ABSTRACT
The new approach to home management was intended to do away with disorganized methods of work in the home and substitute it with the new principles of scientific management. The architect, Robert Kerr, writing in 1864, noted that ‘The kitchen in own day has taken on the character of a complicated laboratory, surrounded by numerous accessories specially contrived, in respect of the disposition, arrangement, and fittings, for the administration of the culinary art in all its professional details’. Cramping the conveniences and comfort of a family, in order to secure elegant rooms, to show to company, is a weakness and folly, which it is hoped will every year become less common. In any event, these changes would take many years to be seen as a contribution to an increased quality of life for all members of a household.
