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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 11, Issue 2 (May 1, 1936)

Colour In The Kitchen

Colour In The Kitchen.

Kitchen maids, dark cellars, black beetles, small windows peering out below the street level, great drab rooms whose activities revolved perpetually about the grimy wood and coal consuming cooking contraption so inadequately termed the kitchen range —all this has so often supplied the local colour in novels, depicting the Victorian domestic scene that even the post-war generation is familiar with it.

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The revolution in kitchen affairs commenced, no doubt, soon after the introduction of gas for cooking purposes. It was found that gas was a much cleaner cooking medium than coal had been, and it was no longer necessary to have the kitchen walls of a hue “that wouldn't show the dirt.“Even the galvanized iron protective backing for the earlier gas-stoves, and the impressive “extinguisher” top were soon painted, as the washable qualities of paint were more and more realised. Strangely it was discovered that light, pleasant hues, even dead-white, were kept as easily clean as the drab colours.

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The introduction of electricity hastened the change which was already under way. Gloomy skirting-boards and dadoes disappeared from the newer kitchens. Light crept into them. Slowly architects came to realise the importance of the workroom of the home. With the disappearance of long terraces of semidetached houses and the evolution of the bungalow, the kitchen became the subject of careful planning. Efficiency experts calculated how many steps a woman was required to take a day from cunboard to stove, from sink to table. Model kitchens were planned, with the aid of painters and decorators who supplied glossy-finish paints and enamels for walls and ceilings, and crisp, gay cottons for window drapes.

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And now we have the modern kitchen, large enough for comfort, but small enough for step-saving, planned for efficiency with its electric refrigerator, heat-controlled cooker, fitted closed-in dresser, vegetable rack, folding ironing-board and table. Some kitchens boast a glass-topped table or a marble slab for pastry set in the bench. The tiled surround of the sink winks back at the glossy enamelled walls which heat, moisture and grime cannot spoil.

There are so many possible colour schemes. For a south room I suggest the palest of yellows for walls and cupboards, and ivory for the ceiling, with a contrast in blue or green for cupboard handles, linoleum or floor mats.

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Floor-mats in the kitchen, for colour and cleanliness, should be of rubber. Throw out that grubby bit of axminster, even if it is warm under your feet on cold days. Rubber will insulate you just as well. Keep a rubber mat, too, for placing in the sink when washing up your best party china. Remember that curtains with a rubber finish can be bought for kitchen or bathroom.

For a room with a northerly aspect, or one where the use of gas or a coal stove may raise the temperature considerably, cooler walls in a soft shade of blue or green are advisable. A little judicious warmth of colouring may be introduced even in the saucepans, those of coloured enamel being very popular.

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A kitchen of the modern type provides a cheerful environment for small meals—breakfast or a light lunch. The kitchen linen, of course, is part of the harmonious whole. Some homes have a dining-alcove off the kitchen. The alcove may have a colour scheme of its own, but I prefer to have it en suite with the kitchen, the whole necessarily being planned to look slightly less utilitarian.

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Linoleum seems one of the best finishes for the kitchen floor. Buy for quality, and even then protect the space by sink and stove with mats (of rubber). The linoleum designers, of late, have given special attention to kitchens. A word of warning about checks—they look well, especially when the eye is drawn to checked gingham curtains to match, but their immaculate appearance is easily besmirched. An all-over mottled effect is better for the much-used kitchen.

A visit to an auctioneer will probably unearth an old office stool which, duly enamelled, will prove a boon to the housewife who so often, unthinkingly, stands to prepare vegetables, stir sauces, beat eggs. Remember that, in the kitchen, you are as young as your legs.