January, 1909 AMERICAN 
Simple panels of wood have a charm of their own 
air and sunshine are freely admitted, the flies, mosquitoes and 
insects which will be attracted in swarms by the food must 
not be forgotten. Windows must be constructed so as 
always to be provided with screens, and screen doors if the 
windows are French and go to the floor. 
The room could not be better placed than opening on one 
side on a piazza, whither the table may be moved during the 
hottest of weather. This should be connected by a case- 
ment window running to the floor, and at least a portion 
enscreened. Pantry, or serving-room, and dining-room lead, 
of course, directly into each other—the more intimate and 
the less noticeable, the better and more successful the service. 
There must be a decided feeling,of cleanliness and light- 
ness about the room as well as a certain restraint in its archi- 
tecture. Heavy wall coverings, dark leathers or highly 
flowered wall papers, as well as stuffy curtains of thick velvets 
or plushes, are generally unfortunate in a city house and in- 
variably so ina country residence. In addition to the “stuffy” 
impression they make, the heavy wall materials and curtains 
absorb and retain the steam and odors from the food. The 
old Colonial, Georgian, and Adams dining-rooms are hard 
to beat with their clean looking white paneled wall surfaces, 
with brilliantly contrasting dark mahogany furniture and 
brightly polished silver. They look neat, dignified and 
fresh. In the more elaborate or expensive schemes cement 
or stone may be substituted for the wood panels. Employing 
a wooden paneled surface or merely canvasing and painting 
the walls, producing perhaps the panel effect by the applica- 
tion of wooden molds directly on the plaster and finishing 
the whole with light colors of paint, is almost certain to look 
better than a dark or highly flowered paper. The same prin- 
ciple should be followed in the ceiling and floor. 
Apply on the former, unless the architecture radically de- 
mands a different scheme, light ornamentation and keep the 
floor as clean looking as in a hospital. Do not carpet it, but 
furnish with a rug or matting, that may constantly be cleaned. 
Best of all, do not fear cold feet, but have a brightly waxed 
floor or one of stone or marble, or a tesselated one. In a 
French house a rug in the dining-room would usually be con- 
sidered uncleanly—there the parquetry of the floor is gen- 
erally danced on by the wax shoes of the ‘‘Frotteur’’ every 
Monday morning and shines as invitingly as the top of the 
table. 
The doors as well as the windows are of importance. One 
of the doors will in almost every instance lead into one or 
HOMES AND GARDENS 
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3 
the other of the principal 
rooms, generally into the 
living-room or the parlor, 
and its opening is usually 
large. It should never be a 
single door, but sufficiently 
wide to allow two persons to 
enter the room arm in arm, 
without any fear of grazing 
the jambs. This opening 
should never merely be por- 
tiered off from the living- 
room, but closed by either 
swinging or sliding doors— 
without them the smell of 
the food will penetrate, and 
one will further be obliged 
after the meal to listen to 
the. clatter and disturbance 
inseparable from clearing 
ott the table. 
The pantry door is merely 
a necessity and should never 
be treated as an architect- 
ural feature. It should be 
just wide enough to allow the maid or butler to enter com- 
fortably with the largest tray—for the smaller it is the less 
kitchen smell and rattle of dishes and cutlery will reach the 
dining-room. Conceal the door altogether if possible, not 
only by a screen in front of it, but by giving no trim to the 
door on the dining-room side and seldom making it over 
six feet six inches in height. ‘There is seldom any necessity 
for making it correspond in height to the wide opening lead- 
ing into the living-room. Unless a small transparent opening 
is left in the pantry door at the height of vision, there is 
danger where several servants are waiting on table that a 
tray with its contents will find its way to the floor. The 
bottom of the door will always be kicked by the waitress 
attempting, when her hands are full, to open it by her foot. 
The lower rail should thus never be left white or unpro- 
tected. A small brass plate about ten inches high will keep 
it neat looking. If the pantry door is to swing both ways, a 
great deal of care should be taken in the selection of the 
hinge on which it revolves, as the difference between a silent 
and a noisy one may mean the meal spent in comfort or an- 
noyance. Also hang the door on the same side as the arm 
with which the waitress pushes and does not carry. 
The windows, all tightly screened, should open easily, and, 
if of the casement type, be furnished with such hardware that 
they may be partially opened. In the placing of them, the 
furniture again becomes of importance. They are sometimes 
placed so near together that no space is left for a six-foot 
sideboard, and no wall space, conveniently near the pantry 
door for a serving table—or they may occupy such positions 
that the necessarily large sideboard and china cabinet must 
be relegated to the corners of the room, where they look 
cock-eyed instead of ornamental. 
In opposition to the simplicity and light airiness of the 
styles which I have recommended come our elaborately fin- 
ished dining-rooms of the Italian and Elizabethan styles. 
They are really an applicatien of the general styles of these 
periods to our dining-room, for in the Renaissance and Tudor 
days there was no such thing as a dining-room. The en- 
trance hall, often placed immediately in front of the recep- 
tion-room, was frequently, in the earlier days of the French 
palaces, employed for the meals. It was not until the days 
of Louis XV that a special room was set aside for eating. 
Moliére picked his chicken with Louis XIV in the latter’s 
antechamber, and the Italian princes of the sixteenth century 
drank their wine wherever they were overcome by thirst. 
