ided. The village home; its
limitations and possibilities; the advantage of simple lines rather than
cheap and ugly scrollwork and ornate verandas. The city home; the
basement dining-room and kitchen. The modern flat; its advantages and
inconveniences. Modern building-materials, concrete, shingles,
cobblestones; the use of stains. In preparation for this meeting, ask
each member to bring in a sketch of the ground-plan of what represents
to her an ideal dwelling-house.
II--FURNISHING THE HOUSE
1. _Intelligent Furnishing_--Consistency of style throughout. The value
of various styles. How to combine the old with the new. Costly ugliness.
2. _The Study of Special Needs_--Rooms of the family as a whole: the
dining-room, the library, living-rooms. The guest-room. The boys'
bedrooms and den. The room for the grown daughter. Nursery and playroom.
3. _Household Conveniences_--The kitchen as a workshop. (The equipment
for cooking: gas, oil, coal, electricity.) New kinds of utensils (bread
and cake mixers, fireless cookers, etc.). The attractive kitchen.
4. _Art in the Home_--Wall decoration (study of colors). Floor coverings
(carpets, rugs, use of hard woods). Draperies, pictures (choice of
subjects, artistic grouping and hanging of pictures). Bric-a-brac
(selection and artistic arrangement). The beauty of simplicity in the
home.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Lillie Hamilton French: Homes and Their Decoration.
Same author: The Home Dignified. Mitchell: The Fireless Cookery Book.
Reading list on home decoration and furnishing: N. Y. State Library
Bulletin. Bibliog. Vol. I, No. 20. Albany 1899.
Discuss the charm of the colonial style of furnishing; illustrate by
cuts in the catalogues of large furniture-makers and dealers of
four-post beds, Chippendale chairs and tables, Sheraton desks, etc. Take
up the value of cretonnes in bedrooms and living-rooms. Have a practical
talk on making over old things, dyeing carpets, simplifying the outlines
of cheaply made furniture and staining it. Close with an informal
discussion on The Kitchen Comfortable.
III--DOMESTIC ECONOMY
1. _The Housekeeper_--Her training for her profession. Schools of
domestic economy. Lectures. Books and magazines. Practical experience.
The training of our daughters.
2. _The Table_--The family income and cost of food. Economy and waste.
Entertaining. An attractive table for those of small means.
3. _Individual Needs_--Food for the growing child; for the
|