Our Roman shades are an incredibly popular choice for Virginia-area homeowners. We’ve installed this particular style in countless houses over the past several years with many choosing this style because of its aesthetic and functionality. They’re stunning, beautiful, and flexible. We can fit them with our motorized options as well as custom-design them to fit any of your window spaces. However, today we didn’t want to address any of those benefits. Rather, we thought we’d answer the question “Why Roman shades are called Roman,” by looking at the history of this particular style of custom window treatment.
Going back in time
A lot of the things we have in our homes have origins that can be traced to hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. Many cooking techniques have been passed down throughout the centuries, for example. If you have an antique rug, it’s highly likely that the process the weaver followed all those years ago was passed down to them from their family, who was taught by their family, and so on.
It might seem disingenuous to first lump basic home design into that category as well. As humans began to congregate in cities, they clearly wanted to have ways to let air flow through their homes and to keep out light when it was unwanted.
Enter window treatments. Designers, even way back then, needed to come up with creative ways to accomplish this goal for homeowners.
October of 79 AD
Did that month and year ring a bell? If it did, welcome to history class! Although our records of that time are scattered, the modern consensus is that is when Mount Vesuvius erupted and covered the city of Pompeii with ash somewhere between thirteen and twenty feet deep.
What’s the significance of this event? The preserved status of Pompeii has allowed for a snapshot into Roman life from that era. It’s from those discoveries that archeologists first found evidence of the Roman shade-style of window treatments in use.
Did they exist before then?
In a word, yes, though we need to clarify the statement. The answer to why are Roman shades called Roman is because it’s the Roman people that are credited with the invention of this style of window treatment.
After all, think of it this way. The earliest surviving evidence of Roman shades is from 79 AD. That doesn’t mean, however, that the homeowner invented the style and then the volcano erupted the next day.
Instead, Roman shades were already in use throughout the Empire leading up to these events.
But that’s where we need to clarify our statement. We said Roman shade-style, with an emphasis on the last part of the phrase. Roman shades in their modern iteration are nevertheless different from what they used back then.
Instead, it’s more about honoring the Roman people’s ingenuity and way of life with the name. Twenty-first-century Roman shades may not be identical to what they used in Pompeii and earlier settlements. However, they are at least in the same family of creativity and functionality.
Why are Roman shades called Roman?
This brings us back to the original question. It’s simple: to honor what they did back then in such a way as to give credit to the evolution of custom window treatments that we provide to our customers throughout the Virginia and Maryland area. This is a classic example of how a naming convention invokes a particular image in our minds, but might not be exactly accurate.
Installing Roman shades for many years
If you’re considering adding this style of custom window treatment to your home, we’d love to help. Remember, Roman shades are called Roman less due to their current design and more because of their heritage thousands of years ago. Today, they are luxurious and practical options to keep your home cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and with the right amount of light all year long.
Would you like to chat with a member of our design team to schedule a free consultation? If so, just let us know. You can call our offices right away at 571-407-7981 if you’d like to chat with someone today. You can also send us a message requesting a free consultation by filling out the link here.
