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Beautifully Dressed Windows Add Drama To A Room’s Decor by Bonnie P Carrier
Changing your window treatments is quite possibly the easiest of any home decorating projects.
With the vast assortment of styles, colors and fabrics available today the combination of looks can be endless.
Changing window treatments may sound like a pretty simple thing to do, and it can be once you have determined the answers to a few questions.
These can include style type, fabric type, how much coverage, color and backgrounds.
Window Treatment Styles
Drapes ... Tab-Top ... Shears.... There are so many window treatment styles to choose from. Below is a list of some of the more common styles and a brief description of each.
- Cafe Curtains A window treatment that covers only the bottom half of a window. A cafe rod is most often hung at the halfway point of the window, at sash level
- Curtain Usually unlined, a curtain is a panel of hemmed fabric hung from a rod at the top of a window. Panels can be floor length or end at the windowsill.
- Rod Pocket Curtains The most common window treatment. A stitched pocket at the top of the curtain is gathered or shirred onto a curtain rod.
- Sheer A drapery panel made of sheer or translucent fabric, sometimes used underneath an outer drapery.
- Swag One or more pieces of fabric draped over a rod, typically used at the top of a window treatment with jabots. Also known as a festoon.
- Tab-Top Curtains Curtains with fabric bands attached to the top into which a decorative curtain rod is inserted.
- Valance A window treatment that covers the top of the window and the drapery hardware. A valance is made of matching or contrasting fabric, often with a casing at the top, and gathered onto a curtain rod.
- Window Scarf A long piece of fabric casually draped over a pole or rod at the top of a window like a valance. The center is gently pulled down to create a soft curve.
Window Treatment Coverage
How much coverage is needed will be determined by how much privacy is needed in the room. If privacy is not a concern and you like the look of open windows with lots of light shades, shutters or blinds would work well.
- Wood Blinds Wooden slats, attached to cloth tape, and worked by a cord on a pulley system, and available in many widths, colors, and sizes. Blinds provide excellent light control while allowing some view to the outside.
- Vertical Blinds Used on windows longer than they are tall and slide from side to side. Verticals are available in fabric, vinyl as well as aluminum.
- Shutters Wood or Vinyl mounted to sides of window frame. Slid or Louvered style to open slats for light control.
- Roller Shades Made of vinyl or fabric attached to spring rollers. Mounted to the inside window casing or the window frame.
- Roman Shades Drawn up from the bottom by means of cords and rings, these shades create horizontal folds when raised.
Once you have determined what style and coverage works best for the room you’ll next need to decide what type of fabric, solid background or some type of print and whether to buy ready-made or have your window treatments custom made.
Fabric
Fabric choices can range from cotton to silk. The best way to decide on this is to first determine the use of the room. For example, a living or family room would benefit from easy care washable fabric. A bedroom on the other hand can handle velvet or lace depending on your style of decorating.
Background
Choosing the background whether it’s a solid color, floral, stripe or plaid is going to depend on two things, the current decor of the room and most important what you like.
Custom or Ready-made
There are advantages and disadvantages to both. With custom you’ll be able to choose the fabric, color, style and exact length.
However, this can become pricey depending on the number of windows you have. On the other hand ready-made -packaged curtains, bought off the rack - can be a lot more affordable, which then gives you the flexibility of changing the look more often.
The only real down side will be not being able to find an exact color match and length. However, this will be offset by the fact that by being inexpensive you are able to change your window treatments more often.
About The Author: Bonnie P. Carrier is the creator of Savvy Home Decorating - The Information Center. She is the mother to two grown daughters and a very spoiled Blue Merle Sheltie named Toby. www.savvy-home-decorating.com
This article is shareware. Give this article away for free on your site, or include it as part of any paid package as long as the entire article and author’s bio. is left intact including this notice. Copyright © 2008 bonnie carrier.
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