How to choose Window Treatments

We have been asking for your most pressing design questions in our last few newsletters, and we have actually gotten so many questions about window treatments! We love this option for our clients, so we are more than happy to go over your options, with examples from our Skyline and Riverpark projects to give you ideas for your own home.

If there's anything that will give a client sticker shock, it's window treatments. I STILL get sticker shock with my own home projects after all these years! Just think about it - each window may get a shade or blind, possibly custom drapes with lining, and then multiply that by the number of windows in your home. It can rack up really quick! But I challenge you to look through your Pinterest images you have saved for your dream spaces, and note what type of window treatments are featured. More than likely, there will be a presence of window treatments, but it's very common to overlook their importance and factor them into a project budget from the beginning. We often refer to lighting as the statement jewelry of a space, so think of your window treatments like a pair of shoes - they have to be functional, but they can be beautiful and the last touch to an outfit!

For a more affordable option, we used www.blinds.com for the shades in our home office pictured above (I guess I have to say former home office since we moved last week!). We used them in almost every room of the house, and we've been really happy with them! Our drapery is custom made by our workroom, as is all drapery for our clients, but we do recommend The Shade Store for quality fabrics and rods for a more accessible price point!

In bedrooms I always like to have draperies, even if they are stationary side panels. I just think that they're so pretty and make a room feel cozy. In our bedroom above, we had woven shades inside mounted on the windows for a cleaner look. With inside mounted shades, there will always be a thin line of light leakage on the outside of the windows, so using stationary panels on either side will help to block that light leakage if you're looking for a blackout situation in your bedroom!

In terms of where to hang drapery rods, it depends on the house, but a lot of times I'll hang rods in the middle of the window and the ceiling line as seen above in this living room. Going too high in an effort to make the room bigger can start to look disjointed from the window.

In terms of pleat style, if you're buying them off the shelf at retail sources, don't do a rod pocket drape. These have little loops on top and the pole gets shoved through, and the drapes don't lay very well. You can use drapery rings with clips on them, and even that small change just elevates the look a lot. My favorite pleat is the top tack two finger pleat, which you can see above in this dining room and below in this bedroom. It creates a full drape with great movement, but it's not quite as formal as other pleated options!

Did you learn something new about window treatments? There's a lot more we can cover, but these are the basics that can get you started with these decisions for your spaces. Feel free to send us questions on Instagram and we may go even deeper on another round here on the blog!