Nets & Bulbs

Net curtains are a feature of most English suburban houses that appear to be missing from the American scene. Nets are thin white lacy curtains that you hang permanently inside a window, to prevent the neighbours from seeing your goings-on.

Their success in this regard is limited, they cut down vision but do not prevent it, especially at night if you forget to draw the real curtains. However their success in collecting dirt and dust is legendary, and I've recently washed all our net curtains, changing their colour from grey to off-white.

I shan't miss these ugly things in America, and am looking forward to blinds, which do the combined job of nets and regular curtains better than either, and are easier to clean and less bulky.


In this house we have six different types of light bulbs. In England the bayonet fitting used to be universal, but we now also use screw fittings, and thanks to the peculiarities of this house we have 100W big spotlights in the kitchen and bathroom, plus a small fluorescent tube over the hob, 60W smaller spotlights in the stairwell, a 60W screw-fitting regular bulb in a standard lamp, and 12W and 20W energy-saving bayonet-fitting light bulbs in ceiling lights in the bedrooms and through lounge respectively.

I don't know if US houses have to deal with this huge variety. We've actually cut down by getting rid of all our table lamps, which would add a couple more types, but I'm hoping we can reduce a little. Of course, we'll also have more space to store spare bulbs, which currently reside in the cupboard under the stairs.