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