y family life]

Laying aside all preconceived notions, and remembering that changes
are coming fast in these days, let us look for the ideals which may be
common to all homes, in city or country, among rich or poor.

[Illustration: Photograph by Brown Bros.
A well-arranged kitchen forms an important part of the smoothly
running mechanism of the ideal home]

First of all, the home must be comfortable, and its whole atmosphere
must be that of peace. In no other way can the tension of modern life
be overcome. This implies order and cleanliness, beauty, warmth,
light, and air; but it implies far more. It means a home planned for
the people who will occupy it, and so planned that father's needs, and
mother's, and the children's, will all be met. What does each member
of the family require of the house? A place to _live in_. And that
means far more than eating and sleeping and having a place for one's
clothes. There must be not only a place for everything, but a place
for everybody in the ideal house. The boys who wish to dabble in
electricity, the girls who wish to entertain their friends in their
own way, the tired father who wishes to read his newspaper "in peace,"
the younger children who want to pop corn or blow bubbles or play
games, all must be planned for. There will be no room too good for
use, and no furnishings so delicate that mother worries over family
contact with them. There will be a minimum of "keeping up appearances"
and a maximum of comfort and cheer. There will be little formal
entertaining, but many spontaneous good times. In addition to being
comfortable, the ideal home must be convenient. There will be places
for things, and every appliance for making work easy.

[Illustration: Photograph by Brown Bros.
Contrast this old-fashioned kitchen with the modern one shown on the
opposite page]

The ideal mother, who is the mainspring of the smoothly running
mechanism of the ideal home, will be scientifically trained for her
position. Her "domestic science" will no longer be open to the
criticism that it is not science at all, nor will she feel that her
business is unworthy of scientific treatment. Always she will keep
before her the object of her work--to make of her family, _including
herself_, good, happy, efficient people. She will not be overburdened
with housework, for overworked mothers have neither time nor strength
for the higher aspects of their work. She will know how to feed
bodies, but also h