32 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Dining-room with tapestry panels 
burning of the candles, gas, etc., the temperature of room 
and diners constantly rises. Further, nothing is more un- 
comfortable than to have one’s back during the meal too near 
the logs. A few feet on the safe side should thus always be 
allowed in front of the chimney-breast (which itself will 
probably project). As the fire should never be nearer to a 
diner than six feet, the builder must remember that a five 
foot table is at times extended to nine feet, and the length 
of the room parallel with 
the lines on which the ex- 
tension will occur must be 
figured in reference to the 
greatest probable length of 
the table. A well propor- 
tioned dining-room may be 
said to be one of about 
twenty feet by twenty-two 
feet by ten feet six inches 
high. 
The furniture, or what 
takes its place, may also be | 
‘recessed,’ and the room 
made correspondingly 
smaller. ‘Thus the side- 
board, which encroaches so 
decidedly upon the floor 
space, may be placed in a 
recess or an alcove, and the 
china cabinet made into cup- 
boards or closets built into 
the walls with their glass 
doors coming flush with the 
wall surfaces. The same 
expedient, if followed in the 
fireplace, building its breast 
flush with the wall and con- 
structing the flue on the 
pantry rather than on the 
dining-room side, is of great 
value in enlarging the room. 
January, 1909 
Nowhere does furniture 
govern as much as in this 
room, and in small country 
houses as well as in modest 
city houses, the building of 
the requisite compartments 
for china,-silver and glass 
into the walls becomes of 
the greatest assistance in en- 
larging the available floor 
space. The doors furnished 
with leaded or wooden mun- 
tined designs, perhaps in 
connection with plate or 
pewter shelves running 
around the side walls, may 
likewise add to a simple but 
happy effect. 
Light, sunshine, cleanli- 
ness and air are all essentials 
in this room. A close, dark 
or stuffy dining-room is in- 
supportable. The morning 
sunshine falling across the 
white cloth of the table is 
better than any cereal or 
fruit to start the day or the 
appetite. “he room can not 
thus be more advantage- 
ously placed than in the 
southeast corner of the house. Its location as well as the 
number of windows is vital. Jt must be, above all others, a 
cool room in summer. If it is possible to procure windows 
on two or three sides, especially two sides facing each other, 
the cross current of air becomes of great advantage during 
the hot season. Opening the room on to a piazza, on a 
pleasant view of flowers, or terrace, or garden, or a cool, 
splashing fountain, will add immensely to its success. As 
The uncarpeted floor has many advantages 
