The Dining Room and Kitchen 



173 



windows should be carried well to the ceiling to this end as well as for light, 

 and if they can be placed on opposite sides of the room so much the better. 

 Windows should be higher from the floor here than elsewhere, so as to be above 

 the sink and tables. It is probably unnecessary to suggest that the usual hot- 

 water tank should not be omitted. It should be of the best and of sufficient 

 capacity, and to save floor space may be of the suspended type. 



It is still the custom in England to use a table in the centre of the room. 

 This is sometimes done in this country and is often necessary, the chief objection 

 to it being in the fact that the centre is usually the darkest spot in the room, 

 and, further, that one has to walk around it, a fact which makes it much in the way 

 in a small kitchen. 



The English and French have retained one good thing which we have un- 

 fortunately discarded that of leaving the pots and other kitchen utensils exposed 

 and open to the air. The advantages of this are evident: It gives these articles 

 no chance to get musty or sour, as the air is an excellent purifier. Furthermore, if 

 they all hang on the wall, they are more easily found when wanted than if 

 hidden behind cupboard doors. Of course the cupboard has its place, but it is 

 not necessary to put everything in it. The objection will at once be raised that 

 such exposure invites dust; true, but is it not easily removed, and is not its 

 cleanliness far superior to the half-cleaned article that is stowed away in the 

 cupboard to sour ? Of the two evils, is not this by far the least ? Every vessel 

 should be wiped out before using, after lying idle, even if it be clean. 



It has been suggested by one writer that ranges vary in height, and that some 

 of them are often too 

 low for the average 

 person to bend over. 

 It is awkward to be 

 obliged to stoop or 

 to reach; such things 

 should be con- 

 sidered. As cooks 

 come in assorted 

 sizes, the only way is 

 to strike an average. 

 If the lady of the 

 house has much to 

 do with this art, it is 

 she that should be 

 "fitted" to a stove. 

 The loose step to 

 overcome the diffi- 

 culty would be so 

 much in the way 

 as to be almost as 

 bad as the trouble 



ItSeil. Dining room at Winchester, Mass., showing an excellent wainscotting and china shelf 



