As with everything around us, property has evolved over the years, and the rooms within our homes are no exception. How we refer to our homes and their rooms has also evolved, and continue to do so as house builders and estate agents conjure up new ways of drawing room attention. Here’s a snapshot of how the language has changed.
Living room
Nowadays, the living room is the main room in the house, where we spend most of our time and commune with other members of the household. Over the years, it has also been known as the lounge, family room, sitting room, parlour, front room, morning room, drawing room or saloon.
In Victorian and Edwardian times, the room located at the front of the house was usually the smartest and known as the parlour, which had a fireplace and was used to receive and impress guests. We still use the term ‘parlour games’ to describe organised party games.
The word ‘lounge’ is now often associated with public buildings and spaces (such as airport or VIP lounges).
The term ‘drawing room’ derives from the practice of the ladies withdrawing to another room, leaving the gentlemen to smoke, drink spirits and talk about politics or other serious male business of the time. The ladies room, which became known as the drawing room, was often the most comfortable room in the house.
The ‘morning room’ was traditionally a sunny space with large, east facing windows, and used by the lady of the house to receive guests, write letters or conduct household business.
Bathroom
The bathroom only became a common feature of the home in the 1900s and was still considered a luxury until the 1960s. Before that, homes featured an outdoor toilet and a metal or wooden bath would be placed in front of the fireplace.
Toilet
The toilet was also known as the lavatory, lav, loo, potty, john or WC (water closet) in the home. In public, it might also be called a washroom, restroom or public convenience. The word ‘toilet’ comes from the French ‘toilette’ (dressing room), and ‘loo’ from the French ‘guardez l’eau (watch out for the water). A water closet was used in the 1900s to describe a toilet built into a cupboard.
‘John’ was John Harington, who was credited with inventing the first flushing toilet. Before the flush, the chamber pot (typically a ceramic container) would be kept in the bedroom for nighttime use. A commode is a chamber pot built into the seat of a chair.
Ensuite
Ensuite (meaning ‘next’) was introduced from the French language by hotels in the mid-20th century to denote an adjacent toilet and sink. Without the sink, it’s just a toilet.
Kitchen
Often now part of an open plan layout, the kitchen is a separate room where food is prepared and cooked, and in a small home might be called a kitchenette.
The pantry or larder is a separate room adjacent to the kitchen that is used to store food. The butler’s pantry is a room between the kitchen and dining room, that would contain a sink and be used to service the dining room and store items.
Sometimes called the back room, the scullery is a small room behind the kitchen for tasks such as washing up and laundry. The Victorian or Edwardian scullery would have had a ‘copper’ used to heat larger volumes of water, and be built in with a fire beneath. The vessel would more often be made of cast iron and only made of copper metal in wealthier houses.
Attic or loft?
The attic or loft is the space at the top of the house, with a sloped ceiling if the property has a pitched roof. We might use it to store the Christmas decorations or convert it into living accommodation.
The word attic is derived from the decorative columns at the top of a building above the main facade in classical architecture. Loft is thought to derive from the Old Norse word ‘lopt’, meaning upper region or sky, or German ‘luft’, meaning air, and is sometimes used to describe apartments.