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Rybczynski traces the domestic interior across roughly five hundred years, beginning with the drafty, smoky halls of medieval manor houses and ending with homes furnished in the style of a modern American designer. Along the way he explains how shifting social customs and cultural values reshaped the way rooms were decorated and fitted out. Some details will surprise readers, such as the path from religious tapestries hung on walls to fitted carpet, and the way certain comforts that now seem like indulgences began as practical responses to building problems. The book also serves as a window onto private life, asking what people have wanted from their homes and how those wants have changed over time.