KNOW YOUR HOUSE THOUGH UNBUILT 327 



or paint is used on new wood to the annoyance of all concerned, and 

 the damage once done is never completely remedied. 



Save where hygiene calls for white enamel paint in kitchen and 

 laundry, or prevailing style arrogantly dictates its use in bedroom or 

 gala room, woodwork may be treated with non-odorous stain and 

 pumice stone, a finish that neither soils nor perishes under dust, fric- 

 tion, or blow. 



Real instead of imitation should be the endeavor, whether in 

 plain chestnut or Georgia pine nature graining, but never the spurious 

 quartered oak produced with hand, brush and cloth. 



Blinds. 



Seemingly a simple matter, but neither ordinary nor extraordi- 

 nary blinds harmonize with picturesque oriel casements, broad and 

 lofty grouped embrasured English windows, and mullioned triplets. 

 The list from \vhich to choose includes the Colonial crescent-peep-eye 

 shutter, the somewhat insecure pent-roof-blind either full length or 

 with hinged centre joint, the roll-up-in-pocket top or bottom blind, 

 the aggressive and unconcealed sliding blind, the full-slatted whole, 

 half, or cut-in-centre blind, the regular stock blind with moving 

 or stationary slats, and that final anchorage, Venetian blinds. Interior 

 pockets for solid paneled or slat shutters give character to any 

 dwelling. 



It is a disjointed selection, both within and without, but the 

 Venetian blind may prove a mainstay, though given to wind sway- 

 ing propensities. 



New and better ways of doing things are not necessarily more 

 expensive ; in fact they often make for economy. For instance, it costs 

 but little more to put a sanitary base in the kitchen and laundry, and 

 it is absolutely vermin-proof and a complete phaser to rat or squirrel. 

 Artistic triplicate windows cost less to make, set, and trim than do 

 separate windows. Bays at the time of building, are inexpensive, and 

 often a fifty per cent, improvement. A \vell lighted stairway is an 

 essential, and a curving line, often a paying luxury. 



Red birch that some builders cannot distinguish from mahogany 

 when finished, costs no more than many common woods. 



A plaster wall is but little more expensive than wood filled, 

 shellacked, and re-treated every few years, and is far superior save 

 when wood paneling or wainscoting is placed over plaster. 



In building for sale, selling points are often more in evidence 

 than essential fundamentals, and get-it-in-at-all-hazard features fre- 

 quently mar a unique design. 



How to Know Your House Though Unbuilt. 



As a preliminary, batten-board the site, then, before breaking 

 ground, line off first and second stories on the greensward. White 

 and colored whitewash w r ill differentiate each room. Without spend- 



