Most of us have come to accept Roman Shades in our home. They are a fantastic product, can help to control the flow of light into any room, and make the windows in any home look far more decorated and alluring. However, as with all great features around the home and items of furniture there just has to be a great story behind this invention.
We can obviously assume that Roman Shades originated from Rome, but most people will not know much more about these extremely popular window treatments. Therefore, this post will provide you with a short, but interesting history lesson on Roman Shades.
Origins of Roman Shades
The first type of window treatment used in ancient Rome was nothing more than a wet cloth, which would then be hung over a window.
The main reason for this was due to the amount of dust in the air, which was because there was so much construction and building work going on at the time. In fact, many of the great structures (such as the Coliseum) were being built at the time and this obviously led to a huge amount of dust and dirt travelling through the air.
The problem of dust was made even worse by the fact that the roads were typically dirt tracks or made from cobblestones and whenever people travelled over these vast amounts of dust took to the air.
Much like the modern day, another reason for these initial “window treatments” was to block out the heat and light from the sun. The wet cloths would catch hold of the dust that was making its way around and the mere fact that windows were covered made sure that most homes would remain cool, and of course dust free.
It must be said that the use of wet cloths as window treatments soon caught on, as millions of people could see the immediate benefit. However, this simply led people to become far more creative, and it is from here that some of the more well-known window treatments first started to be invented.
Beautiful Window Treatments
The use of wet cloths was great at protecting a home from dust and excess light and heat, but these cloths would typically stay up covering a window permanently. Therefore, as mentioned, people started to become more creative and would look at materials that would enhance the visual appeal of their window treatments.Initially people would hang up brightly colored clothes, especially those which displayed wonderful and intricate patterns. This would often be a focal point in Roman homes when visitors arrived, and the use of window treatments became far more widespread and had literally turned into an art.
Things have obviously come a long way since the origins of Roman Shades and we can see homes adorned with any number of blinds, shutters and shades. They have a far more modern feel with the use of chains and cords, which allow us to control the amount of light of privacy we would like in a room. In fact, the range of motorized shades, blinds and window treatments show exactly how far we have come since the ancient Roman times.
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