36 
House 
& Garden 
WHEN TO USE CURTAINS AND SHADES 
Not Every li'indow Requires Curtains—Study Your JFindozvs for 
Their Architectural Ealue Before Covering Them 
COSTEN FITZ-GIBBON 
T he window is the victim of more deco¬ 
rative mistakes, more mischievous mis¬ 
takes, than is any other permanent feature of 
our houses. The causes of this seem to be 
that very many householders—and some deco¬ 
rators, too—fail to recognize the truth that 
there are windows and windows, and that 
they can't all be treated alike. 
Standardization of this sort, if it be not 
arrested, bids fair to crush out of us all in¬ 
dividuality, material and intellectual, and re¬ 
duce us all to the uniform likeness of peas 
in a pod. 
So long as we are pennitted to continue 
in our present stage of civilization and archi¬ 
tectural diversity there will be windows at 
which shades or curtains 
or both will be manifestly 
out of place and unde- 
sirable. There will be 
others where shades only 
or curtains only should be 
used and others again 
where both are proper. 
The Purpose of Curtains 
and Shades 
A simple and dec¬ 
orative curtaining 
for a dining room 
consists of plain 
glass curtains to 
filter the light and 
draperies with a 
shaped valance. 
Mrs. Em mot Buel, 
decorator 
Let us keep in mind a 
few first principles and 
facts. We shall find them 
a great aid to clear think¬ 
ing and sane doing in thj 
matter before us. The 
fundamental purpose of a 
window is to admit light 
and air. It is a necessary 
and dignified architec¬ 
tural feature whose 
shape, interior setting or 
trim, and divisions ought 
to have at least a portion 
of decorative interest in 
their own right. It is the 
fundamental purpose of 
shades, curtains and hang¬ 
ings to modify excess of 
light at certain times and 
to shut out prying eyes at 
night when the lights are 
lighted; it is also a fur¬ 
ther purpose of curtains 
and hangings to yield a 
degree of relief where it 
may be necessary. 
There are types of win¬ 
dows that not only do not 
require the relief of cur¬ 
tains or hangings, ljut are 
vastly better and more 
decoratively effective with¬ 
out them. Although, un¬ 
der some conditions, cur¬ 
tains or hangings may be 
excused with them, shades 
are distinctly out of place 
and can be affixed only b)- 
some clumsy shift that is 
always offensive to look 
at. Of this type is the 
window shown in one 
of the illustrations. 
The shaped head, the mullions and tran¬ 
soms, and the leaded casements are suf¬ 
ficiently decorative and dignified to let it 
stand quite alone. It happens that this par¬ 
ticular window faces the south so that it is 
sometimes necessarj’ to subdue the flood of 
light pouring in. This is done acceptably 
by curtains of heavy casement cloth that can 
be drawn at will. Shades would be an im¬ 
possibility decoratively, and mechanically an 
awkward abomination. And yet the writer 
has time and again seen such windows com¬ 
pletely spoiled by a multiplicity of ill-con¬ 
sidered shades and curtainings. 
A mullioned window, with arched or square 
head and leaded casements, that has a vigor¬ 
ous decorative charm of its 
own ought not to be ob¬ 
structed. Any kind of 
movable appendages in 
connection with it can 
only detract from its val 
ue. This is especially tru? 
when the leading is deco¬ 
ratively wrought or when 
sections of painted glass 
have been inserted. Those 
who habitually obstruct 
such windows with shades 
and curtains, or muffle 
them with hangings—and 
these people are unfortu¬ 
nately too numerous — 
commit a fatuous blunder. 
Where the win¬ 
dows have an ar¬ 
chitectural char¬ 
acter, as below, 
sheer glass cur¬ 
tains can be used, 
but the window 
should not be ob¬ 
structed. Wilson 
Eyre & Mcllvaine, 
architects 
Round Arch and Casement 
Windows 
Again, there is another 
sort of window in dealing 
with which may well be 
exemplified the blessed 
grace of knowing when to 
let well enough alone. 
The round-arched head 
window with well designed 
muntins often makes a de¬ 
lightful composition in it¬ 
self, to which the addition 
of any of the customary' 
window lingerie would be 
an intolerable imperti¬ 
nence and would quite 
spoil the whole effect. Yet 
possessors of these win¬ 
dows are frequently im¬ 
portuned by well-meaning 
friends, with decorative 
leanings and “intuitions,’’ 
who suggest all manner of 
curtaining schemes, in¬ 
genious and otherwise! 
Is it not time that we 
learned to appreciate a lit¬ 
tle the qualities of aus¬ 
terity and restraint where 
windows are concerned ? 
Another kind of win¬ 
dow, quite different from 
the foregoing, is the range 
of small casements. This 
type is generally quite able 
