A Suggestion for the Service Premises of a Labour-saving Home.

Progress, Volume XV, Issue 6, 1 February 1920, Page 713

A Suggestion for the Service Premises of a Labour-saving Home.

Saving Time, Trouble and Money in the Home. The drawing reproduced herewith of the back part of a house is most suggestive of how labour and steps in the kitchen can be economised by wellcontrived arrangement of rooms and equipment in relation to each other. This arrangement is described below. Note in. particular (1) the device by which tradesmen’s deliveries can be put by them in the larder through a -locking door (2) the relative positions of the kitchen cabinet, kitchen tables, and gas stove; (3).the communicating serving hatch and china cupboard between the kitchen and diningroom ; (4) the double swing doors between the same room; and (5) the glazed upper part of the wall separating the maid’s sitting-room from the kitchen. Opening out of the porch is a delivery hatch. If maid and mistress are upstairs, or the house is left empty for a few hours, written orders for

tradesmen are placed in a labelled compartment. The tradesman puts what is required in the compartment, pushes it in, and it locks automatically. The' housewife empties the compartment from the larder at leisure. Assuming that there are six calls from tradesmen at a suburban house every day, to take orders or deliver goods. If each call occupies only five minutes of a servant time, this represents three hours a week. Three hours a week at Is. per hour servant’s cost— 3s. per week, or £7 16s. per annumthe annual interest of 5 per cent, on a capital of £156. Next to the larder stands the cook’s cabinet, in which are kept all the stores and utensils in general use. They are all grouped together and so save endless journeys. Adjacent to the cabinet is the cooking table and the cooking stove. - In convenient proximity to the stove and table is the serving hatch with hot plate. When the maid is out . the dishes are placed on this hot plate and can be removed through the hatch which opens both into kitchen and dining-room. The cupboard for glass, china, and silver in general use opens both into kitchen and dining-room, and so when the table

is set or cleared there is no need to leave the diningroom in order to replace clean utensils' :" v

It will be noticed that double swing doors lead from dining-room to kitchen, and for this reason atrolly table is provided of nice appearance, and on this all dirty articles are collected and trundled off to the sink. Afternoon tea is laid on the table and trundled into the drawing-room or garden, so that all carrying to and fro of heavy trays is avoided. >: The idouble sink with its draining - board and racks is conveniently near the cooking table, which being on castors could be wheeled up to the sink if necessary. ■ .'■ ■ ■■■■ - <" "_ ;''

As the plan shows, the arrangement of the kitchen allows the work of food preparation to be divided into three processes: (1) collection, (2) preparation, (3) service.