If you see a desk in a cabinet in the kitchen, you’ve just seen a Hoosier desk, which became popular around the eighteen-nineties. They only lasted about thirty years, when built-in cabinets became more and more prevalent, but before then these cabinets held dinnerware, pots and pans, and other kitchen necessities.
The desk doubles as kitchen counter space and a workstation for the multi-tasker, and modern kitchen cabinets sometimes follow the same design. A kitchen can also use more counter space, but once they started coming pre-built, these cabinets started to disappear.
Just Hanging Out
Picture railings are small wooden railings near the ceiling, you have picture rails. Built mainly in the 1840s, architects added these items into homes to make hanging pictures easy. All you have to do is slip a hook into the railing to hang pictures with ease.
While picture rails may be outdated now, the basic idea has ended up being pretty helpful. You can even easily install your own picture rail if you aren't interested in pounding nails into your walls. Depending on your interior design acumen, you can make this old detail new again. Just add pictures.
Wiring Techniques Have Improved
Owners of old homes are sure to be used to copper wires and tubes stretching across their ceiling. They're called knob-and-tube wiring, a common method used from the eighteen-eighties to the nineteen forties. Covered in porcelain to protect them, copper wires went from room to room for power and other services.
This type of wiring may have worked, but installation was difficult and expensive compared to modern wiring. It isn't even legal to install this kind of wiring anymore, but if you look carefully, you may find old buildings that still have it hung up.
You Don't Have to be Named Murphy
Murphy beds are fold-out beds that rest vertically against or sometimes in the walls, able to fold down for a guest or fold up if you're in a home that doesn't boast a lot of space. You've likely seen Murphy beds on television shows, but they actually first started appearing in 1900s silent films under a different name.
Homes usually don't have these beds anymore, opting for the futon or the fold-out couch if more sleeping space is necessary. However, Murphy beds have been coming back into style for some reason, perhaps thanks to the trend of micro homes.
Let the Light In
Before electricity, homes often got dark and gloomy, even during the day. Other than fires or candles, windows were the only way to keep things bright. Transom windows, horizontal windows above doors, helped to illuminate the entryway and other places in the home. Some even open in an attempt to keep the home ventilated. They're still popular today since almost any home could use a little bit more light.
Newer versions don't open, thanks to air conditioners, but if the transom windows in your home do open, you may be looking at windows from a previous era.