Many items in colonial households served multiple purposes. For example, a wooden chest could be used for storage, as a table, a bed, or as a chair. Some colonists had towels, tablecloths, cloth napkins, and cloth diapers. They also owned pewter plates, bowls, and beakers. We know this because Dutch colonists took good care of these possessions and passed them on to family members after death.

Dutch settlers often decorated their walls with maps, prints, and paintings—things to remind them of their former home in Europe. In most households, you would also find a Bible and sometimes other books.