Utilizing the Waste Spaces of a House 
AN EXAMPLE OF ECONOMICAL PLANNING AND THE EMPLOYMENT OF SPACE FOR CLOSETS BUILT 
IN DRAWERS AND SUCH CONVENIENCES—AN INSTRUCTIVE OBJECT LESSON IN CLOSET BUILDING 
Dressers, seats and bookcases 
are fitted into the walls or at¬ 
tached to them, and the archi¬ 
tect has seized the opportunity 
to carry his scheme to comple¬ 
tion, building furniture re¬ 
duced to the simplest terms of 
good proportion and efficiency, 
but made to harmonize with 
other architectural detail. 
The Colonial character 
of the living-room, with 
its fireplace flanked by 
pillared recesses, is ac¬ 
cented by a small cup¬ 
board of quaint design, 
one of those convenient 
cupboards that promote 
order in a room by hold¬ 
ing magazines and music. 
In the bookroom the walls 
are lined by shelves put 
up by the house carpen¬ 
ter, made of whitewood 
stained a soft brown. A 
desk breaks the bookcase 
line, fitting into its place 
more perfectly than would 
the most expensive fac¬ 
tory product. 
A problem confronting 
every housewife is the 
proper disposal of her ta¬ 
A corner of the library. A desk has been built into the line of 
bookcases that encircles the four walls of the room, fitting in 
more perfectly than the most expensive factory product 
Between the dormer windows, as indicated in the second floor plan, the 
has been utilized as shown at the top of the next page 
space 
grooved cleats. Each tray holds 
a set of doilies or napkins, and 
is easily carried with its con¬ 
tents to the serving-table. 
Other space in this carefully 
planned linen closet is filled 
with shelves for table cloths, 
etc., and a rack for table leaves. 
In the culinary department, 
cupboards are designed with 
due regard to the revolu¬ 
tion that has come about 
of late years in house' 
keeping quarters, now so 
much more compact and 
sanitary than they used to 
be. The butler’s pantry is 
a model of hygiene and 
convenience. High case¬ 
ment windows flood it 
with light. In the ledge 
beneath are two sinks 
with reversible faucets. 
Space for glass and china 
in the opposite wall is di¬ 
vided into low, high and 
medium-high compart¬ 
ments, so that dishes in 
everyday use are easily 
handled without exposing 
others to dust. Narrow 
cup shelves placed mid- 
w a y between ordinary 
A SMALL house at Syracuse, 
N. Y., recently designed by 
Alfred T. Taylor, architect, might be 
regarded as a practical treatise 
on the art of closet building. 
Every inch of what is usually 
waste space in a house is util¬ 
ized for ingenious cupboards 
or for built-in furniture. 
by Louise Shrimpton 
Photographs by George E. Doust 
ble linen, a problem usually treated in 
inadequate fashion, since ordinary 
shelves or drawers are unsatisfactory, 
especially for small pieces. The 
rack for doilies shown in our 
illustration is a new and feasi¬ 
ble invention that proves ex¬ 
tremely practical. Movable 
trays with thumb holes rest on 
In plan the house is nearly 
square, with an entrance 
porch separate from the long 
veranda 
Closets and sets of drawers 
have been built into the slope 
of the roof, ordinarily waste 
space 
(IOO) 
