Community Chat

[brii]

No, I would never do anything like that.

[10sluvr]

i hang a sheet, over the curtain rod, to keep out the harsh afternoon sun, in the summer. we have double pane glass windows, so i don't do anything like that in the winter.

[Sooner]

Yes, some of you sure would do things like that if  you live (like lots of people live) in a house without modern technology, good insulation, or thermal pane windows.  LOTS of folks need to do things like that to stay warm.  

Staying warm is a good thing--and good for those who need to do this to take the time and effort it requires!  BE COZY!!!

[violann]

This thread has given me a few giggles, since, being really really REALLY OLD, I remember having NEVER lived in a dwelling that was "heated" throughout until I went to college. 

"Technology" meant an automatic or semi-automatic feeder for the anthracite coal that filled the furnace, and everyone I knew had a "dad" or a "grandpa" or an "uncle" and THAT was who took care of the furnace, so no fancy automation was necessary.

There was a floor register, a great big iron grate, above the basement furnace, and although it was handy for drying a bit of laundry or thawing out when coming in from outside, that was IT as far as heat was concerned. It was also where coins, jewelry, and other small items vanished through the little cast iron squares and could only be retrieved by lying on the stomach on the basement floor and sifting through the ashes inside the clinker door.

Water left out in a closed off upstairs room could and did freeze, and so could pipes, which meant someone using the little copper pot shaped bow torch to thaw them without them cracking.

SO - in a bad storm, makeshift arrangements were THE NORM. Hanging blankets and taping cardboard into the window panes were a partial solution, so we all figured out what worked best, then did it.

We didn't have a hot water heater until I was about 6. What a revolution THAT was!

[gonnab]

I'm nearly 80 years old,  born and raised on a farm in Northern Vermont and I remember all these things.  - closing off all the rooms except the kitchen which was large, more like the family rooms of today.  It was the only room with heat and everyone spent all their time there.   Windows covered with ice - we used to "write" on them!  No double -pane glass - we had "storm windows" to install every fall but they still didn't work well.  Wearing a hat in bed because the bedroom was so cold.   Frozen pipes!!! - the nemesis of everyone.  Covering the car engine with a blanket so it wouldn't freeze but it still did.  Blankets hanging everywhere - over doors, windows, any opening.  And best of all - no school but only if it was 40 degrees below zero!!!  I swear, we don't get weather that cold now!!!  AHHHH- the good old days!!!

[fancy pantsy]

yes ... well:  for those of you who have made snarky comments about never doing something 'like that' and such ... if you were poor enough and cold enough i think you would.

i remember as a child growing up in a very old house (and yes, i can remember scraping ice off of the inside of the windows with my fingernail) we had a big archway that separated the front room from the entry way.  hanging in that big archway was a long curtain rod with the most beautiful (although very well worn out) burgandy velvet drapes hung with great big gold toned rings.  during the summer, the drapes were put away, but they were well used every winter.  whenever i see scarlett ohara ripping those velvet drapes down to make her dress, i think of my old house and those burgandy drapes.  

[faeriemoon]

When I was a kid I remember changing from screens to storm windows in the fall, and I remember those sand-filled fabric "tubes" that used to go in front of the doors to keep the cold out.  That's about it.

[MaggieMack]

I don't have to do it now because I have a more modern house, but I remember my mom doing it when I was a child on the farm. My brother, sister, and I would share the same double bed at night to stay warm. Heck, I remember the year we had indoor plumbing installed, I was five! It was in the 1950s.

[Zhills]

I am much too modern for blankets over the windows, however, I have 3 double windows in my main living area and I use thick, clear shower curtains to cover them.  The dead air space they create works great and you don't lose the light.  I just hang them on tiny nails that are not noticeable when not in use.

I also put a blanket over a rod in the foyer if it is really cold.  Works like a storm door.

We usually have heat pumps (some with an extra heat strip) in Florida, not furnaces!

[jlkz]

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@10sluvr wrote:

i hang a sheet, over the curtain rod, to keep out the harsh afternoon sun, in the summer. we have double pane glass windows, so i don't do anything like that in the winter.

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If your window isn't too wide, have you considered using a tub tension rod and two silky shower curtains instead?  

We used to use this setup to create privacy for guests at our shore house:  they had a bathroom next to their bedroom so it  created   a small " master suite " effect.  It was quite easy to pull back the curtains ( we had two back to back so the pattern was matched ).