by : Gerald Mason

When you build your own house or have someone else to build it for you here are some things to bear in mind.

Many houses are now being built facing the rear. People say the advantages are that you can be as private as you want to be; your parties can overflow from the living areas into the outdoor spaces easily and smoothly.

With outdoor living coming into style, facing the rear is a natural solution.

You can create a beautiful view with careful planting. Make the back yard a thing of beauty. You do not have to worry so much about drawing the shades. It encourages outdoor living.

You can have a barbecue, a patio, or any number of simple things to help you enjoy living in your own back yard.

Of course families differ greatly in their ideas of living. Some are living only when they go downtown, eat at swanky places, and attend elaborate entertainments. Others are happier wearing shorts in their own back yards and barbecuing steaks and ka-bobs.

The choice is yours. It costs less to entertain yourself and your friends at home, as well as being more interesting if you have fixed up your house and yard to do it easily, gracefully, and with fun.

Circulation

The circulation of traffic in a house has importance similar to the circulation of traffic on the highways.

People who are constantly moving from one room to another must be able to do so without disturbing the activity going on in another room. It is important to keep the hallways to the minimum, as they take up space and add to the area to be kept clean. A certain minimum amount of hallway, however, is indispensable in a well-planned house. The entrance hall will often do its full share, but a short back hall is often necessary to make the circulation natural and easy.

Do not make the living room the principal hallway from the kitchen to the bedrooms; a living room should be so arranged that it is not necessary to interrupt a party to put the children to bed.

Some housekeepers who have a regular wash day will want a full-fledged utility room, complete with washer, laundry tubs, dryer, with plenty of working space.

For many families who send their laundry out, and others who have automatic washers, perhaps this room can be trimmed to the minimum by putting the laundry in the back hall, enclosed by a pair of louvered doors, or even left in the open, as the machines are good looking and may be more usable if left exposed.

This makes the space of the back hall also usable as working space for the laundry, thus saving several square feet in the total floor space of the house.

If the floor of this back hall can be made of quarry tile, or some other very durable material, that is also easy to keep clean, it will be an economy in the long run. Of course good inlaid linoleum is also satisfactory.

Bedrooms

A bedroom should be a pleasant place in which to sleep. If you live on a busy street, put the bedroom at the back. Put it as far away from distracting noises as you can. Insulation in the walls and draperies at the windows will help to shut out part of the noise.

A bedroom should be well ventilated, with windows on two sides of the room if possible, to insure a good circulation of air on hot sultry nights.

Windows in bedrooms should be given careful study. If they are carelessly placed, they interfere too much with placement of the furniture.

Many people have found that high windows, 4' or 41/2' from the. floor, but extending over a wider area horizontally, give a better distribution of the fresh air with less drafty and make it a lot easier to place the furniture where you want it without interference from the windows.

The bedroom should be painted in soft colors, which are soothing to frayed nerves. Strong, vibrant colors may be all right in the family room or in the bathroom, but the bedroom should be a place of rest, with subdued tones.

If a bedroom is merely a place in which to sleep, it can be rather small and still be quite satisfactory.

If you decide to take out a mortgage it is a good idea to use a mortgage calculator to save money and get the best deal.