Origins: Window Curtains

Started at the Castle now we’re here!

I have always questioned where things come from and if we even use them as they were originally intended to be used. Curtains were one of those things.

Windowed curtains were not seen in households until the late 16th century in England. Before this time, curtains and drapes were used in prestigious buildings and castles as room separators for privacy and tied off to create a draping doorway decor when unused.

Curtains were used in theatres since Shakespearean times. The layers of curtains allowed for scenic environments to be introduced and taken away at a moment’s notice through the process of ascending and descending them with the use of a draw rope.

Initially, that which covered the windows to keep the cold and light out of an establishment, were fastened wooden panels. When curtains took hold of the majority’s household decor, they were typically one piece of fabric fastened by an iron curtain rod weaved through holes in the top of the fabric, as you see today.

Nowadays, curtains have been granted a huge aesthetic and decorative purpose as well as the traditional promotion of warmth and privacy!