Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book rehearses what is known about domestic space while also engaging with uncharacteristic and underappreciated aspects of the home. Home has myriad meanings to people, and although the eighteenth century in the common imagination is often about taking tea on polished mahogany tables, a far wider world of experience remains to be introduced. The book considers how people organized and interacted with their domestic space. The complexity of spatial arrangements and their role in social interactions is highlighted by these contributions. The book considers the relationship between money, value, home, and identity. It reinforces that views of eighteenth-century domestic space need to be more all-embracing. These accounts of hidden domestic worlds challenges comfortably held assumptions about the home. A central problem remains that the literature continues to privilege society's elites.