A fireplace usually gives an excellent opportunity for 
building in seats and bookcases 
This Southern California home shows an unusually successful 
built-in buffet and seat 
Built-in Conveniences for the House 
SUGGESTIONS FOR SEATS, BOOKCASES, SIDEBOARDS AND OTHER FEATURES THAT WILL 
MAKE YOUR NEW HOUSE SEEM PARTLY FURNISHED BEFORE THE CARPENTERS LEAVE 
by Margaret Greenleaf 
T HE value of built-in furniture from the standpoint of econ¬ 
omy, and as useful and decorative adjuncts to the home, 
must be experienced to be fully appreciated. Such pieces should, 
to give the best effect, conform closely in color and finish with the 
standing woodwork of the room of which they are practically a 
part. 
When the house plans are in the making and before con¬ 
tractors’ estimates are asked, such window-seats, inglenooks, 
bookshelves, corner cupboards, and buffets 
as may be deemed desirable should be in¬ 
cluded, for at this time they add but little 
to the estimate as a whole, whereas if they 
are later figured upon separately, or put in 
as separate jobs, the cost runs up decidedly. 
There are now many good architects who 
specialize upon the small house, and some of 
these make much of quaint and effective 
built-in pieces in the interior arrangement. 
When looking over a completed house in 
which such features are included — and 
where the color and finish of the wood trim 
and the tint of the sand-finished walls are 
harmonious and attractive, the prospective 
occupant will feel that the house as it stands 
is almost livable, and be encouraged to 
think that the trouble and expense of furn¬ 
ishing and decorating will be small. 
Frequently when a man is about to build 
the house which will be his permanent home, 
his desire is to embody in it all of the good 
features of his neighbors’ homes, and those 
which he has gleaned from long and careful 
study of the published plans and pictures 
of exteriors and interiors. It is then a large 
part of his architect’s work to eliminate and 
choose for him the possible features from 
the chaotic selection offered. When once the type of house has 
been determined, it is much easier to decide the detail and finish 
which will be appropriate, and while in the designing of the 
built-in features it is the effort of the good architect to escape 
from the ordinary stereotyped styles, he can often find some 
suggestion in a house of another man’s planning which will 
prove acceptable embodied in his own, and as it is especially true 
of architecture that “there is nothing new under the sun,’’ this 
adaptation is by no means unusual. 
As representative of the craftsman style 
of house which is much favored to-day, the 
living-room shown in the first photograph 
at the top of this page is of particular inter¬ 
est. The wood trim and furniture of oak 
are stained and finished in weathered effect, 
the delightful gray-brown color toning well 
with the oatmeal shade of the tinted wall. 
The atmosphere of the room suggests 
comfort of living, its harmonious color and 
well chosen and suitable furnishings ren¬ 
dering it thoroughly homelike. The built- 
in seat at the right of the fireplace, with the 
high paneled back, and the glazed bookcases 
set in the wall at the lower end is distinctive 
and pleasing. Also the simple, sturdy mantel 
is typical and good, 
A frequent pitfall to the inexperienced is 
the finish given this built-in furniture. Often 
it seems desirable to the amateur to make 
these pieces appear as juniiturc rather than as 
a part of the room. With this idea such 
pieces are treated with a different finish from 
that used on the standing woodwork, and 
always with disastrous effect. If the corner 
cupboard in a room, where ivory finish wood¬ 
work prevails, is stained mahogany and is 
A corner cupboard from a Colonial house 
antedating the Revolution 
(US) 
