56 
House & Garden 
PLANNING the MODERN KITCHEN 
Proper Equipment Properly Placed Solves Most of the Service 
Problems in Well-Conducted Houses 
HOWELL TAYLOR 
T he step-saving kitchen is one of the 
boons which the modern architect has 
given to the housewife, and the co-opera¬ 
tion between manufacturers of carefully 
designed kitchen equipment and able ar¬ 
chitects is notable. 
I'he domestic kitchen should be logically 
planned. Its importance has been neg¬ 
lected too often in installing the new and 
attractive fitm.ents that have been placed 
on the market in recent 
years. There is no need for 
inefficient or wasteful plan¬ 
ning of space in the service 
end of any dwelling house 
any more than in any manu¬ 
facturing plant if an analysis 
of activities is made and a 
careful layout considered to 
fit individual needs. The 
woman who must cross her 
tracks a score or so times in 
preparing any simple meal 
has not done this, or else the 
limitations of the existing 
plan of her house are very 
severe. 
Writers on the activities of 
the domestic kitchen are 
generally agreed that two 
headings will cover every 
process that takes place. 
These are (1) preparation, 
and (2), clearing away, and 
every piece of kitchen equip¬ 
ment can be fitted into these 
two processes in such a way 
that the arrangement will be 
efficient and logical, saving 
innumerable steps and af¬ 
fording more pleasant work¬ 
ing conditions. Included in 
preparation are all opera¬ 
tions necessary to setting the 
foods on the table. 
For preparation are needed 
the store closet, refrigerator, 
sometimes the cellar, a work 
table or cabinet where im¬ 
mediate small utensils and 
supplies are at hand; the 
stove, a serving shelf with 
warmed serving dishes near¬ 
by and direct access to the 
dining table. 
For clearing away are 
needed garbage disposal, re¬ 
frigerator, sink, and dish 
cupboard with direct access 
to the dining table from the 
cupboard. 
Considering these two 
processes together, a plan is 
immediately suggested, which places the 
outside and cellar entrance with refrigerator 
at one end of the room and the dining room 
door at the other with the articles of equip¬ 
ment arranged along each side. The dia- 
gramat-ic layout of logical positions on page 
57 follows this arrangement, and suggests 
the plan that should be sought for every 
kitchen wherever its location in any house. 
Some objection may be raised to the re¬ 
lation between the sink and the work table, 
for many cooks feel that they must have a 
sink adjacent to the work table. More care¬ 
fully considered, however, it is easily seen 
that the use of water in preparation is sec¬ 
ondary to its use in cleansing dishes and 
other articles. The preparation of vegeta¬ 
bles at the sink is a separate process, which 
may be done at odd times, the prepared 
vegetables being set away until wanted. 
In elaborate establishments 
where more than one person 
is occupied in the kitchen, 
an auxiliary cook’s sink 
located near, or set into, the 
work table is desirable. 
The three model plans 
shown need little explanation 
for the dotted lines indicate 
the direction of both proc¬ 
esses. Each is a logical plan 
for four types of kitchen, (1) 
the average small house, (2) 
apartment, and (3) the larg¬ 
er house. 
The same relative posi¬ 
tions for ec|uipment are fol¬ 
lowed in each with one ex¬ 
ception, namely, the apart¬ 
ment plan. The position of 
the kitchen in so many 
modern apartments is such 
that only one wall is avail¬ 
able for outside light. . A 
typical apartment kitchen has 
been chosen to illustrate de¬ 
sirable positions in placing 
the equipment. It is seen 
that the refrigerator only is 
cut of place. 
Ideal conditions are usual¬ 
ly obtainable in the other 
two kitchens and the model 
plans are typical. The me¬ 
dium-sized kitchen might 
have a pantry attached near 
the outside entrance, but 
where space is limited and 
ample cupboard and shelf 
room is provided in the 
kitchen itself, many house¬ 
wives prefer not to bother 
with it. A dumb waiter to 
the cellar in any kitchen is a 
great step-saver and where 
no bins are provided in the 
kitchen for a few days’ sup¬ 
ply of fruit and vegetables, 
becomes a desirable fea¬ 
ture. 
In the more elaborate 
kitchen for the large house 
{Continued on page 114) 
In an old house where the kitchen is reminiscent of the past it is 
more pleasant to preserve this atmosphere than to destroy it or dis¬ 
guise it in modern dress. It can be made a servants’ dining room 
The beams, cavernous fireplace, old doors and corner cupboard have 
all been kept in this kitchen, and the curtains and hooked rug are in 
complete harmony with them. Elsie Shane Farley was the decorator 
