Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-07-13
Curtaining Easement Window
an Undertaking That Requires
Taste, Skill and knowledge

~TIE vogue for easement windows
is one that puzzles a good many
1 women. They were brought up,
perhaps. to windows that slid up ana
down They considered easement win
dows. of course. far more attractive
than the other kind. Perhaps they
even called them artistic. Probably
they longed. quite without hope, to
possess "A house with easement windows
some day. But easement windows
seemed TO belong to medieval castles
and English cottages and we of mod
ern America felt that they We're not
for us.
That used TO be the way. Then.
real suddenly. we began to find new
houses with easement windows. Per-
haps Il was the fact that We turned
more and more TO English domestic
architecture for inspiration in building
our houses. Anyway, we went back
TO the day. before sliding windows and
found that easement windows were
modern possibility.
II is interesting, this turning back TO
the discarded things of the past. OF
course, a window hung on hinge was
used long before the modern sliding
window was thought of. And il must
be that tho first men TO use the sliding
window liked it better-found that they
had something which TO their taste was
far ahead of the "old-fashioned" case
ment That was the way when kero-
sene lamps took the place of candles
and gas the place of Kerosene and cleo
tricity the place of gas. We have gone
back 10 an appreciation OF candles and
softly glowing kerosene lamps. II is
20 be hoped we never will get 10 a
state where gas lights seem quantity
old fashioned. For they aren't. They
were a good thing in their day. no
doubt. but they consumed the air and
gave one n headache and made one
look ones worst
Back to the easement
Now il IS found in many houses and
apartments, and il is. without doubt,
charming sort of window. But IL is
puzzling. because il is still little un-
usual in this country.
However, II IS no more difficult TO
curtain than is the sliding up-and-down
window II is different problem, that
is all-not a more difficult one.
The Single Easement.
The single easement is an easier mat
ter than easements in a group.
glass Then there are the side curtains.
1t is not necessary, Of course. to have
curtains over the glass. but it is usual
10 do so, especially in the city. Some
charming easement windows in country
houses windows that look out on the
garden or along pretty bit Of country
road. are nowadays left without cur
tains over the glass. They are then
fitted only with side curtains, and these
are arranged, whether with or without
a valance to slide back and forth over
the window, at night or when a sub
dued light is desired.
II you have a curtain over the glass.
scrim is the usual choice. Usually, too,
il is run on a rod fastened at the top
and the bottom of the glass and drawn
taut. so that IL lies in shirred folds. A
thin. sheer scrim is best. Net, in cream
or white may also be used.
In one lovely house, there are thin
colored china silk curtains hung over
the glass in the dining room-a soft,
golden shade, they are. They hang
loose at the bottom-that is, just as
they would hang from an ordinary win
dow-but the rod from which they
hang is fastened TO the window frame,
so that they swing in and out with the
window when il is opened and shut.
These sheer china silk curtains are ex-
cellent in a city house where there is
an undesirable view of brick or white
washed walls. They are thin enough
TO let in the light. but they Obstruct
the view. Over them are hung dark
curtains with a narrow balance at the
top-a dark chintz in summer, and a
heavier curtaining material in winter,
one Of the thick, corded silks.
About the Valance.
There are two kinds Of valances. the
stiff kind that is more usual in the
formal French drawing room. and the
gathered kind that one associates with
chintz-hung English country bedrooms
II you have a shaped window frame,
as some drawing rooms have the stiff
kind is better. For the ordinary win
dow the ruffled kind, put on either with
or without an outstanding heading. is
better.
The valance may run just between
tire two side curtains. or il may run the
,ull width of the window. over the side
curtains. which may then be drawn to-
yether under it. When il is simply
hung between the two side curtains
hey cannot be drawn together When
I is separate. a separate rod is needed
asten TO the same wall bracket These
some either straight or curved so that
hey hold the curtain out a few inches
rom the window
About Window Shades.
Some decorators use window shades
On easement windows, but unless they
are particularly well handled they are
awkward. The outside shade of silk or
cretonne can be pulled together TO
soften the light, so that the stiff win
dow shade is not needed. The shade IS
stiff and when the window is open,
of course the shade is swung out or in
with it; or else the shade is fastened
20 the window frame above the case
ment window, and flaps in the breeze
quite in an unlovely fashion when the
Z !