HEARTH AND HOME

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21510, 27 June 1935, Page 7

HEARTH AND HOME

HOUSES FOR LETTING INCREASING SHORTAGE IMPROVEMENT IN RENTALS During the last few months the number of suitable houses available for letting have become fewer, and land agents are having no difficulty In finding tenants, according to Mr C. E. Hoy, president of the Canterbury and Westland branch of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. The dearth of homes for letting had had its effect on the rentals, and to-day landlords were receiving better returns than they had for a number of ye^rs. In an interview with "The Press" yesterday, Mr Hoy said that the shortage of houses was, if anything, more pronounced than it was some six months ago. There was a very keen demand from first-class tenants for houses of practically every description, and as long as the properties were in good condition and within reasonable distance of the centre of the city there was no difficulty In procuring satisfactory tenants. "The rentals that being obtained are an increase on those which have been ruling for a number of years," Mr Hoy said, "To my mind the general indication is for better times, with much brighter prospects for the property market in particular. The rents that are being obtained_ show a good return on the capital invested, providing, of course, that the properties were not acquired during boom times. This fact in a very satisfactory one indeed from the point of view of the investor who Jjas relied on real estate as a source of income." Discussing the popularity of flats, Mr Hoy said that quite a number of blocks of flats had been or were being erected, and the demand for modern flats in good localities did not show any sign of abating. Flats provided modern and comfortable homes at a reasonable rental for a large number of persons who did not want or were not able to give the responsibilities of n house their full attention. They also served as an admirable form of investment. The flats being built today offered excellent accommodation, f<>r the by-laws of the Christohurch City Council were so strict that all had to be up-to-date. Referring attain to the dearth of houses for~ letting, Mr Hoy said that buPders were beginning to realise their onportunities, and several speculative builders had started operations and were doing successfully. The fact that speculative builders had commenced to erect houses augured well for the future of the property market. PROGRESS IN SYDNEY MANY NEW BUILDINGS IN CITY AREA The face of Sydney is changing rapidly. Old buildings are being demolished and new premises, under modern methods of construction, are shooting .up in. their place, says the "Sydney Morning Herald." By the' end of this year there will be many important additions to the notable buildings of the city. A big improvement has taken place in the building and allied industries, in Sydney during the last few months. Buildings being erected, or about to be erected, in the central city area, bounded by Bridge, York, Park, and Macrjuarrie streets, will cost, it is estimated. at least £2,000,000. Experts in the industry say they believe the aggregate value of new buildings in the metropolitan area this year will be equal to the average of the "good" years from 1024 to 1023. Abundant money is available for investment in buildings which will show a reasonable return on capital. Sydney was rather slower than the other capital cities of Australia in recovering from the slump in the building trade, which commenced in .929 and continued, with fluctuations, until 1033. It was not until the latter half of 1934 that there was a definite forward movement in real estate investments in the city proper. From June, 1934, until now there has been I steady building development within the city. Estimated Cost New buildings sanctioned by the Water Board in the metropolitan area , for the first four months of 1935 were estimated to cost, when completed, £2.537,353, compared wi,th £1,170.701 in the first four months of 1931. The total value of city buildings sanctioned from the beginning of January until i the end of last month was £003,400, the amount for April being £338,593, or more than double the total of the previous three months. , Building's now being erected in the central city area include the offices j for the Railway Commissioners in ; York street. This building is to be 150 j feet high, and will cost more than ! £250,000 when completed. The Rail- j way Commissioners have also com- ' < menced work on the entrances to the Wynyard station from George street. This will do away with the present | ramps, and provide four approaches to the station—two being 25 feet wide and two 20 feet. Proposed additions to the Sydney Hospital buildings represent more than £IOO,OOO. Extensions arc also being made to other hospitals. Many important hotels are being rebuilt or remodelled. There is no diminution in the building of new flats. Many of these have been built recently as a speculation, and have been sold at a profit owing to the rapidity with which all the flats have been let to tenants. This has led to the demand for additional and larger Hats in almost all suburbs ' within easy reach of Sydney.

PAINTED FURNITURE BECOMING MORE AND MORE FASHIONABLE Painted furniture is becoming more and more fashionable, but in order to contrast with the plain painted walls that are at present in vogue, intricate hand-painted , patterns, or panels oE rough-castings, "sponging," or "combing" are to be seen, says the Yorkshire "Evening Post." In small rooms the furniture should never be elaborate. Therefore, simple pieces decorated with "scumbled" panels, for instance, and painted to match the walls, are the best choice. Paintwork, carpet, and hangings all of the same tone help greatly to create a spacious eifect, and colour can be introduced with brilliant-hued cushions or ornaments. Incidentally, the modern woman realises that a one-tone room, in say, parchment colour, is the best background possible tor showing off her own colourful clothes.

'A FURNISHING DISPLAY J. BALLANTYNE AND CO., LTD. EQUIPPING A MODERN HOME The windows of Messrs J. Ballantyne and Company, Ltd.'s shop this week show admirably the great advances there have been in the use of colour in heme furnishings. All the window space in the shop—there are 20 windows covering the fronts to Colombo and Cashel streets—has been used for a display which for its magnitude, taste, and artistry of dressing excels anything of its nature that Christchurch has seen previously. The windows have been dressed to show typically modern developments in home furnishing. One of the most striking windows on the Cashel street front shows a lolinge-room with furniture of veneered walnut and chairs in velvet cord, the general colour scheme being in cyclamen and green. The carpet is of these tones, in a hollyhock pattern. The adjoining winclow, showing fittings and furniture suitable for a sun porch, all in bright colours with orange and green predominating, emphasises the restfulness of the lounge-room. Nearby is a smoking-room, on the floor of which is a hand-made Indian carpet in tones of camel, blue, and red, while the background is in tones of chenille, blue, and camel. The atmosphere of comfort associated with such a room ha 3 been well obtained, and the furniture, which includes a large brown leather armchair with a seat padded with down, and a "dumptie" in red leather, has been chosen for its utility. The cocktail lounge, which is also in Cashel street, is remarkable for the striking modern design of the carpet, and the general impression of warmth. Rust and orange are the predominating colours, while the tubshaped chairs are upholstered in windI swept velvet, cottage weave, and dam- [ ask in tones of green, and green and gold. The beauty of cretonnes and enamelled furniture is well shown in one of the bedrooms. Here the dressing table, with a half-circle top enamelled green, has a gathered front of green figured cretonne, while the bed, designed to be in keeping with the dressing table, has a bedspread of the same material. Above the dressing table an oval mirror with a barbola frame is hung. The carpet has a stippled effect, with green predominating. Another bedroom has a colour scheme of cyclamen and green, the carpet having a grey ground on which arc tones of primrose and green, while yet another bedroom has furnishings in pink taffeta, with a soft chintz carpet to tone. A wide variety of bedspreads is shown, one charming design b"ing carried out in taffeta and gold. One window is given up entirely to incidentals in furnishing, such as pottery work and glassware. Loose covers are well displayed, some very attractive designs being on chsp'ay in linen cretonne in tones of orange and brown, while there is a window taken up with curtainings in voile, the predominating colour being green. Another admirable exhibit is that of rugs in modern designs, which were on view at the British Industries Fair. A sitting-room is the outstanding feature of the Colombo streel front It has a colour scheme in chocolate, relieved by rust tones, and the attractiveness of the lay-out has been enhanced by a futuristic design at the rear of the window. The carpet is of fawn and chocolate tones, and the chesterfield and armchairs arc of a plain fawn repp.

DESIGN FOR A KITCHEN MAX DEFE \TS 20,000 WOMEN Those who maintain that women would be more successful in house planning than men will be surprised to hear that a man has beaten 20,000 w men in a competition to find the ideal kitchen (state:-; the "Morning Post"). Some of the prize-winners were entertained at luncheon recently at the Carlton Hotel by Sir Francis Goo enough, chairman of the British Commercial Gas Association. "One could well understand a man winning a prize for designing a power-house, but it is surprising to find him producing the best design for the power-house of the home." said Sir Francis, when congratulating the winners. The prize kitchen, for which the award was £SOO, was designed by Mr Anthony Trew, a 75-year-old retired architect, of Poole. It provides for a gas fire in addition to a gas cooking stove, a refrigerator run by gas, a hot water supply, boiler and airing cunboard. The decorations are carried out in deep green, and cream. The kitchen will be shown , at the forthcoming Ideal Home Exhibition at Olympia, as also will be the kitchen designed for the King's, house. I

WARDROBES TO REPLACE CLOAKROOMS EXTRA SPACE IN SCHOOLS The chief architect of the New South Wales Public Works Department (Mr P. Everett) has submitted to the Minister for Public Works (Mr Goudie) details of a wardrobe for installation in state schools in place of existing cloakrooms. Mr Everett has found that up to one-fifth of the floor space of the average school is c upied by cloakrooms, and he suggests that this space could be more profitably used for classrooms. The proposal, which will be presented to the Department of Education for consideration, is to build a wardrobe one foot in depth along the rear wall of each classroom. A simple form of sliding door has been devised which opens up ai: the individual wardrobes at the same time. The wardrobes are separately ventilated from the classro is by an inlet in the floor and an outlet in the head They are fitted with hooks and a shelf for bags. This method of storing the children's possessions has been recently introduced into schools abroad with great success. Under this arrangement hats and coats are not on view, and they are at all times under the control of the teacher. The "spiriting away" of hats and coats is not possible, because the children cannot open the wardrobes. I