Cupboard Love

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 628, 3 April 1929, Page 7

Cupboard Love

Architects Plan to Suit Women’s Wants THE STORAGE PROBLEM The love of the modern housewife for the home which contains an abundance of stores, cupboards, pantries, recesses and built-in cabinets of all hinds, is well known. So important has this part of home designing become that no house is regarded (by a woman at least) as being complete unless there is practical evidence before her eyes that serious thought has been given to the inclusion and correct placing of these essential features. The science of cupboard designing may be said to have become a fine art with some architects, and it has been estimated that the home should contain not less than 40 cubic feet of store space for each person living in the house. The housewife should cooperate with the architect when the plans are in the pencil stage. It is interesting to note that the builders of houses for sale are awake to the demand for cupboards, and give some thought to meeting the need. Cupboards and stores are necessary to the smooth working of the modern home. In the best bedroom a good built-in wardrobe does away with the old-fashioned, cumbersome and awkward chest of drawers. It may have an attractive finish, and have a bevelled "lass oval mirror, or as the proprietor may select. In the larder space has to be provided for Jams, canned fruits, relishes, sauces and preserves. The provision of adequate space for all this needs to be looked into before the house is built. And do not overlook the provision of storage space for brooms, brushes and cleaning materials, to say nothing of pots and pans. Conveniently Placed

The golden rule as to all cupboards and stores is that each shall be right to hand —that is to say. the wardrobe should be just where you may stretch out your hand and open the door when required; while the linen store needs to be conveniently placed in the centre of the house, not in any one apartment, but in some place common to all. A favourite method nowadays is to make a nest of three cupboards, stores or wardrobes, each about two feet deep. These may be either in a row or grouped at the end of a passage. Both these styles have examples in the accompanying sketches. Coming down to deta&», a linen store should not have the shelves too deep; but if roomy enough for a wide shelf, leave a recess to stand in, and place the shelves around on three sides. This is much easier for practical working that the deep shelves. The lowest shelf, about three feet above 'he floor, may, with advantage, be a little wider than the others, for here one will automatically rest an armful of clean linen while sorting. Each shelf above should be placed at 4n interval of about 18in. On the top of the shelves, blankets and other articles that are stored could be placed; while travelling bags and suitcases may well go below. In one of the minor bedrooms, a good roomy cupboard is handy. This is quite distinct from the wardrobe mentioned above for the best bedroom. This one might be appropriately named a “Hold all.” At about 7ft high, provide a shelf, with a second about 18in below for hats, etc. Boots are placed on an Inclined rack below'. The most modern type is, of course, complete with an expanding rack for coat hangers, and is large enough to have its own point of electric light, fcwitched on and off automatically by the opening and shutting of the door. Cupboards As Ornaments The external finish of cupboards in the home has undergone great changes in present-day designing. There are cupboards that are in themselves very ornamental. They reveal their contents in an attractive manner rather than concealing them. Of such order are the bookcases and china cupboards in the modern dining and sitting rooms. These have leadliglft glass. Sometimes one sees a pair in a room, one on either side of the flue in the chimney breast, and these contain the curios of the household. Others again are in attractive threeply woods, finished In oak, walnut or any other stain that may be fancied. Some, too, present opaque glass tfc the visitor, and betray no hint as to their contents.

Among other fittings the wellsquipped home should be provided with its shaving cabinet in the bathroom (this is being renamed the medicine chest one notices), and its double facing bread and milk receivers. The latter does away with the possibility of accidents to the food which may be left whether anyone is home or not. A box for fuel or wood, with openings both inside the house tthis a flap!, and also outside for filling is very handy. If a chip bath heater is to be Installed, provide a similar built-in box near it. And a soiled linen bin. placed in the wash-house, but with an opening in some passage or near the hall, will be found to be a great convenience. The provision of a cellarette. if only 18in square, may save the expense of an ice chest for a small family. “Blessing upon the man who invented cupboards”—but the writer has a shrewd suspicion that it was a woman. Hitherto undreamed of possibilities in decorating schemes are presented to the Aew Zealand housewife by the suggestions :n the above article. It Is not mentioned, however, what one should do when, having furnished a room to match one s fragile sllvrette colouring, one's first at home attracts a bevy of dark-eyed friends. Before cemented ■work may be safely painted over it must be coated to keep the alkali from Injuring the oil paint, and for this purpose it is generally conceded that nothing is better as an insulator than a solution of sulphate of zinc, in the ratio of 31b of zinc sulphate to a gallon of water.