And here is one more hint. Let the roof of the house be white-washed in summer, if it be slated and the bedrooms come right up under it, for this makes an enormous difference to the temperature of the rooms, which is often enough simply awful even in a merely average summer without any very abnormal heat, while, should we have any real heat, these rooms become similar to ovens, and are really terrible for anyone to have to sleep in. Then have outside blinds of some kind; plain strips of dark green or blue linen placed outside the glass are better than nothing, though Williams’ green reed blinds are the best things in the world, if they can be afforded; and above all white-wash your roofs. You will be rewarded in the difference in the maids’ tempers, and health, which, are very often one and the same thing. Now just one word more, and that on the vexed subject of food. You should feed the servants as much as possible as you feed yourselves, and then will you have peace and not otherwise. In another place I have dwelt at large on this matter; here it is sufficient to say that if a thing is good enough for the dining-room, it is good enough for the kitchen. Allowancing should never be resorted to, there is something about it that revolts the kitchen or servants’ hall, and it is as unnecessary in a well-managed house as it is useless and suspicious. It will be seen, from the perusal of this little book, that the art of living in a suburban house is not quite as easy as it appears at first sight. At the same time it is without doubt one that can be acquired, and if our lot should be cast in the suburbs, it is positively necessary that we should learn to live there comfortably, unless we wish to be always on the move. Should what I have written on the subject help anyone to circumvent the special house he or she has selected, and to turn it from an unsatisfactorily-built villa into a comfortable home, I shall not have written in vain. At all events, the book has one merit, it is the outcome of real experience, and there is not a single ounce of imagination in the whole of it! THE END. _Colston and Coy., Limited, Printers, Edinburgh._ * * * * * STORY & TRIGGS [Illustration] THE CARVED OAK BUNGALOW SUITE COMPRISING Sideboard, Dining-Table, and Eight Chairs COMPLETE £18, 10s. 0d. As shown in their BOOK OF THE DAY ON FURNISHING _An entirely new idea_ NOW READY A Catalogue of 625 Coloured Designs Highly commended by Mrs J. E. PANTON in _The Gentlewoman_, 24th Aug. 1895 _Sent on Application_ Carriage paid on all Orders over 20s. to any Station in Great Britain ONLY ADDRESS--} 152, 154, 156 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C. {Near St. Paul’s and Ludgate Stations. * * * * * [Illustration: ASPINALL’S ENAMEL ASPINALL’S OXIDISED ENAMEL The finest colors in the world. BEWARE OF IMITATIONS.]