| It is a mistake to suppose that any room, however | | | | The furniture for a kitchen should not be cumbersome, |
| small and unpleasantly situated, is "good enough" for a | | | | and should be so made and dressed as to be easily |
| kitchen. This is the room where housekeepers pass a | | | | cleaned. There should be plenty of cupboards, and |
| great portion of their time, and it should be one of the | | | | each for the sake of order, should be devoted to a |
| brightest and most convenient rooms in the house; for | | | | special purpose. Cupboards with sliding doors are |
| upon the results of no other department depend so | | | | much superior to closets. They should be placed upon |
| greatly the health and comfort of the family as upon | | | | casters so as to be easily moved, as they, are thus |
| those involved in this 'household workshop'. | | | | not only more convenient, but admit of more thorough |
| Every kitchen should have windows on two sides of | | | | cleanliness. |
| the room, and the sun should have free entrance | | | | Cupboards used for the storage of food should be |
| through them; the windows should open from the top | | | | well ventilated; otherwise, they furnish choice conditions |
| to allow a complete change of air, for light and fresh | | | | for the development of mold and germs. Movable |
| air are among the chief essentials to success in all | | | | cupboards may be ventilated by means of openings in |
| departments of the household. Good drainage should | | | | the top, and doors covered with very fine wire gauze |
| also be provided, and the ventilation of the kitchen | | | | which will admit the air but keep out flies and dust. |
| ought to be even more carefully attended to than that | | | | For ordinary kitchen uses, small tables of suitable height |
| of a sleeping room. The ventilation of the kitchen | | | | on easy-rolling casters, and with zinc tops, are the |
| should be so ample as to thoroughly remove all gases | | | | most convenient and most easily kept clean. It is quite |
| and odors, which, together with steam from boiling and | | | | as well that they be made without drawers, which are |
| other cooking processes, generally invade and render | | | | too apt to become receptacles for a heterogeneous |
| to some degree unhealthful every other portion of the | | | | mass of rubbish. If desirable to have some handy |
| house. | | | | place for keeping articles which are frequently required |
| There should be ample space for tables, chairs, range, | | | | for use, an arrangement similar to that represented in |
| sink, and cupboards, yet the room should not be so | | | | the accompanying cut may be made at very small |
| large as to necessitate too many steps. Undoubtedly | | | | expense. It may be also an advantage to arrange |
| much of the distaste for, and neglect of, "housework," | | | | small shelves about and above the range, on which |
| so often deplored, arises from unpleasant surroundings. | | | | may be kept various articles necessary for cooking |
| If the kitchen be light, airy, and tidy, and the utensils | | | | purposes. |
| bright and clean, the work of compounding those | | | | One of the most indispensable articles of furnishing for |
| articles of food which grace the table and satisfy the | | | | a well-appointed kitchen, is a sink; however, a sink must |
| appetite will be a pleasant task. | | | | be properly constructed and well cared for, or it is likely |
| It is desirable, from a sanitary standpoint, that the | | | | to become a source of great danger to the health of |
| kitchen floor be made impervious to moisture; hence, | | | | the inmates of the household. The sink should if |
| concrete or tile floors are better than wooden floors. | | | | possible stand out from the wall, so as to allow free |
| Cleanliness is the great desideratum, and this can be | | | | access to all sides of it for the sake of cleanliness. |
| best attained by having all woodwork in and about the | | | | The pipes and fixtures should be selected and placed |
| kitchen coated with polish; substances which cause | | | | by a competent plumber. |
| stain and grease spots, do not penetrate the wood | | | | Great pains should be taken to keep the pipes clean |
| when polished, and can be easily removed with a | | | | and well disinfected. Refuse of all kinds should be kept |
| damp cloth. | | | | out. Thoughtless housekeepers and careless |
| The elements of beauty should not be lacking in the | | | | domestics often allow greasy water and bits of table |
| kitchen. Pictures and fancy articles are inappropriate; | | | | waste to find their way into the pipes. Drain pipes |
| but a few pots of easily cultivated flowers on the | | | | usually have a bend, or trap, through which water |
| window ledge or arranged upon brackets about the | | | | containing no sediment flows freely; but the melted |
| window in winter, and a window box arranged as a | | | | grease which often passes into the pipes mixed with |
| jardiniere, with vines and blooming plants in summer, will | | | | hot water, becomes cooled and solid as it descends, |
| greatly brighten the room, and thus serve to lighten the | | | | adhering to the pipes, and gradually accumulating until |
| task of those whose daily labor confines them to the | | | | the drain is blocked, or the water passes through very |
| precincts of the kitchen. | | | | slowly. A grease-lined pipe is a hotbed for disease |
| The kitchen furniture. | | | | germs. |