Chapter I: Front Matter

[Frontispiece: A $3,400 House.]

The COMPLETE HOME

EDITED BY

CLARA E. LAUGHLIN

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

NEW YORK

1907

Copyright, 1906, by

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

_Published November, 1906_

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

CHOOSING A PLACE TO LIVE

By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON

Taste and expedience--Responsibilities--Renting, buying or building--Location--City or country--Renunciations--Schools and churches--Transportation--The butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker--The home acre--Comparative cost in renting--The location sense--Size of lot--Position--Outlook and inlook--Trees--Income and expenditure--Style--Size--Plans for building--Necessary rooms--The sick room--Room to entertain--The "living room"--The dining room and kitchen--The sleeping rooms--Thinking it out

CHAPTER II

FLOORS, WALLS, AND WINDOWS

By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON

The necessity of good floors--Material and cost of laying--Ornamental flooring--Waxed, varnished, and oiled floors--Carpets, linoleum, and mats--The stairway--Rugs--Oriental rugs--Kitchen and upper floors--Matting and cardoman cloth--Uses of the decorator--Wood in decoration--Panels and plaster--The beamed ceiling--Paint, paper, and calcimine--Shades and curtains--Leaded panes and casements--Storm windows

CHAPTER III

LIGHTING AND HEATING

By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON

Necessity of sunlight--Kerosene--Gas and matches--Electric light--Pleasing arrangement--Adaptability--Protection--Regulated light--The two sure ways of heating--The hot-air furnace--Direction of heat--Registers--Hot water and steam heat--Indirect heating--Summary

CHAPTER IV

FURNITURE

By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON

The quest of the beautiful--Ancient designs--The Arts and Crafts--Mission furniture--Comfort, aesthetic and physical--Older models in furniture--Mahogany and oak--Substantiality--Superfluity--Hall furniture--The family chairs--The table--The davenport--Bookcases--Sundries--Willow furniture--The dining table--Discrimination in choice

CHAPTER V

HOUSEHOLD LINEN

By SARAH CORY RIPPEY

Linen, past and present--Bleached and "half-bleached"--Damask--Quality--Design--Price and size--Necessary supply--Plain, hemstitched, or drawn--Doilies and table dressing--Centerpieces--Monograms--Care of table linen--How to launder--Table pads--Ready-made bed linen--Price and quality--Real linen--Suggestions about towels

CHAPTER VI

THE KITCHEN

By SARAH CORY RIPPEY

The plan--Location and finish--The floor--The windows--The sink--The pantry--Insects and their extermination--The refrigerator and its care--Furnishing the kitchen--The stove--The table and its care--The chairs--The kitchen cabinet--Kitchen utensils

CHAPTER VII

THE LAUNDRY

By SARAH CORY RIPPEY

Laundry requisites--The stove and furnishings--Irons and holders--Preparing the "wash"--Removing stains--Soaking and washing--Washing powders and soap--Washing woolens--Washing the white clothes--Starch--Colored clothes--Stockings--Dainty laundering--How to wash silk--Washing blankets--Washing curtains--Tidying up and sprinkling--Care of irons--How to iron

CHAPTER VIII

TABLE FURNISHINGS

By SARAH CORY RIPPEY

Dining-room cheer--Stocking the china-cupboard--The groundwork--Course sets--Odd pieces--Silver and plate--Glass--Arrangement--Duties of the waitress--The breakfast table--Luncheon--Dinner--The formal dinner--The formal luncheon--Washing glass--Washing and cleaning silver--How to wash china--Care of knives

CHAPTER IX

THE BEDROOM

By SARAH CORY RIPPEY

Light and air--Carpets versus rugs--Mattings--Wall covering--Bedroom woodwork--Bedroom draperies--Bedroom furnishing--Careful selection--Toilet and dressing tables--Further comforts--The bedstead--Spring, mattress, and pillows--Bed decoration--Simplicity--Care of bedroom and bed--Vermin and their extermination

CHAPTER X

THE BATH ROOM

By OLIVER R. WILLIAMSON

Plumbing--Bath room location and furnishing--The tub--The lavatory--The closet--Hot water and how to get it--Bath room fittings

CHAPTER XI

CELLAR, ATTIC, AND CLOSETS

By SARAH CORY RIPPEY

The cellar floor--Ventilation--The partitioned cellar--Order in the cellar--Shelves and closets--The attic--Order and care of attic--Closets--The linen closet--Clothes closets--The china closet--Closet tightness--Closet furnishings--Care of closets and contents

CHAPTER XII

HANGINGS, BRIC-A-BRAC, BOOKS, AND PICTURES

By SARAH CORY RIPPEY

The charm of drapery--Curtains--Portières--Bric-a-brac--The growth of good taste--Usefulness with beauty--Considerations in buying--Books--Their selection--Sets--Binding--Paper--Pictures--Art sense--The influence of pictures--Oil paintings--Engravings and photographs--Suitability of subjects--Hanging of pictures

CHAPTER XIII

THE NICE MACHINERY OF HOUSEKEEPING

By SARAH CORY RIPPEY

Monday--Tuesday--Wednesday--Thursday--Friday--Saturday--House cleaning--Preparation--Cleaning draperies, rugs, carpets--Cleaning mattings and woodwork--Cleaning beds

CHAPTER XIV

HIRED HELP

By SARAH CORY RIPPEY

The general housemaid--How to select a maid--Questions and answers--Agreements--The maid's leisure time--Dress and personal neatness--Carelessness--The maid's room--How to train a maid--The daily routine--Duties of cook and nurse--Servant's company

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A $3,400 House. . . . . . . . Frontispiece

A Unique Arrangement of the Porch

A Homelike Living Room

An Attractive and Inexpensive Hall

An Artistic Staircase Hall

An Oriental Rug of Good Design: Shirvan

Good Examples of Chippendale and Old Walnut

A Chippendale Secretary

The Dining Room

The Kitchen

The Laundry

Wedgwood Pottery, and Silver of Antique Design

A Collection of Eighteenth-century Cut Glass

The Bedroom

The Bathroom

The Drawing-room

THE COMPLETE HOME