The Place of Built-in Furniture in the House 
WHERE BUILT-IN FURNITURE MAY COMPLETE A DECORATIVE SCHEME—WHERE IT FITS AND WHERE 
IT MAY BE OUT OF PLACE—OPPORTUNITIES FOR UTILIZING WASTE SPACE AND SUGGESTIVE HINTS 
by Louise Shrimpton 
Photographs by Mary H. Northend, Jessie Tarbox Beals and Others 
I N the distinctively modern house much of the furniture is a 
structural feature, an integral part of the walls. Ingenious 
built-in devices are also introduced throughout, expediting house¬ 
hold service and promoting convenience. Furniture and devices 
are designed by the architect in connection with other architec¬ 
tural features; or are carpenter-built under the home-builder’s 
direction; or owners possessed of 
handicraft training themselves 
design and build them. 
Not the least of the advantages 
accruing to furniture of the built- 
in type is that it suits individual 
requirements. An ideal is faith¬ 
fully carried out without the 
weary search through shops that 
often results in compromise or 
disappointment. An architect’s 
plans and elevations, or instruc¬ 
tions and a few dimensions given 
to the carpenter, produce a piece 
of furniture that is precisely what 
the owner wants. Every home¬ 
builder with a love for books has 
ideas as to their proper housing ; 
open or closed cases are easily 
built in, so contrived perhaps that 
the seeker after books does not 
have to fall on his knees nor 
climb ladders to reach them. 
Every house mistress has convic¬ 
tions on the proper mode of storing away doilies. And in one 
linen cabinet of the built-in sort there may be bars around which 
doilies are loosely rolled; while another is fitted with a series of 
wooden trays on which 
the doilies lie flat, each 
set of them on a tray of 
its own. The practice 
among home-builders of 
giving careful thought to 
the disposition of each ar¬ 
ticle of household gear 
makes for results of de¬ 
cided individuality. And 
as a consequence of this 
thought the interior some¬ 
times becomes an epitome 
of the owner's tastes and 
convictions, a background 
of extraordinary value. 
A room may convey to 
the guest a subtle impres¬ 
sion of literary or artistic 
culture, due, among other 
things, to the realization 
in the fittings around the 
walls of some long-cher¬ 
ished ideal of the owners. 
A practical point is that furniture thus built fits the owners in 
size. There is a fireside seat made to measure for the man of the 
house. A desk is contrived at just the right height for the house 
mistress, and with it a seat or bench. Sleeping-room fittings are 
built in varying sizes to suit the occupants. Comfort is a neces¬ 
sary characteristic. A built-in bench or seat, not of the right 
height or depth and without comfortable cushions is never used, 
becoming merely an ornament of doubtful worth. 
In the well-equipped house, not only are the owners’ personal 
preferences gratified and their liv¬ 
ing-rooms made pleasant and il¬ 
luminative backgrounds, but the 
house as a place for housekeeping 
is successfully exploited. Useless 
walking is done away with by 
careful placing of the fittings that 
help in household tasks. Cup¬ 
boards and racks holding linen, 
food supplies, or saucepans, are 
so placed with relation to other 
household fixtures that speed in 
service is assured. The endless 
series of entries and pantries once 
built, has given place to one or two 
rooms, the walls of which are 
covered with compactly arranged 
fittings. While the house in its 
methods is still inferior to office 
and factory, it is steadily advanc¬ 
ing in efficiency as a work place. 
In houses built within the last 
year or two, the broom and dust¬ 
pan are non-existent. Attach¬ 
ments on each story are provided for the vacuum cleaner, run by 
electric or water power. Dust cloths need smaller allotment of 
space in kitchen cupboards with this dustless cleaning, and broom 
cupboards, formerly pro¬ 
vided on each floor, are 
eliminated. Many ingen¬ 
ious devices are installed 
to save labor. In the hall 
closet is perhaps a trap 
door with a shelf beneath 
for firewood for a nearby 
fireplace. A small dumb¬ 
waiter is often put in be¬ 
tween kitchen and the up¬ 
stairs sitting-room, so that 
afternoon tea is served 
without stair climbing. A 
special refrigerator o r 
tiny cool room is some¬ 
times built in accessibly. 
The laundry chute invari¬ 
ably put in, saves the tug¬ 
ging of clothes-baskets 
downstairs to the laundry. 
These features and others 
impossible to buy ready¬ 
made are installed at 
small expense when the house is being built. 
An advantage of built-in pieces as opposed to heavy movables 
placed against the wall, at least according to the housekeeper’s 
This attractive ingle shows what can be done with odds and 
ends of builders’ material 
How the aspect of a room may be altered by built-in furniture—a separate 
library is formed by these bookcases 
