Archive for June, 2010

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Window Dressing

Figuring out how to dress your windows can leave you scratching your head. The best style and material to use will become very evident once the design of your home furnishings choices is complete.

When surveying your windows, consider where the most sunlight comes into your rooms. Do you need to protect your upholstered goods, dining room table, area rug or wood flooring? Then you will want a window covering that will give protection from damaging UV rays. Use the architecture of your home as a springboard for your drapery designs. There is nothing worse than seeing cold white metal mini blinds in the living room of a lovely old Tudor style home. The appropriate drapery would be floor length fabric drapes hung on a wooden rod with decorative finials.

Selecting the appropriate window coverings takes the same attention to detail and design principles.

Do you have a view? If you live in a modern home with a view you may want solar shades. They roll up and down and you can still see your view through them when in the down position while maintaining some privacy. Most solar shades will block out as much as 95 percent of UV rays. Very little is visible when they are rolled up.

For a modern look use: Outside-mounted fabric Roman shades in a similar color to the wall for a seamless look.

Roman shades are among my favorite window coverings. They can fit so many different styles of homes, both modern and traditional. Roman shades are fabric shades that fold neatly to the top when drawn open. A classic roman shade has overlapping folds when the shade is lowered, while a flat roman has no folds when lowered.

Roman shades are generally mounted inside the casement of the window; however, you can “outside-mount” Roman shades, too.

Take into consideration the length of your window. The longer it is the more of a “stack” there will be at the top of the window when the shade is pulled up.

In a modern home, use fabric in the same color as the walls for a seamless, clean, streamlined look, while a large floral pattern could be used for Roman blinds in a traditional home.

Designer Secret: There is so much to know about hanging draperies and other window coverings; this is one area I trust to professionals. Don’t assume that buying curtain panels off the rack will be less expensive than having them made by a window-covering specialist. So much can go wrong, from taking the correct measurements to sturdy installation. If you can afford to hire a professional, you will be glad you did.

Look for budget window-covering stores. Their staff will come to your home with samples of fabrics, woven woods, wood blinds and many other window covering options; they will usually measure, order and install your window coverings at a fair price.

Woven wood blinds are a wonderful addition of texture and can be used in both contemporary and traditional homes.

I like to pair drapery panels on each side of a window with woven wood blinds in a traditional home. Woven woods are light-filtering shades that create privacy, while allowing some light to softly penetrate

You can get the woven wood blinds with translucent liners. I recommend using a translucent liner on all woven woods so that sunlight damage will not take its toll. If you are using them in a bedroom you will want blackout lining, so that no sunlight can come in while you are sleeping.

Wood-slat blinds give you the most options. You can moderate the light by tilting the slats. There are numerous wood colors to choose from and different wood-slat widths. A larger slat width will let in more light and view.   My clients ask me, “How do you clean all those slats?” Use a blow-dryer once a month to blow off any dust that may accumulate. Venetian wood blinds can be used in both modern and traditional homes.

Plantation shutters are a terrific window treatment option because you can modulate the light level in your room by tilting the slats.

Another window covering option is panel track drapery. Semi- ridged woven panels made of many different kinds of materials, both natural and synthetic, slide in tracks mounted into the ceiling. These are best used in contemporary homes. They can be used to create a room divider, too. There are numerous panel track material options; the only drawback is that you must have enough wall space to store the width of a panel off to one or both sides of your windows so that when you want to open the drapery the panel can clear the window and reside in front of a wall.

Fabric panel draperies are old standbys that are hard to beat. Use upholstery or drapery-weight fabric if you sew your own draperies. Fabric for clothing comes in narrower widths and may have more stretch — which will not work for draperies. How much fabric will you need? It’s usually two to three times the width of your window. Add several inches at the top and bottom for hems.

If you are buying a patterned fabric, buy enough to match the pattern repeat, so that when you have a seam, the pattern matches. If you aren’t sure if a fabric will work in your room, buy a yard and take it home. Put it up with thumbtacks and live with it for a few days. See how it looks at night and in the bright light of day.

If you are not sure how long your panels should be, thumbtack a sheet up and pin hemlines at varying lengths to see if you want full-length draperies. You may want them to just stop at the windowsill.

Nothing softens a space more than fabric panels. Be sure to line your drapery panels. Lining serves several functions: It blocks the sun and protects your draperies from UV rays, insulates and makes the drapes hang nicely.   Use a solid rod cut to fit your window width plus enough to stack the drapery panels on when the draperies are open. Avoid using telescoping rods for heavy drapery panels. They will bow over time.

Designer Secret: Look at home interior magazines for the latest examples of how to trim windows. The diameter of rods goes up and down like the hemlines on runway models, so for the latest styles study the trends.  You can personalize your window coverings with the rod you use. Bamboo poles, antique tapestry rods, steel pipes can all give an individual twist to your drapery treatments.

If you don’t need any UV protection and you live by a greenway with a lot of privacy, don’t use any window coverings and let the outside in!