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CUPBOARDS
In Recesses and Comers-Serve a Most Useful Purpose
To-day le the day of. the email house. I
and for those who bave been used to
more spacious accommodation it is a
serious problem how best to keep per-
sonal possessions without cumbering
small rooms with the ponderous pieces
of furniture;
One recalls the incident In "Kipps"
when that simple couple consult the
genteel architect about bouse plans,
and that gentleman asks: "What ac- i
commodation «will you require?'* Anne's I
explosive answer is-"Cubbads!*' And
a very sensible demand, too. My sym-
pathy Is all with Anne. Housewive3
are at the mercy of the architect for
the amenities of their everyday exis-
tence, and the average architect of the
small bouse will not provide a suffi-
ciency of "cubbads." '
Every room should have its cupboard
-even the sitting-room: a handy place
wherein to pop the family mending
basket or to keep at hand, but unseen.
a host of diverse small articles in
everyday requisition
In bedrooms the cupboard is invalu-
able. Many a useless recess and awk-
ward angle might thus be utilised to
advantage. An inset cupboard does not
intrude into the room itself; it presents
to the gaze only a panelled door, and
allows space for the luxury of an easy
chair, which, in a small bedroom, the
orthodox wardrobe would crowd out;
while, as for the accommodation it
affords, a cupboard sensibly planned 's
worth two wardrobes.
A recessed cupboard may, with ad-
vantage, be divided in Iialf, one side
being fitted with patent extending rods
tliat carrj' coat hangers innumerable,
the other side being provided with
shelves for underwear, eta ; and a .-po
t-ial partition can be reserved where
jumpers and blouses may be s'i«,pen
ded from hangers rather than li?
creased in a drawer. Drawer«;, of
course, could be substituted ior sheh CE.
THE HOME OF THE STAJE GOVERNOR, PERTH. Help
THE HOME OF THE STAJE GOVERNOR, PERTH.
Situated so as to command a fine view of die Swan River, the Perth Government Hoase is set
in imposing surroundings of lawns and gardens. ' (H. Hart, Photo.)
but. neatly stacked on shelves. It Is
easier to keep underwear tidy than
when- the same articles are arranged
in drawers. A word of warning, how-
ever-the shelves must not be too deep,
or the cupboard will defeat its parti-
cular object of helping to keep the
house in order. We all know those
abjSsmal cupboards m whose dim re-
cesses we rummage, making hopeless
chaos among the articles at the fiont,
and seldom bringing to. light those ar-
ticles at the rear which Tie happen to
be seeking A good depth for cupboaid
shelves is 15 inches.
Follow mg are some examples ' of
awkward lecesses that «¡vere treated,
and some cupboard treatn_ents, in a
couse which was sadlj in need of|
them.- j
One bedroom had a window recess
9ft- high, 14ft. wide, and lim deep j
Only 6ft by 4ft of this space was oc- j
cupied by the -window itself A plain
camp bed was denuded of head and
toot tails and placed beneath the win-
dow to form a seat, and on either side
of this I instructed a cabinet-maker to
lit two cupboards, the doors of which
run diagonally from the pre trusión of
the camp bed to the wall. Had ti.«
depth of the recess been as wide as the
camp bed, these doors would ha\ c bee'i
Hush with the wall and not plated
diagonally, but, as mentioned, the lc
cess «at only 141B. deep, and therefor«
insufficient to allow foi a comfortable
window seat. The spate *roni carno
bed to window sill was panelled, uud
.IIFO from mattress to floor in front of
the bed, this latter panelling being re-
movable for cleaning purposes.
Having utilised the recess in this
manner, I am provided with two roomy
«.upbuards and a sunny window-seat or
day bed.
Thejjamts cablust-makcr made to my
1 design a fireside cupboard. This has
i oak doors, and above them two small
cupboards with leaded lights. A tall,
narrow cupboard was also built Into
an odd angle of the chimney flue of tbe
adjoining room. An oak "grandmother"
clock fitted cosily into this unusually
narrow recess, and it was tempting to
reserve the space for an antique we
especially prized. However, I have
never regretted the choice of a cup-
board there Instead. It has proved a
boon, whereas the clock (which ticks
away at the foot of the stairs) has no
sort of utility, for' the most skilful
clockmaker cannot coax it to tell the
i correct tima
j As the reader will already have gath
Iered, I am as incorrigible as Anne
where cupboards are concerned.
- "Why." exclaimed a friend the other
day, on being shown round the house,
"you keep even your radiators in cup-
boards." And that is partly true. The
oak - panelled window - seat was also
j the work of my cabinet-making ally..
j Originally it had cupboards beneath
the seat. Central heating was an after-
thought in the house, and as this
lounge had been a cold, though other-
wise comfortable, retreat, the cupboard
proved a handy place in which to fit a
radiator. The panels of the cupboard
doors, however, had to be slotted to
allow free circulation for th& warm air.
j I feel we do not make enough use of
¡ the services of the erna.; cabinet
j maker in our homes. His work on the .
1 sort of jobs I have been describing, is
more skilful than that o£ the rough ;:nd
ready carpenter. And with his aid ii is
possible to make use of even the met
unpromising space, such, for instance, ,
as that often found when only a foot
of wall divides the framework of a door
from another wall runniiig at right
angles to ii. With a board >>n one side
and the odd foot of wall space on the
other, light brass curtain rods can be
í
fixed across, and on these the footwear
of the entire household may repose tier
upon tier, the rods for the heels of the
shoes being raised a little above the
level of those upon which the toes rest.
With ingenuity much may lie
achieved. But even after one has
schemed one's house to a nicety and
provided "a place for everything," ther*
still remains the problem of "every-
thing In its place"-remembering the
frailties of human nature and the reso-
lutions for domestic orderliness tha*
often go unfulfilled.
As an argument against too many
cupboards in a house, I have heard the
objection that these conveniences are
abused and are a temptation to accu-
mulate rubbish (as the too commodious
lumber room is said to)./ But the
"härterer," the cherisher of useless
odds and ends, is like the miser-be-
yond conversion. If she be a 'woman
of this sort and is not supplied with
cupboards, she will harbor dress boxes
full of rubbish under the bed, or any-
where she can dump them! As for
more rational housewives who know
how to use, and not abuse, such con-
veniences, let us i-aise our voice wit.«
Anne Kipps and clamor for "cub! ads"
in our homes-till we get them.-Dora
Jay Owen, in "Homes and Gardt.a" |
(Ent?.). |
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