A WELL-PLANNED KITCHEN

Evening Star, Issue 19708, 8 November 1927, Page 2

A WELL-PLANNED KITCHEN

FRESH AIR AHD SUNLIGHT Is the eight-hour day for housework a dream? There is a decided difference of opinion among housekeepers of the present generation. Women with a knack for systematic planning, and possessed of well-planned kitchens, equipped with labor-saving devices, find no diJliculty in proving their contention that the housework of the average family can he accomplished in this limited number of hours (this docs not include the care of 'the ' children —a twenty-four-hour job), but the women whoso kitchens aro merely rooms in in which the work can be done shako their heads gnd ponder at the length of time the other woman retains her maid or the calmness and ease with which she accomplishes her work. Certainly the idea is not practical unless the house is well (planned and the majority of the work done by machinery. If asked the most important detail to be considered in planning the service department of a home, the experienced housewife would not answer “Saving of footsteps,” as might be expected in this day of efficiency; nor would sanitation occur to her as the most vital thing, important as it is. Instead her first thought for the kitchen would ho ventilation, lor without proper ventilation the saving of footsteps would avail little. The worker would bo dead tired, anyway. Though the kitchen may ho planned with a view to cleanliness, they cannot be really clean unless there, is plenty of fresh air and a reasonable amount of sunlight. Three windows, all on one side of a room, arc not of as much value as two windows placed opposite each other to afford cross ventilation. Aside from the circulation of air, no kitchen with all its windows on one side will 'have cooking odors so readily dispelled as the room with cross ventilation.

Kitchen arrangement "is-the next stop after ventilation.,-- and ;tlns is tho time to keep strictly in mind a saving of footsteps. For years it has_ been the popular .supposition that the sink should be ns far removed as possible from the rangc for fear the worker should become overheated. This is a fallacy for only during the very hot months, and then only when a. coal range is in use, will tip) "worker bo too hot if standing 100 near it in a well-ventilated KicchcnAn oil. gas, or electric range docs not throw off enough heat to bo very discomforting when ventilation is *ufficient.

Manv women to-day prefer lo eliminate tfio pantry on finely, having pantry and kitchen equipment in ono room, on the theory that an extra room means •many more corners to clean and more stops to take. 'But if a census wore taken, there’s not the slightest doubt that there would he more women who prefer a separate room for the pantry, particularly if there is over to he more than one person at a time working in the kitchen.

Non-absorbent cork makes a splendid floor covering. It is as soft as carpet to the feet, and as easy on tho nerves for tho one who must stand a goodly portion of tho day. Cork is easily cleaned, as not even hot grease _is absorbed, *nd when washed and dried thoroughly it remains clean for a longer period of time than a hardwood floor. A well-planned kitchen is indeed most important, for the natural distaste for housework cannot but ho dispelled if tho kitchen is a _ laboratory; and a wholesome respect is aroused for it, and contentment reigns. To ono with a contented mind,; working in a systematic household, the eight-hour day is entirely practicable.