The Pauper’s Homemaking Book

The Pauper’s Homemaking Book is concerned chiefly with the pleasure to be found in creating – with the cheapest of materials and tools – a home of one’s own. Jocasta Innes’s book is directed towards those people who are setting up home in earnest, who have lots of ideas and energy, and – after paying out mortgage or rent – almost no cash.

The hard-up homemaker needs to know how to get hold of cheap dining-chairs, revamp old sofas, re-lay secondhand carpets, and what to do about the stairs. These are among the most pressing needs for which the author gives detailed do-it-yourself instructions and drawings. Then she moves on to the more exciting possibilities of colour and paint on walls and transforming junk furniture. Finally, when the basics are accomplished, there is a section on how to make creative and attractive additions to the home, in the form of patchwork and quilting, picture framing and lamp making.