Of course the making of ornamental pots and vases is rather difficult and takes some skill. Here the original shape must be modelled in clay, and a plaster mould made of it, which is shellacked inside and greased. Special cores must also be designed, and where fine surfaces are desired various processes of mixing ingredients must be resorted to. This is a special field of itself, and men who do this kind of work generally have studied out methods of their own. Some examples of this kind of work are illustrated. XVIII CLASSIFICATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL MOTIFS USED IN SMALL-HOUSE DESIGNING There are not many architectural motifs that can be used in designing the small house, and the ones which are employed over and over again are fundamentally a part of the construction. The plan must build up into block forms, because of the requirements of construction, and the designer has only a handful of shapes that make good roofs, for the same reason. The varieties of dormer-windows that he can put on the roof are limited to a few that are capable of being reasonably constructed. He cannot be original in the forms he selects, for they have all been thought out before. He should know them as he does the alphabet and build with them as he builds words with letters. For example, take the plan of the small house. Can there be much room for originality here? Usually there are at the most four rooms which must be arranged on the ground floor of the small house: the living-room, dining-room, kitchen, and pantry. On the second floor are generally placed the bedrooms. Does it not seem reasonable to assume that all of the best combinations of so few rooms must be quite limited in number, and that the chances are that they have already been thought out? Many a young designer has labored enthusiastically upon what he believes is his original layout for a small house, only to find later that his solution has been already worked out and perhaps a trifle better. When an inventor tackles any particular problem, his first step, if he is wise, is to consult the patents which have previously been issued along this line, and then he will know what has been done. [Illustration: Square Plan Rectangular Plan “L”-Plan] [Illustration: Rectangular Plan with Small Extension T-Plan] [Illustration: Combination of “T”-plan with L-plan U-Plan]