MODERNISE YOUR PRESENT HOME!

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 541, 19 December 1928, Page 9

MODERNISE YOUR PRESENT HOME!

Electrical Appliances

Home Refrigerating

.andscape Gardening

WARNING TO WOMEN TOO GOOD A HOUSEKEEPER There is such a thing as being too good a housekeeper. We have all met her —an energetic, shrewd, tireless little woman with a keen eye to business and an ambition to excel in each detail of household science. She is the “must-be-done” woman. Every article in her home reposes in its correct place—the cushions on the sofa, the chairs by the wall, the books in their shelves, even the curtains hang with an air of precision, while the polished floor is guiltless of a speck of dust. When the youngsters come home from school she does not welcome them with a kiss, but admonishes them to remove their boots and not dirty the floors. When "hubby” returns after his day in the city, she meets him with a condemning finger pointed at his muddy shoes, and warns him not to leave his pipe about ou her polished mantelshelf. In other words, her spick-aud-spau sanctum is of more importance to her than the happiness of her husband and children. As time goes on, her mental attitude becomes narrowed and crabbed, for she imagines that she cannot spare time for reading Books in herestimation are for ornament, uot use. Such is her devotion to household tasks that she taboos forms of amusement which take her into the air and sunshine. By degrees she arrives at such a pass that the only entertainment she permits herself is a school concert, at which Molly is to sing or Willie to recite, or perhaps the college sports, where Tommy will compete for athletic honours.

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Naturally, her friends desert her, since she can never spare an hour to have a homely cup of tea w-ith them. She has allowed herself no relaxation, and the result is frayed nerves, followed up by tea-drinking and a disposition to nag. She resents the gay laughter and buoyant spirits of her young people, and regards them as boisterous and unruly. “Hubby” she dubs cold and unsympathetic, since the poor man fails to appreciate her perpetual efforts in the form of a spring clean. To put it simply, this truly excellent housewife has failed in the very elements of home-making, since she has sacrificed the simple joys of the ideal home for the spick-an-span precision of a doll’s house. She has worn away her energies, and succeeded only in making those about her miserable and depressed. She exists as a warning o all women not to neglect the spirit of the true homemaker for that of merely the housekeeper.

KITCHEN CLOCKS SHOULD BE ATTRACTIVE DO IT YOURSELF Here is a simple way of making the common or garden kitchen clock into quite an attractive ornament. The clock should not be too large, and if preferred a fairly big watch can be treated in exactly the same way. First of all take a strong, deep, wooden box which will stand firmly Then draw a circle, using the clock as guide, slightly above the centre of the box, and either with a fretwork saw or very sharp knife cut out the circle neatly so as to enable the clock or watch to fit tightly into the hole from the back. A tiny screw hook or nail, fixed just above the hole on the inside, will be sufficient support to hang the clock or watch on. A rounded false top of cardboard, fixed with passepartout or seccotine, will greatly improve the general appearance and shape. The box can now be either stained brown with Condy’s Fluid, or painted the desired colour with enamel paint. When quite dry, paint or stencil any conventional or other design round the hole. The whole ornament should now be varnished to give the finishing touch. Another very pretty effect can be obtained by covering the box with a piece of wallpaper frieze, pasting it

on evenly with ordinary paste. Flowers can then be neatly cut out and pasted round the hole for decoration. Wall-paper dealers always have old sample books of papers and friezes which they are glad to he rid of. The colours and designs of most of them are delightful, and endless use can be made of them. Small boxes for instance, to hold trinkets or handkerchiefs, covered with the plain wall-paper and trimmed with parts of the frieze cut out and pasted round the edge, look very dainty.

Up-to-date Furnishings _

Bring your house up-to-date ! Domestic science has made great strides in recent years—enjoy the advantages —increase the value of your property and make yours the

HOME BEAUTIFUL

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