

 hominess and brooding character that is especially adapted 

 to country life, and much time and effort are often saved 

 to the inmates by this style of building, though perhaps 

 the cost of building a given number of rooms may be some- 

 what increased. In locations where the land is low and fogs 

 and dampness are prevalent and where land is expensive 

 the two- or even three-story building may be advisable. 



An abundance of shelf- and closet-room should be con- 

 sidered as important as large rooms. Neatness, order, and 

 economy of time are thus encouraged in all of the inmates 

 by having a convenient place for everything and keeping 

 everything in proper condition in its proper place. There 

 should be an abundance of shed- and storage room in the 

 outbuildings for the general comfort of all and for keeping 

 up the necessary outside work of the home. 



Sunlight in every room of the house is necessary for good 

 health and should be provided for by the location and 

 architecture of the house. 



In the square-box house, though undoubtedly the cheap- 

 est to build, some of the rooms will receive but little sunlight. 

 But by arranging the rooms in more or less of the cross 

 form, or by the addition of wings, bay windows, etc., the 

 fullest amount of sunlight can be obtained. 

 ■ The recent improvements in styles of dwellings and the 

 adoption of large or numerous windows are steps in the 

 right direction. With the present low price of glass, and 

 sash and doors made so cheaply as they are in our large 

 factories, large windows and many of them to provide an 

 abundance of light need not add materially to the first cost 

 of a dwelling, and by the use of storm-windows during the 

 winter little or no increase in cost of heating need be ex- 

 perienced. 



