The walls of the lavatory should be tiled, or, if this is too expensive,
they should be covered with water-proof paper. All toilet arrangements
should be systematically kept clean, and the necessary supplies at all
times provided.

Piazzas may be made to add no less to the utility than to the beauty and
comfort of the house. A lower back piazza, covered with vines, is the
ideal place in summer for eating and such heating labors as ironing.
When thoroughly secured from intrusion, an upper balcony furnishes the
best of sleeping quarters for one wise and brave enough to scout the
superstition of the bad effects of night air. Many persons of delicate
health, even consumptives, have been restored to vigorous strength by
sleeping in such a place, not only in summer but throughout the winter,
save in beating storms.

Closely conjoined with forethought for utility in the planning of
a house is forethought for beauty. It is well to have an artistic
imagination in visualizing, as it were, the "hominess" of the house
as it will appear after its rawness has been mellowed by time, and its
forms have been endeared by association. This imagination is specially
essential in the planting of trees, arrangement of flower gardens,
the choice of the kind of enclosure, whether hedge or fence, and,
in general, all that is known under the name of landscape gardening.

The housekeeper's work is greatly dependent upon the kind of water
supply available for the house. In cities and towns the kind of supply
is fixed for her, but in the country she is afforded her freedom of
choice. She has a choice of water from wells or springs, which is more
or less "hard," that is, impregnated with lime, and water collected from
rain or melting snow. For household purposes rainwater is the more