THE HOME.

Waipa Post, Volume 48, Issue 3468, 19 May 1934, Page 10

THE HOME.

SPACE-SAVING IN THE MODERN HOUSE. Every room has at least four corners, and some have many more. Do you just dismiss them from your mind as “ awkward,” or do you try to make the best of them ? The modern craze for built-in fitments has resulted in many a neglected corner being beautified and given a distinct value. When our grandparents first became “ corner-conscious ” they did their best to hide them. A palm or jar of peacock’s feathers or bulrushes was placed on a stand or a small table in the wall angle, or perhaps the funny device known as a “ cosy corner ” was constructed. This included a seat so hard that no one ever sat on it, and shelving for bric-a-brac that was merely a dutettrap. Modern housewives will have none of this nonsense. They tackle the corner problem squarely by choosing modern built-in furniture. This is not only designed to save space, but

is a distinct economy, too. Some of our younger furniture designers realise that the new conditions ol modern life make simplicity of design essential. Small rooms become insufferably small when stuffed with large, cumbersome “ pieces,” and a tiny place is charming when bare essentials only find a place for it.

If yC'.i are buying a house you: can cut down your bill for furniture tremendously by having well-designed pieces of built-in furniture. Most people to-day have cupboards fitted into the wall-space on each side of the bedroom fireplace, and this does away with the need for a wardrobe. But modern furniture designers take you a step farther, and help you ! to economise in many directions if you consult them soon enough.

Do not wait until your house is an accomplished fact. Have a talk with the furnishing expert while the plans are still in the hands of the architect and the builder has not yet begun .to put the bracks send mortar together. At that stage you can decide on your decorative scheme and link it up with your ideas about furniture. For example, in the bedrooms it is quite unnecessary to have the fitted washstand left in evidence. It can be enclosed in a cupboard, so that when the door is shut it disappears from view. Instead of the fitted washstand left in evidsidc of a wardrobe door the glass can la: secured to the insioe of the door, so that it is hidden'when the cupboard is closed.