A shallow alcove designed for the range and lined with tile or brick saves space in the 
small kitchen and does away with smoke and cooking odors 
HOW .TO PLAN AND BUILD-STRUCTURAL INNOVATIONS-ADJOINING ROOMS AND 
THE LOCATION OF FIXTURES—UTENSILS, SANITATION, LIGHTING AND EFFICIENCY 
by Louise Shrimpton 
T O use the kitchen simply as a 
cook room and scullery, a place 
where food is prepared and pots and 
kettles are scoured, is the modern aim. 
All tramping through the room by 
service men or family is avoided. If 
possible a rear hallway provides a line 
of travel for the household. A cool 
room opening from a rear entry con¬ 
tains the refrigerator and a place for 
depositing groceries. The laundry 
tubs, once placed in the small house 
kitchen, are now on the cellar floor, 
where a well-lighted laundry often in¬ 
cludes provision for ironing as well as 
washing. On the cellar floor of the 
well-appointed house is also a pre¬ 
serve room, with double walls contain¬ 
ing an air space, and a similarly built 
vegetable room. 
In the kitchen itself modern ideas 
as to efficiency are receiving due at¬ 
tention. The careful home-builder 
contrives a plan that shall eliminate 
futile effort in walking and unneces- 
sar Y gymnastics in gathering utensils 
and materials together for cooking. 
Kitchens of a few years ago were 
notoriously dark and unsanitary. To¬ 
day the kitchen is well ventilated and 
(185) 
furnished with windows upon two 
sides. Groups of two or three high 
windows, giving abundant light, are 
often seen. Southern exposures are 
reserved for the living-rooms of a 
house, while the kitchen has the 
northern aspect that gives the steady 
light desirable in a workroom where 
much precise measuring and careful 
cleansing must be done. This cool, 
northern location is chosen also as 
best adapted to a room that often be¬ 
comes too hot for comfort. 
These desirable features of loca¬ 
tion and well-contrived arrangement 
do not, however, come of themselves. 
As in other rooms in a house, home¬ 
builders must have clearly-defined 
ideals and a capacity for insisting on 
their fulfilment. The placing of struc¬ 
tural features needs particularly care¬ 
ful planning. The location of lighting 
fixtures must be considered at an early 
date. The wall treatment, selection of 
floor coverings, range, furniture and 
kitchen ware, are all matters requir¬ 
ing prompt but thoughtful decisions. 
In planning kitchen equipment, 
rough drawings are found to be a 
help. The size of the kitchen deter- 
Photographs by George Doust 
This cupboard with open racks for hanging saucepans 
gives easier access than rows of shelves 
