Excepting the ceilings, every part of the room, as well as of the pantry and the adjoining closets, should be finished in a way that permits of washing. A hard-wood floor is desirable. Avoid spruce. Hard pine, if carefully selected, makes a good floor; but the best wood is maple or birch, in strips not more than three inches wide. If soft wood be used, splinters will in time get torn up. Oil-cloth often is used for covering the floor. It may look bright and clean, but is too cold, and frequently causes rheumatism. Lignum, which somewhat resembles oil-cloth, but is thicker and warmer, is as good a covering as can be found. It is clean and durable. Tiles are sometimes recommended for the floor of a kitchen; they can be kept clean and will wear well, but they tire the feet, and for that reason should not be used. It is well to have the woodwork in a kitchen oiled. A wainscot is desirable. Have the walls painted a rather light color. If one can afford it, the walls about the range and sink should be tiled. At the outset tiles may appear costly, but after experience one finds it is really a saving to use them. They can easily be kept perfectly clean, and will last as long as the house itself. English or Dutch tiles should be used, and there is nothing more appropriate than the blue and white. The price for furnishing and setting such tiles is from seventy cents to a dollar per square foot. Probably the time will come when nobody will think of finishing a house without them. Do not be satisfied with a small sink. Have one of good size, and of iron, with a sloping and grooved shelf at one end, on which to drain dishes after washing them. Let the sink rest on iron legs. The space under it should not be enclosed, as every dark place is a source of temptation to a slovenly domestic. One caution in regard to the sink: have the strainer screwed down firm. Anything that will not pass through the strainer should not go into the pipes. The hinged or loose strainer gives but little protection, as the temptation to lift it and let sediment pass through is very great. With an immovable strainer and the use, once a fortnight, of the hot solution of soda described in the chapter on “Care of Utensils,” there will be no trouble with pipes, unless it be caused by wear or freezing. After using the hot soda, flush the pipes with cold water. This plan has been followed in the care of the plumbing of a large house for many years, with the most satisfactory results. Put hooks under the sink, for dish-cloths, dish-pans, etc. Unless there be tiles above, below, and at the sides of the sink, all this space should be finished in hard wood. If tiles be used, have a broad capping of hard wood extend across the upper edge of the top row, in which to place brass hooks for the various small utensils in frequent use at the sink. [Illustration]