February, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



79 



to buy a piece of furniture to fit a niche or alcove. It never 

 looks as if it had grown there, as does the built-in piece. 



Another attractive quality of the fitment is its exclusive- 

 ness. The trial of seeing sideboard and china cabinet ex- 

 actly like her own, in the house of her favorite neighbor, 

 need not be experienced by the woman who builds her own 

 sideboard and china cupboards to fit the idiosyncrasies of her 

 own dining-room. 



Unused Doorplace May Be Used as a Frame 

 for Bookshelves 



The fitment is also a space-saving device. Furniture built 

 into the walls of a room takes up little space, giving to a 

 small room an appearance of greater size, and preserving 

 to the large room its dignity and restfulness. 



The building of fitments may easily, however, be carried 

 to an extreme. A dining-room lined with shelves, a bed- 

 room whose walls are completely filled with built-in ward- 

 robes, gives rather the appearance of the interior of a ship's 

 cabin than of a house. The Continental habit of building 

 bedsteads into the walls of a room is also abhorrent to any 

 well-regulated American mind. Any fitment must be so con- 

 structed that it may easily be cleaned and ventilated, and if 

 these conditions can not be adhered to, all idea of the fitment 

 for that particular place should be abandoned. 



In engaging a builder or cabinetmaker it is advisable to 

 find some man with a small shop of his own, one who takes a 

 conscientious interest and a pride in his work, and is reason- 

 able in his charges. 



As the prices paid for lumber and labor differ materially 

 in different sections of the country, it is impossible to give 

 estimates that will conform to any and every existent stand- 

 ard. What is considered a fair price in one locality would 

 be exorbitant in another. The price of labor in a secluded 

 country place is usually much less than in a large town, while 

 the fluctuating cost of lumber and of other materials must 

 also be taken into account. 



The cost of the fitments shown in the illustrations given 

 in this article has been carefully estimated with a view to 

 building under local conditions by a trustworthy carpenter 



and cabinetmaker in one of our large eastern cities. The 

 woods figured on are either pine or chestnut, but plain oak 

 would be only slightly higher in price. Quarter-sawed oak, 

 while beautiful in grain and texture, is expensive, and for 

 built-in furniture chestnut, gum-wood, plain oak or even hard 

 pine will serve every purpose. 



The most simple of the fitments shown is a set of 

 shelves, converting into a bookcase the slight recess on one 

 side of a pair of folding doors. If for any reason a door 

 is not used, this is an admirable device for utilizing the space 

 and at the same time procuring an inexpensive bookcase. 

 This set of shelves costs only five dollars, and was put up 

 by an ordinary carpenter for a professional woman, who in 

 this way turned to good account an unused door between her 

 private office and reception-room. The shelves are painted 

 a cream white, to match the woodwork. 



A fitment appropriate for library, den, or living-room 

 is also shown. On one side of a window, extending to the 

 wall, shelves are built, with a drawer and cupboard under- 



A Corner China Cabinet May often Enliven 

 a Dining-room Corner 



neath. On the other side the shelves' are repeated, while a 

 desk arrangement fills the lower part of the case. There is 

 no wood backing the shelves, but the cupboard and drawers 

 are carefully constructed throughout. The desk slide is held 

 up by small wooden supports that, when not in use, are 

 slipped back into the case, together with the slide. In the 

 drawing given the cases are sixty inches high and each thirty- 

 two inches wide; the seat is seventeen inches high, and the 

 desk of the usual desk height. The cost of constructing this 

 fitment, including shelves, window-seat and desk, is esti- 

 mated at forty-five dollars. The wood used is chestnut, 

 stained a grayish green. 



A grandfather's clock built into a corner makes an unique 

 fitment, and one that can be built at small expense, compared 

 with the cost of purchasing either a Colonial reproduction 

 or a modern Mission clock. The case is very simple in con- 

 struction, six feet high, with a glass panel in front. The 



