Interiors

What to do with the windows? This is not a new dilemma; it has been on the minds of homemakers since our houses were built. There has always been the choice between the simple and the ornate, no matter what the period, and the choices people made, then and now, had to do with function, location, and of course, money. In our last two entries, we looked at the historic window treatments of the late 18th through early 19th century in Part One, and continued up until about the 1870s in Part Two. Today, we’ll continue, looking at the late 1800’s, the time period during which most of the row houses in Brooklyn were built. But first a little background and context.

In 1868, English architect and tastemaker Charles Eastlake published “Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and other Details.” The book was a runaway hit, both in England and here in the United States, where it was published in 1872. Eastlake’s book became the bible of the decorating world, so much so that six editions were printed here in in the next eleven years, in order to keep up with the demand.

England, like the United States, was in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, that great time of invention and innovation, where machines and technology had developed that could produce all kinds of products, that before, had to be hand made by skilled craftsmen of all kinds. On both sides of the Atlantic, the advances in technology had helped create a new middle class; the white collar worker, and this new class of people had more disposable income than ever before, and they wanted to show off their new station in life with material goods. Just like we do today, they wanted stuff. (more…)