Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-04
Kitchen and Pantry Arrangement
Arthur O. C1ausen, Architect.

The arrangement of the pantry, its
shelves, drawers, flour bins, ETC., and the
arrangement OF kitchen dresser depends
considerably upon the size and shape of
the pantry and kitchen, each house pre-
senting a different problem; but mostly the
arrangements depend upon the require
ments OF the housekeeper. Each mistress
OF a home has her own ideas as to where.
she wants the chinaware, silver, table linen,
kitchen utensils and foodstuffs, and her
wishes should prevail. The object OF this
article, therefore,, is not to lay down many
rules as to arrangement, but merely to
make suggestions. The general construc-
tion and details will be fully described.
l have said that the housekeeper's ideas
In regard to pantry arrangement should
prevail, Possibly not so, but 1t is certain
that they do prevail, for on no other part
Of the plan is she more certain Of what
she wants Cor what she thinks she wants..
1t is due to this fact and the subsequent
gallantry on the part of the architect in
giving her what she wants that we have so
many inconvenient, incomplete and gen.
orally poorly arranged p~antries, even from
plans drawn by the most skilled architects.
It is through seeing some of these total
failures that other housewives are Inn
properly led TO believe that architects "ain't
women" and don't know anything about
housekeeping and so they go ahead and
supply the needed science on the subject
with the usual result. Few housewives
can be made to realize that the planning
and designing Of pantries and other kitchen
arrangements Is an art to which the archl-
tect gives as much attention and study as
any other part OF the house, and in spite
OF opfpiope IN tha ma ~ of gnna woman IN
the contrary, he is better equipped through
knowledge and practice to plan and design
them than they are. for tits a part of his
business to know all about It. II may sur
prise some women if they were informed
that the --latest styles from Paris are all
designed by men. l have never known but
one plan on which I could not have made
some improvements In the pantry and
kitchen arrangements, and on that occa-
sion the woman Of the house ccmplimented
the writer to her husband by saying that
"Mr. Clausen must be a good husband; he
takes so much pains to see that everything
is convenient about the kitchen and pam
tries for the wife" She was promptly in
formed that the architect was a bachelor.
Give us a chance. women. For the sake OF
yourselves land your architects) I will give
you briefly the following pointers picked
up during considerable practicable expert
ence:
The first requirement should be con-
venience more than looks. II one prefers
to do their pastry work in the pantry
away from the heat of the kitchen, there
should be provided at least two flour bins,
one for white flour and the other divided
into two compartments for other kinds.
The best arrangement is to have three bins,
two of them divided into compartments; in
this way white flour. eornmesl, rye flour,
whole wheat and sugar can be accommo
dated.
The flour in the bins should be easily
accessible and the bins should be so made
that they can be removed at pleasure for
cleaning around them. There are several
ways OF doing this; the best. however. is
to have them roll back and forth on four
large wheels; I'm this way they can be
easily managed and easily removed. The
size Of each bin depends somewhat upon
the amount Of flour It is desired to store at
one time and the space in which they can
be placed. AS too much flour in the bin
makes It hard to manage, a good size is
twenty inches wide. twenty inches deep
and twenty-slx inches from the floor to the
top, outside measurements. The bottom Of
the bin should be at least four inches
from the floor. Above the bins should be
a flat shelf at least twenty-four inches
from front to back and thirty inches,
where it can be allowed. Above this shelf
should be a pantry window. There should
be a smooth board above the shelf at the
wall, six to ten inches high. The shelf
should be thirty Inches from the floor. 1t