DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE.

Auckland Star, Issue 123, 24 May 1919, Page 20

DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE.

The vexed subject of domestic archi-j teoture has been ably dealt with in the; "Contemporary Review" by Miss Clem-i entina Black, and many of her strictures] apply equally to Auckland. For our! houses are full of dust traps and inconveniences. To take the "idiocies" in Miss Black's order, we have still, except in new and expensive houses, the door-;, which are placed in the wrong posit'ons, and are constructed so as to require constant dusting. The grooving of door frames and panels is also a matter of useless la'bou. , . There ie seldom seen a house in which there is not one room, at least, with the door in such a position that the family cannot enjoy the comforts of the tire in winter, or of the open window in summer. Windows are another constant source of work and worry here, as well as in England. Often badly placed both for lighting and ventilation, they are always difficult to keep clean on account of their fittingsNo one 'lias been able to understand why it is considered necessary to provide them with sills, which project beyond thei level of Uie wall. Venetian blinds, again, arc jiint as difficult to remove for cleaning in Australian houses as in English, and outside shutters are much more satisfactory from every point of view. The subject of floors i≤ one which troubles all of us. There is no ideal floor covering for a house in which the work hart to bo done by one woman. A ■ stained iloor with loose rugs is about the best arrangement for rooms in which there is not a great deal of traffic; not a highly polished floor, but one which can be kept, in order as many stained and oiler! verandah floors arc. by the regular use of « dustlcss mop, with a very occasional polishing. But few floors are set clive enough for this plan to be followed. And so mist people have to fall back upon the cold and ugly linoleum. Cork carpet, which Miss Black approves of, lias t!'o disadvantage of shorting fiotmarks badly.