Someone, somewhere, some time in Prehistoric times, in who knows what improvised shelter, thought it might be useful to use animal skins, membranes or fur to block the light. These were the ancestors of today’s drapes and curtains.

Sure, it’s hard to imagine a modern space with such raw materials on the windows, but it’s good to know where we came from in order to realize how far we’ve gone. In the world of today curtains and drapes tend to be called accessories, and yet we feel like they’re necessities and there are rooms that simply feel incomplete without them.

How did we get here? Well, from the membranes of Prehistoric times, that almost definirely had a functional purpose, and no estetic function, over time curtains got to have a double purpose. They were used on ships, in modest homes of past centuries’, they covered the small windows of nomad people’s carriages and so on. But the first solid example of using them with this double purpose we’ll probably find with the Indians of North America – their tents had bandy drapes on entrances/exits while also keeping bugs and dust away, and protecting the interior space from bad weather.

As we come closer to modern times we see more and more refinement. For example, the castles’ windows and, not much later, those on noblemen’s homes, were decorated with elegant drapes made of organza, velvet or lace; by the way, for the latter, you should know that the most skillfull craftsmen were in Ireland and Belgium and their handmade lace was truly a masterpiece.

The Orient then brought us vivid colors, with their bold shades of green, fuchsia or purple, bravely merged on fine fabrics that, in their places of origin, had their special place in harems and bedrooms.

But some styles became iconic for different social classes, and you could see the status even in the ornamental details of the galleries holding the drapes.

Maybe things are still like that, especially since the huge variety we have available surely went way beyond the initial purpose of protection against the sun, the cold or draft. Today we’re looking for those that completely fit the spirit of the place, the ones that reflect our moods or the ones that can create discrete colorful effects with the sun’s playful rays. And if you’re looking for the perfect drapes for a space in the HORECA industry, contact us, because we know we can find together the perfect solution for these details as well 🙂

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