There is no room in the house which requires such careful furnishing as the kitchen, and much time may be saved there if the right thing is in the right place, for just as truly as “the means to do ill deeds make ill deeds done,” do the means to do things well tend toward their being done. To house-builders I would urge that it pays to have a white enamelled sink, and to insist that no sand-soap or scouring soap be used on it, as this removes the finish and makes it less easy to keep it spotless. See that a package of one of the cleaning powders is placed near the sink, convenient for use the first time the maid looks about for materials, and over the sink on small hooks have hung two or three different shaped sink brushes. An enamelled soap-dish should be fastened above the sink, and on the left of it a grooved, slightly slanting draining board for washed dishes; hanging under this on a large hook should be the enamelled dishpan and back of it a wire drainer, both hanging free from the wall. Any kitchen can have a chair-rail put around it, and this four-inch wide board should be arranged with small hooks placed at a distance of ten or twelve inches apart, and on these should hang the enamelled spoons, strainers, egg-beater, small jugs, and the saucepans, the bottoms of these being always in evidence and not out of sight in cupboards. The Europeans have always had their cooking utensils displayed as a part of the kitchen furnishing, and when this is done there is less temptation to neglect their absolute cleanliness. One of the comforts of my kitchen is a holder for saucepan covers; I was about to invent such a holder when I found that the wire ones made to display half a dozen handsome plates were perfectly suitable. One of these hangs beside the stove and the covers are conveniently at hand when required.
