Evolution of Window Coverings

The earliest windows were but holes in walls. These primitive portals to the unpredictable outside world began as pure necessities, allowing one access to fresh air and a view of the conditions outside before going about the day’s business.

Over time, they became accessorised with window coverings, which augment the practical and luxurious aspects of windows in various ways.

Better Health, Comfort

Since the days when early humans used animal skin and bones to construct shelter, the primary purpose of materials meant for covering windows has not changed: it is to promote better health and comfort.

Our prehistoric ancestors had just basic technology in the form of carved stone tools and weapons. They relied on inedible animal parts to protect their eyes from blinding sunlight, and their bodies from other punishing forces of nature.

More than three million years later, during the first century AD, the first window glass was invented in ancient Rome. It is technically not a window covering by today’s standards, but at that time and place, it could be considered so.

Image Credit: www.theglassmakers.co.uk

This was because that window glass enhanced windows in ways that were conducive to the health and comfort of home owners. Window glass then typically had uneven thickness and partial transparency; their main objectives were to let some light into homes, and to provide a basic layer of protection against outer menaces, such as bad weather and prying eyes on the streets.

In that same century, during construction of the Coliseum, a practice developed: hanging wet cloths over windows to catch dust and mitigate heat from the Sun. This was the predecessor of Roman shades.

Window coverings today are more refined. They come in mainly blinds and curtains, and can be made with mechanical precision from various materials. Ultimately, they still shield us from outside threats to improve our health and comfort.

More Cost-Effective Materials

After the cavemen but before the Romans, the ancient Egyptians were likely the first ones to use reed blinds to keep out heat, and make places of dwelling comfortably cool. Reeds are tall, stiff, and a type of grass. They grew along the Nile River banks, and were important crafting materials for many everyday tools.

In ancient China, bamboo blinds were also used for similar reasons. Bamboo is tall, stiff, and a type of grass—it is essentially the tropical version of reeds. Found chiefly in Chinese forests, bamboo was an abundant resource that the Chinese used for making many everyday objects.

Reeds and bamboo were common resources that could be easily harvested. As naturally narrow strips of matter, they could also be easily manipulated into uniform-looking, window-sized shapes. Animals, however, did not possess the same qualities. Hence, reed and bamboo blinds were more cost-effective than the primitive versions made of animal skin and/or bones.

In the 20th century, aluminium blinds materialised in 1936. Industrially treated wood and metal were more durable than reed and bamboo. And due to economies of scale, wood and metal blinds could be mass-produced at a low cost per piece. As a result, the common blinds became widespread.

Vanishing of Manual Operation

Automation comes naturally as technology advances. In ancient empires, the monarchs had servants to operate their shades and blinds; in the modern world, we have motors that do the same work for kingly humans at home!

While the exact date when automated window coverings first appeared is unclear, it is a fact that Somfy pioneered in 1969 the first motorised blinds on the French, German, and Swedish markets.

Fifty years later, motorised shades and blinds by Somfy have only grown in volume and technology. From common motorised curtains and blinds to posh automated awnings and pergolas, there exists Somfy home automation for everyone: affordable Bluetooth-enabled curtain motors, Wirefree motors that do not require hacking to automate shades, and Somfy gateways that integrate with voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home are just some examples.

Somfy’s evolution of window coverings will not stop here. In the future, perhaps the human voice will not even be needed in the remote control of our shades and blinds!

Feel like motorising your window coverings at home now? Browse our catalogue of automated window coverings and home automation solutions, and call us for a quotation today!