IDEAL HOMES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21019, 7 May 1930, Page 7

IDEAL HOMES.

EXHIBITION AT OLYMPIA. HOUSE DESIGNED BY A WOMAN. TIME AND LABOUR SAVING. (From, Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 27. Two acres of extra space are available for the Ideal Home Exhibition, for the new Empire Hall has been brought into use. Hence, the one now in progress may be called the greatest of all Ideal Home Exhibitions. In the main hall the city of shops has sprung up under a vast pergola through the silver pillars of which visitors may look upon the landscapes and seascapes which entirely encompass the hall. The increase of space has made possible the introduction of new sections and the inclusion of special features in harmony with the outlook of the times. There is, for instance, the “ Nurseries of the Nations.” This series includes replicas of the nurseries of Holland, Turkey, Hungary, Lapland, and Japan, as well as an English nursery of to-day and an ultra-modern nhrsery of 1960. In this last-mentioned the ceiling is made to roll back to admit the maximum amount of fresh air and sunshine, while the cot is designed to protect the child from excessive sun and glare of light. The furniture consists of a changing table, food trolley with thermometer indicating the needs of the child as regards the correct temperature of foods, the necessary amount of vitamin and calories content, and cot and chairs and tables of the most perfect hygienic and labour-saving description. Then there is a most interesting series showing what is usually done with an attic, and what can be done with it. In four exhibits the same shaped attic, which is modelled on one in actual existence, has been treated in different ways. The first shows how an attic was invariably found in the past, a dusty and neglected luncheon room. Next is Offered a suggestion for a “ quiet room ” in the house. Further, the attic can be transformed into an ideal room for a child to make all the noise he desires. Still another is converted into a bedroom for a young girl with pleasiqg colour scheme and modern furniture. Yet another is for the bachelor girl, and the last is treated as a bachelor flat. PAVILION OF LIGHT. The “ Pavilion of Light ” has come into being as the result of a £IOOO competition in conjunction with the General Electric Company. The compptition was open to British architects, decorative artists, and electrical contractors, the aim being to .show the important part which lighting plays in! the home, and the relationship it bears: to architecture, furnishing, and decoration-. ■ ,The suite of . six rooms comprises a lounge, dining * robin, bedroom, nursery, kitchen, and bathroom.!' Nothing quite like the. dining room has ever been seen' before. The walls and ceilings axe of black. glass with a narrow rose-coloured' mirror, glass strip figures as a cornice and as part of the architraves, with stainless steel skirting. The threshold of the doors is lighted from below, and an etched panel lighted from behind forms a ,dado between the two doors. The central 'feature of the room Is an extremely novel dining table fashioned entirely of glass, the toji being illuminated by light which is also projected downward upon a rectangular tank containing goldfish and aquatic vegetation. In the bedroom is a dressing table which is sqrely the last word in luxury, or at least in lighting luxury. The lady who is beautifying herself sits on a stool placed on glass, from beneath which comes a flood of light. Two side tables are illuminated the full length by other concealed lights, and overhead is a wide umbrella-like arrangement which- sheds another flood of opal light upon the occupant of the seat. Thus, there are no shadows thrown on the occupant and none reflected from the full-length mirror before her. > There is a “ Gallery of Art and Antiques.” A courtyard of old Spain gives access to a richly-panelled room created and furnished hy one of the famous decorative firms in the country. Beyond this is a gallery where art firms are showing ai valuable collection of famous painters.Then there are remarkable collections of antiques. “ HOUSE THAT JILL BUILT.” In the constructed village, which is always a feature of the exhibition, there is the “ House That Jill Built.” In order to provide women with an opportunity of substantiating a change that architects could not design a house to iqeet fully the requirements of women, the Daily Mail organised a competition, and the “House That Jill Built” Is based on the winning spedficathjttvand’ rough’ sketch plans of the first --prize winner, , Mrs P. A. Lee, of Croydon/who has collaborated with the exhibition architect, Mr Douglas G. Tanner, F.R.1.8.A., In the building of this unusual house. Although extremely original and even daring in conception, it is of a very, practical order and the principal idea has been to avoid any Waste of - money in unnecessary decorations and to extend the outlay onvgood materials and a maximum equipment of real' labour-saving devices. An. original idea is the elimination of fireplaces and mantelpieces, there ' being, only ' one fireplace —in the. ;' .living ■• room the rest of the house -being fitted throughout with central heating ' apparatus, operated thermostatically. Instead of a dining room there is a dining recess where meals are served by way of a dresser fitment communicating with the kitchen. In addition to the three goodsize bedrooms there is a delightful sleeping porch open to the south which may alternatively be used as a playground for children. Rubber .covering for the kitchen, stairs, nursery, landing,-and the bathroom is an important feature. Every room is used for the purpose for which it is planned, and there is no “ best room ” reserved for special occasions. ; SOME OF THE NOVELTIES. A thorough inspection of the whole exhibition is a matter for more than one whole day. No one could come away without the feeling that domestic labour should now be reduced to the minimum of course, one has the,means to buy the machinery and ; pay for the electric power used. With the electric-ally-driven washing machines—the power being applied to every process—washing clothes becomes an easy matter. On one machine the electrically-driven wringer swings round on a pivot over three different tubs, and the progress .'from the ■ boiling water to the cold water, thence to the blued water, is easy and rapid. Gas stoves have uow been evolved so that the fire is a perfect imitation of .the coal fire.. Of the hundreds of things of interest one sees, there are a few that appear to be novel’or Especially interesting, A firm which previously made wooden dish mats of strips of wood has now extended its activities to making large floor coverings of the same material. A carpet of oak or mahogany would last for a lifetime. It may here be mentioned that such a carpet is. supplied to cover the 16,000 square feet of the ice rink at Grosvcnor House when it is desired to convert it into a dancing floor. The conversion process takes only five hours. The Italian firm has been making dish mats for 30 years, but it is only recently it has established itself in London and produced these remarkable floor coverings.

Great developments seem to have taken place in the decoration of bathrooms. Here is one, for instance, with a black porcelain bath. The walls are of plate glass, the inner side being painted in

faint rainbow shades. Here is a bathroom with walls apparently of marble. It is really slate, made to look like marble, and this is said to‘ be just as durable as marble. WAKING TO MUSIC. A certain well-known firm of clockmakers hits produced a clock for about 30s which is meant to wake a sleeper in the morning. Instead of making an unholy din, these little clocks play a selected tune. One or two gramophone companies have instruments which' will play for as much as 90. minutes without attention. The records are placed in position automatically, and the power is obtained from the electric plug. A whole opera may be played through. Here is a 6£t rule made of steel. It will stand straight as a wooden rod, but if desired it may be bent round corners or even tied in knots. A clothes’ lino arranged on a stalk and radiating rods seems to be most useful. When the comes on the stalk is pulled ont of the ground, the radiating rods are let down, and the whole thing—clothes and all—carried into the house. NIGHTINGALE CANARIES. One may walk ,on board a. Noah's Ark and meet the tame leopard, monkeys, birds of paradise, toucans, and a variety of other pets. Some of the most successful among the “ broadcasting" birds are the nightingale canaries. The idea was conceived a few years ago that if canaries were kept in close proximity to nightingales they would be able to imitate the nightingale’s song. Their “ performance ” at the Ideal Home Exhibition proves that this was not a vain notion. In the out-of-doors exhibits there is a car cruiser-caravan, Jmiit on aircraft lines, which was arousing much interest, and its streamlined shape is designed to reduce wind resistance. It is described .as an ideal home on wheels. A model to sleep four costs £147. A less expensive caravan (£47 ss) is on the‘lines' of a tented cart, arid it can form the centre apartment of a three-roomed canvas house. When dismantled it serves as a luggage carrier, or it may be used to carry milk pails to market. The maker of black cat teapots has extended the principle to white Pekinese dogs. The tail acts as a handle, and the tea pours through the paws. The gardens of the artists are a development of the gardens of other years and are chanriing with their flowing streams and waterfalls of old stonework. Furniture, decoration, heating and lighting, refrigeration, cookery, radio, recreation, all form important sections of the exhibition and contain the latest inventions and designs to make domestic life more pleasant.