Marie Mattingly Meloney

“ Changing an empty house into a furnished, restful place of beauty is no less a task than transforming a piece of paper into a lovely picture. In one sense, interior decoration is a creative art. It is true that decorators, or persons furnishing houses, do not weave their own hangings, build their own furniture, or design their own wall-paper, but they select the things they require from shops, where they have been designed by others, and choose in such a way as to make a beautiful and harmonious whole. ”

“ One can always safely judge of the character of a nation by its homes. For it is mainly through the hope of enjoying the ownership of a home that the latent energy of any citizenry is called forth. This universal yearning for better homes and the larger security, independence and freedom that they imply, was the aspiration that carried our pioneers westward. ”

“ Society rests on the home. It is the foundation of our institutions. Around it are gathered all the cherished memories of childhood, the accomplishments of maturity, and the consolations of age. So long as a people hold the home sacred they will be in the possession of a strength of character which it will be impossible to destroy. ”

“ A PLAN for COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION of BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
Demonstration Week October 9th to 14th, 1922
The future history of America will be shaped in large measure by the character of its homes. If we continue to be a home-loving people we shall have the strength that comes only from a virile family life. This means that our homes must be attractive, comfortable, convenient, wholesome. They must keep pace with the progress made outside the home. ”

“ We so often send our children to study and amuse themselves in their room, but have we done our share in providing them with the comforts and necessities that will assist them to produce better school work?
Boys—With no frills, light fabrics, or woodwork for them to soil and mar, their rooms still may be made interesting—even beautiful—but convenience and masculinity should be kept foremost in mind. ”

“ The two essentials for a successful Better Homes in America Demonstration are genuine co-operation from all local civic, financial, commercial and educational interests, and full and extensive publicity through the local newspapers. From the youngest boy or girl scout to bank president, business man, school teacher, minister, manufacturer and city official, everybody in a community should have a real personal interest in the Demonstration. When the benefits of a successful Better Homes Demonstration are once understood this interest is readily aroused. ”

“ If a piece of furniture, carpet, or curtain material stands out in a shop, you may be quite certain that it will be even more noticeable in a house.
A house can only be considered properly furnished when it meets the real needs of the occupants. Comfortable chairs, sofas, and beds, good tables, and soft carpets, make up the most important objects, and these should be the best that the family can afford. No definite rule can be applied to the arrangement of the furniture, but balance and wall space should be considered first. ”

“ We have the productive capacity wasted annually in the United States sufficient to raise in large measure the housing conditions of our entire people to the level that only fifty per cent, of them now enjoy. We have wastes in the building industry itself which, if constructively applied, would go a long way toward supplying better homes, so that what is needed imperatively is organized intelligence and direction. ”

“ It is time to demonstrate more effectively that property is of the people. It is time to transfer some of the approbation and effort that has gone into the building of public works to the building, ornamenting, and owning of private homes by the people at large—attractive, worthy, permanent homes. ”

“ Accordingly the time is ripe for this revival to afford an opportunity to our people to look to more homes and better ones, to better, more economical and more uniform building codes, and to universal establishment and application of zoning rules that make for the development of better towns and cities. ”

“ With respect to the cost of the home selected, it has been shown in a number of cities that a house priced slightly above the average cost of homes in the community attracted the larger number of visitors. The public apparently likes to visit a home costing more than the average, because of a desire to see and admire better things. Demonstration Homes, therefore, may range in price from $5,000 to $15,000, including the land, but not including the furnishings and equipment. ”

“ If they are connected by a small door, the walls may be in some light cloudy landscape paper, or in a small allover pattern in light cream, buff, gray, tan, or putty color. Because there is so much blue china, persons feel that they want blue dining rooms. This is a mistake, as blue used in large quantities in either walls, china, or hanging absorbs the light and makes a room gloomy. Do not display china or glassware in a so-called china closet. A built-in corner cupboard, or a small mahogany or rosewood cabinet, which might hold rare bits of pottery and china, is permissible. ”

“ It has stimulated the building of rural homes through the wide distribution of land under the Homestead Acts and by the distribution of credit through the Farm Loan Banks. Indeed, this desire for home ownership has, without question, stimulated more people to purposeful saving than any other factor. Saving, in the abstract, is, of course, a perfunctory process as compared with purposeful saving for a home, the possession of which may change the very physical, mental, and moral fibre of one's own children. ”

“ Here will be found that satisfaction which comes from possession and achievement. Here is the opportunity to express the soul in art. Here is the Sacred influence, here in the earth at our feet, around the hearthstone, which raises man to his true estate. ”

“ Under present conditions any ambition of America to become a nation of home owners would be by no means impossible of fulfillment. The land is available, the materials are at hand, the necessary accumulation of credit exists, the courage, the endurance and the sacrifice of the people are not wanting. ”

“ The genius of America has long been directed to the construction of great highways and railroads, the erection of massive buildings for the promotion of trade and the transaction of public business. It has supplied hospitals, institutions of learning and places of religious worship. ”

“ A first mortgage loan on not over one-half or two-thirds of the value of a piece of property is a very safe investment, and the rates of interest should be low. The lender on a second mortgage takes more risk, and rates of interest and discounts are higher. If you agree to buy a home without the title passing to you at once, the seller takes less risk, and you may save money. ”

“ Are the doors, windows and other parts of the demonstration house of standard stock sizes?
Light and Ventilation
Every room must have adequate window areas giving upon wide outdoor spaces. An interior room, or one poorly lighted from a narrow court, or receiving its only light from a wide porch, may not impress the visitor, who sees it only when the house is new and the room artificially lighted, but it does in time impress the family who inhabit it. Row houses are best when they are only two rooms deep from front to rear. ”

“ Where gas is unavailable and cost of electric current high, install a good oil stove with an oven. Refrigerator should be on porch or vestibule just outside kitchen door or should be in the kitchen near the back door away from the stove. If space permits, table next to refrigerator is a convenience. An out-icer is a convenience; in cold weather the ice compartment may be left empty and open for the air to cool the food.
Dish towel and hand towel racks should be as near as possible to sink, high enough to be out of the way. ”

“ Persons who must furnish a house for the occupancy of a family face four distinct problems: first, they must see that the things selected suit the house in size, coloring, and style; second, that the pieces selected are harmonious with each other, and that they are comfortable and well-made ”

“ There are building and loan associations throughout the country, usually organized to serve the needs of people like yourself, who wish to finance a home. Their plan of weekly or monthly payments, both on principal and for interest, has proved sound from the experience of millions of people as an aid to systematic saving. Loans may often be obtained from savings banks, trust companies, state banks, individuals, and trustees for estates.
Obtaining money on a second mortgage is usually not so easy. ”

“ If stove is already installed in a dark place in exhibition house, move it into light, even though repiping and wiring may be required. Mirrors may be hung to throw additional light on range. If there is no good working shelf on cabinet, a table should be near cabinet for mixing food. There will then have to be a second table with a heat proof top near the stove unless stove is so near to cabinet that one table will serve both for mixing and setting hot utensils on. If possible, install a gas range, or an electric range if current is cheap enough to warrant. ”

“ The walls and woodwork should be painted, if possible, a cream or light gray. Some fairy tale friezes are attractive, and afford opportunities of introducing color, but, if used, should not be placed too high on the wall—about three-quarters of the way up from the floor is a reasonable height. Child-study has taught that many and oft-repeated designs and subjects become meaningless, especially to older children.
The furniture in the nursery should be practical. Painted furniture and wicker chairs are attractive. A comfortable winged or overstuffed chair for the grown-ups is essential. ”

“ When we consider the all powerful influence of home conditions and home atmosphere on the lives and character of our people, both young and old, surely every proper effort to improve those conditions should have the support of all good citizens.
Our people in the Department of Agriculture will be glad to advise with your committee chairmen on any matters in which they can lend assistance. Our home demonstration agents in different sections of the country can no doubt be helpful in advising as to the setting up of demonstration kitchens. ”

“ If kitchen is well ventilated and stove has hood, pass pantry not necessary. It makes extra steps. If pass pantry is in house, only its narrowest dimension should divide kitchen from dining room. Partitions under sink for trays to stand; a narrow space for table leaves; a china cupboard with reachable shelves, and a sink and drainboards like those described for kitchen are desirable. Drawer on small shelf for cleaning compounds and brushes for cleaning silver, steel, brass and copper. ”

“ They have not grown up by accident; they are the means, deliberate, mature, sanctified, by which the human race, in harmony with its own great nature, is developed and perfected. They are at once the source and the result of the inborn longing for what is completed, for what has that finality and security required to give to society the necessary element of stability. ”

“ Apparently the world at large, certainly our own country, is turning more and more for guidance to that wisdom born of affection which we call the intuition of woman. Her first thought is always of the home. ”

“ A house is, or should be, an investment. Therefore it should be honestly constructed. One of the most important lessons for the home buyer to learn is that the initial cost of a house is not its full cost. ”

“ For example, if a Sheraton sideboard in mahogany is selected, then the entire furniture of the dining room should be of the Sheraton type in mahogany.
Bedrooms
The first requisite in furnishing a bedroom is that it appears crisp and clean. The walls, light in color, must be restful and simple in design. The woodwork should be white, if possible. Painted furniture is very popular for a bedroom because of its dainty appearance, but dull-finished mahogany or walnut in four post or Colonial design, with rag, braided, or hooked rugs, makes a charming bedroom. ”

“ A dressing table is fashionable, but not as practical as a chest of drawers with mirror above. A full-length mirror installed in a closet door, or hung in a narrow wall space, is a very decided adjunct. Be sure to place the dressing table or chest of drawers where the light is not reflected from an opposite window. To secure a good view, the light should be directed upon the person to be reflected, and not upon the mirror.
Avoid placing the furniture all on one side of the room. ”

“ An attendant for the bedrooms and two attendants for the first floor—one in the hall or living room and the other in the dining room and kitchen—will be required to direct and control the visitors and to keep the house in perfect order during the exhibition hours. These attendants may be club or committee members who volunteer their services for certain days in the week. ”

“ A Demonstration Home should be situated within a reasonable distance of the business section of a community, and it should not be more than four blocks from the nearest street car line. In a city where the Demonstration Home was selected some eight blocks from the car line and upon a hill, the attendance was disappointingly small. The Demonstration Home should not be situated in the outskirts of a community. ”

“ Let them begin, however slender their means, the building and perfecting of the national character by the building and adorning of a home which shall be worthy of the habitation of an American family, calm in the assurance that "the gods send thread for a web begun." ”

“ The formation of Sub-committees is necessary not only to divide the work effectively, but also to arouse the interest and cooperation of the various local interests directly affected by home building and home betterment. All the local business groups—furniture dealers, hardware dealers, wall-paper and paint dealers, electrical dealers, real estate dealers, etc.—should be interviewed and asked to nominate a representative from each group to serve on the appropriate Sub-committee. ”

“ Are the floors and woodwork of good material, well seasoned, and of good workmanship? Is the hardware (locks, hinges, lighting fixtures, etc.) strong enough to stand usage? Are the outside walls of good material—if of brick, of good quality with good quality mortar; if of frame, of good lumber, well seasoned and well painted with three coats of paint? What kind of sheathing is used? Is wood well seasoned? Is the roofing of a material adapted to the climate and of good quality? ”