Article:
Don't neglect decorative window treatments
By Shelley Anderson
May 2009
Decorative window treatments are the crowning touch in your home. They finish your rooms and add definition to your design.
Most often homeowners will address the issue of privacy and light control first. This is usually done with blinds or shades. Unfortunately, this is where many homeowners stop. An immediate need has been met and they simply forget about decorating their windows.
Sometimes the objection to decorative treatments is fear of covering the windows any little bit that would inhibit the daylight from coming in — especially in our gray Seattle weather. Other objections include, “My rooms are too small, my windows are too narrow or my ceiling is too high.” The good news is that there are creative window treatment designs that can actually correct these and many more architectural challenges.
Here are a few ideas and tricks that can help get your home the beautiful window treatments it deserves.
To add height to a room, use fabric with a vertical stripe. This will help in carrying the eye upward. Mount your drapery rods close to the ceiling but not touching so as to avoid a crowded look. Floor to ceiling drapery panels will add visual height.
Using a pattern everywhere — walls, upholstery or bedding and window treatments — is a trick that hides flaws in a room and enhances ordinary architecture. This is also beneficial is smaller-size rooms. It will create flow and consistency instead of causing your eye to jump from pattern to pattern.
High ceilings will give a room a grand feeling, but they can also make a room feel cavernous. In this situation, hang drapery panels at the level of the top of the window trim. This will help stop the eye from floating to the ceiling.
Narrow windows will benefit from drapery panels that extend out over the wall and barely skim the sides of the window. The width of the panels should enhance, not overwhelm the window.
A set of multiple windows that are not evenly spaced can be corrected with decorative panels that are the same size but will obscure the architectural impropriety.
Windows that offer views can be stunningly framed by decorative treatments that are mounted above the window and just skim the top of the frame.
Fabric choice is another important element in window treatments. From embellished sheers to heavy, textural woven fabric, each window situation can be dressed to make it shine.
Shelley Anderson has been creating interiors in the greater Seattle area since 1990.You may contact her at (206) 719-6814 or email her at
shelley.anderson@shelleyandersoninteriors.com.