January, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



39 



Convenience to Use Is the Chief Rule of all Kitchen Furnishing 



every detail of the kitchen. 



floor is given, it is bound to come off after having received a 

 daily scrubbing with soap and hot water. It is thus advis- 

 able to cover a wooden floor with a material similar to lino- 

 leum. A tile or brick or briquette floor is far better — here 



the enemy of every cook. 

 The various plumbing 

 and heating connections 

 will necessarily run along 

 the ceiling. They can, just 

 as well as the walls, be 

 neatly finished. The hot 

 and cold water pipes should 

 be bronzed or painted and 

 the valves neatly labeled — 

 the hangers likewise. The 

 heating pipes should have 

 asbestos jackets, to protect 

 from radiation as well as 

 for looks. Brass bands 

 should cover the joints or 

 painted canvas sewed out- 

 side. A copper boiler, 

 though costing just about 

 the double of a galzanized 

 iron one, is worth the dif- 

 ference in price because of 

 its looks alone, if not from 

 the fact that one may be 

 certain of its water not con- 

 taining rust. This may be 

 doubtful in the case of the 

 galvanized iron one. 



The question of general 

 appearance holds true in 

 There is no reason why it 



should not look spik and span and orderly. There should 

 be a place for everything, either a shelf or a drawer or a 

 table or a cupboard. It should be so neat that a meal pre- 



the surface will stand any amount of wear and can easily pared in it with the guests all present, or a chafing-dish party 



and perfectly be washed. Best of all, however, is a floor 

 of one of the several new fireproof and sanitary flooring 

 preparations made up of varying quantities of sawdust, 

 plaster, cement, asbestos, etc., such as Taylorite, Asbestolith, 

 or Lignolith. The hose may be turned on them as easily as 



held over its table, should be as appetizing as if served in 

 the dining-room. The tables and dresser tops, either of 

 clean scoured, well oiled ash or of glass, may often be 

 cleaner than the polished mahogany. The different condi- 

 ments and spices in the small cupboards may be made to 



doors as books in library cases. The shining pots and pans 

 in neat order on their racks and shelves, the tin boxes, each 

 in its own place, may make a most attractively furnished 

 room of what is generally considered the least so in 

 the h 



ouse. 



K/rc/*£H FLUE ISXI2 



on the tile floor, and they have the advantage of being neither look as attractive through the diamond or square-paned glass 

 as cold nor as hard on the feet as a hard burnt clay. The 

 base, with a rounded angle, should be made of the same 

 material. 



On the walls nothing is nicer than a white glazed tile, 

 using likewise a tile base and trim. Expense will probably 

 prohibit its use throughout, but the attempt should be made 

 to employ it, or a white enamel brick, up a portion of the 

 walls, or for the surfacing of the chimney front and the 

 backing of the plumbing fixtures. Where it is out of the 

 question, the best substitute is three or four good coats of 

 light paint on walls as well as ceiling, completed with a gloss 

 finish. If the floor is tiled, an unglazed tile should invari- 

 ably be used, the glazed being slippery and dangerous. 



These surfaces have a secondary value in resisting the 

 steam constantly emitted from cooking and boiling pots and 

 kettles. The woodwork must similarly have a practical 

 finish. Painting it white with an enamel finish undoubtedly 

 looks the best and cleanest, but the good looks will not last 

 long — it has to be repainted or refinished. If the natural 

 wood is left, either without any stain or with a very slight 

 one, and finished with a spar varnish or "supremis" finish, a 

 surface will be procured which will both last well and wash 

 perfectly. The trim, the base, the chair rail (very necessary 

 for protection if the wall surfaces are of plaster) , the stools, 

 the doors — all the woodwork in fact — should be as plain in 

 detail as possible. For trim a seven-eighths inch by four 

 inch board, rounded at the corners with a plain quarter- 

 round mold to cover the joint between the wood and plaster, 

 could not be improved on. Dirt as well as heat should be 



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