37 
January, 1920 
The Function of 
Shades 
It is neither desir¬ 
able nor possible to 
dissect and tabulate 
each known species of 
window and note op¬ 
posite its name the 
conditions under 
which it may have 
shades or curtains or 
both or neither. The 
main thing is to stim¬ 
ulate thought and 
then leave it to com¬ 
mon sense and a per¬ 
ception of the fitness 
of things to detennine the wisest action. 
When we once begin to banish dominat¬ 
ing obsessions that have little or no real 
base to stand on, we shall recognize, for 
one thing, that it is perfectly reasonable 
and legitimate to have shades or curtains 
at some windows where they may be 
needed and wholly to dispense with them 
at other windows in the same room where 
they are not needed. We shall also per¬ 
ceive that in a great many cases every 
physical function performed by roller 
shades, which as a rule do not enhance 
the decorative quality of a window even 
Xortliend 
In this room 
decorative character 
of the window it¬ 
self demands only 
glass curtains t o 
cut off the glare. 
No draperies are 
needed 
to “stand on its own 
feet” in a decorative 
sense and when any¬ 
thing is added it 
ought to be only the 
simplest glass curtains 
or else hangings that 
are so set that they 
can be drawn all the 
way across upon oc¬ 
casion or back quite 
free of the window 
when not in use. If 
there be a valance 
above, of course, Ve¬ 
netian blinds may be 
used, but roller shades 
with casements are 
both awkward to use 
and ugly to behold. 
Appropriate Uses 
when they do not mar 
it, can be quite satis¬ 
factorily accomplished 
by curtain hangings. 
We shall further be¬ 
come sensible of the 
fact that with win¬ 
dows of a certain 
stamp roller shades 
are positively incon¬ 
gruous and that their 
introduction upon 
every possible, and 
often impossible, oc¬ 
casion argues meagre¬ 
ness of decorative in¬ 
vention. 
The writer has no 
prejudice against roll¬ 
er shades as such, but 
he has a pronounced 
antipathy for them in 
the wrong place. Prop¬ 
erly employed they 
may be not only utili¬ 
tarian but decorative 
accessories of much 
value, a fact frequent¬ 
ly pointed out and 
illustrated in these 
pages. Neither has 
he any prejudice 
against curtains. 
That would be sheer 
madness. But he does 
object to their use 
where they obviously have no place and 
where their presence is due to the mistaken 
notion that no window is complete with¬ 
out them. To swathe some windows with 
an excess of fluffy flummery when their 
character demands an austere, or at least 
a restrained treatment, inspires much the 
same sensation as would the sight of 
Michael Angelo’s “Moses” bedecked with 
earrings, necklace and a jaunty spring hat. 
Extreme window upholstery is oftentimes 
not feminine but disgustingly effeminate 
and supertluous. 
{Continued on page 74) 
Where the window 
forms a bay, its 
front can he marked 
with draperies and 
glass curtains used 
against the case¬ 
ments. Julius Greg¬ 
ory, architect 
Northend 
Ilarting 
When the view is undesirable the windows can be framed in with This being a boudoir, where privacy is desirable, the French win- 
perspective screens made of wood or rattan and glass curtains against dows have shades as well as glass curtains and over-draperies with 
the windows behind them. Lee Porter, decorator ruffled edges and a shaped, ruffled valance 
