Let us examine some history to better understand the original intent of a window vs. the needs of homeowners today. Most wordsmiths agree that the word “window” is Scandinavian in its origin and is a conjunction of several words which are interpreted as “the eye of the wind” or “wind’s eye.”

Unquestionably, those ancient Norsemen were motivated by the fact that the word “home”, literally translated, was a place where people lived. They cooked in and heated the interior of their homes by whatever methods were available at the time. Most of these were enclosures that provided no ventilation or opening for visage – and so the absence “of” created the need “for.”

In all probability the original openings were installed high on the building and maybe even in the roof. We speculate that this opening being high up in the enclosure offered a view of the sky (thus the part of the word meaning eye). Probably because Norwegian winters consist of low temperature and howling winds, the name “wind’s eye” seemed appropriate. Later, in typical fashion, we would create the English word based on this translation: window.

So, how many windows do you have in your home? And how many square feet of glass do you have in your entire house? In truth, homeowners love the idea of being able to look out and allow daylight in, giving light to the interior of their homes without throwing a light switch.

We also like to decorate around our windows, both inside and out. We have specialists who design blinds in shaded colors to fit our interior design. We spend many dollars on drapes which can be drawn to give us privacy at night and add decor to our interiors. We place shutters to the sides of our windows with no intention of ever closing them (which was the original intent – to shut out wind and rain). And we certainly don’t wish to complicate our lives by counting the square feet of glass.

We love our windows – and as ceilings got higher and houses in general got more expansive, we took for granted that more and more windows were natural. “So what?”

If you are looking to renovate your window, contact us now at Delux.