How to Choose Window Treatments

By VanLines.com

After the long distance moving companies have left and the unpacking is finished, you will want to think about the decor of your home. Decorating your window is the best way to brighten a room, or to relieve the monotony of that plain old wall. And because dressing up your window is relatively easy and less expensive to do (compared, for example, to painting the walls or moving around your furniture) it is the best and fastest way to change a room’s mood and look in an instant.

Aside from practical considerations (such as keeping out the bright sunlight or concealing your interiors from prominent public view), as well as design considerations, window treatments vary depending on your taste or what effect you’re looking for.

So what are the different window treatments available, and how do you choose which one’s for you?

Curtains and Draperies:
Curtains and draperies are the most traditional (and common) window treatments for your home. A well-chosen curtain design perfectly balances off a room’s interior. It can be simple when the room is grand, or grand with decorative draperies when the room is large and needs a dramatic accent. The most traditional curtain treatments are elaborate, but still elegant and come complete with valances.

Simpler styles with checks or small flower prints give the room a traditional country cottage feel. While modern prints can give a trendy, edgy ambiance.

Valances:
Windows decorated with just valances give a lively frame to the view beyond, whether it be a patch garden or rolling fields. This treatment is mostly used for kitchen windows or in quaint cafés. This also goes very well with country-themed rooms.

Swags:
Like valances, swags serve more to frame windows and views, rather than to filter the light out of the room. These make elegant accents in rooms and hallways.

Wooden Blinds:
Along with shutters and very thick draperies, wooden blinds are both functional and decorative in effectively keeping out the light from a room. It gives the room interior a masculine and sturdy feel so that it looks good in studies. It is best used, too, when the view outside is less than satisfying.

Roll-up Blinds:
Like curtains, roll up blinds come in many different styles that match just about any room décor that calls for simplicity and harmony. Ordinary roll-up blinds in thick cloth or woven materials give a room a casual flair. Bamboo roll-up blinds are for the clean, minimalist oriental look. Woven wooden material, when used as roll-up blinds, are a more casual alternative to wooden blinds.

Roman Shades:
Roman shades are among today’s most preferred window treatment for modern homes. Trendy but traditional, it is modern but not quite minimalist. Different designs on the cloth also makes it versatile. You can choose a design that’s stark, or more decorative, depending on whether you want to draw attention away, or towards, your windows.

Bead Curtains:
Bead curtains are more of a novelty that’s gaining popularity. These can be used not just as window treatments but as partitions in entrance ways. Although it does its job of obscuring what’s behind the curtain, this serves more as an accent piece that can add a lot of charming glam to an otherwise plain room.

None (Bare Windows):
Leaving your windows bare is a statement in stark minimalism. This goes particularly well with ultra-modern interiors that have floor to ceiling windows (or almost). It won’t go with every house, though – and it will only really work if the view outside the glass panes is spectacular. Think mountain top vacation homes, beachside cottages, or an apartment on the 50th floor.