2. The House Comfortable—Heat, water, ventilation, sunshine.
3. The House Beautiful—The exterior, type of house, harmony with surroundings, color; lawns, gardens, trees and shrubbery; the vegetable garden and the drying-ground; out-buildings.
4. General Discussion—Living where we do, how can we improve our houses and their surroundings?
Books to Consult—Isabel Bevier: The House: Its Plan, Decoration and Care. W. M. Johnson: Inside of One Hundred Homes. S. Parsons, Jr.: How to Plan the Home Grounds. L. C. Corbett: Beautifying the Home Grounds. (U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin 105. 1904.)
Discuss the transformation of old houses; the modernization of the farmhouse, with porches added, the parlor opened, the bedrooms made attractive, and heat and a water-supply provided. 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-à-brac (selection and artistic arrangement). The beauty of simplicity in the home.