Thursday, November 27, 2014

A Look at Stylish Ways for Your Window Dressing

Find out window treatment options and get expert tips for sprucing up your living room.

Design by John Patrick Flynn

Unless you're having a party, the actual cliché about bringing the outdoors in is fine for many of us until the sun falls. When interior lighting turns a house into a fishbowl in the moonlight, its frequently time to close the blinds, pull the draperies, shut out the outside world.

Night or even day-the best window treatments offer form and function at any hour. Not simply decorative, the best window treatments work hard when needed. They provide privacy, block sunlight, insulate against outdoor temps, absorb sound, and provide a unified look from the street. But on an visual level, within a living room they can solve some of the biggest decorating dilemmas, by changing a mundane wall, visually expanding a ceiling's height, or setting off a wonderful view.

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Designer Ann Lowengart says she begins planning window treatments by thinking about their function first. "It all begins with the client's intended use of the space, " she says. "That helps to determine how much privacy they're looking for, the amount of sun light they want, or if the treatments will be simply for decorative use. " Once that is determined, the style, materials, and hardware comes in.

Pleated Panel
Roman Shade
Creative designers Alison Vanderpool and Ariana Villalta of The Elegant Abode also like to make softer living room windows with drapery panels, especially those made of linen or purple velvet, which brings more texture to a room. "Our favorite is a French pleat panel on rings with antique brass hardware, " Vanderpool says. "We like to layer window treatments by placing woven blinds behind the panels for any more organic look. "

Combine shades with curtains for a layered appear
Design by Brian Patrick Flynn
But hanging panels from the right place: It's a bit like dressing a person. Aim for flattering, not a trendy one-size-fits-all. "Are you trying to enhance the existing architecture or disguise a design flaw? inch asks designer Andrea Brooks. "Do you want to elongate the windows or technique the eye to raise the ceilings? Hang your rod up to the molding to raise the style of the ceiling. Pay attention to all of the details, including the style of the drapery-pleated is more official, and grommets give a clean, modern, and sometimes masculine feel, " she says.

Think about how many panels a window might need-it might not be as obvious as you believe. A double window might have panels on each side, as well as one in the middle. It might have two panels on each side for a generous, blowsy feel. (Some specialists recommend having a seamstress sew panels together to ensure consistent coverage).

For more contemporary, informal rooms, Roman shades, woven shades, and wooden shutters can suit you perfectly. These require a bit more precision-they generally fit within a space or just outside it-and as a result don't offer the same amount of creative license and dramatic problem solving which drapery panels do. But that’s ok too. They’ll still bring design, texture, and privacy to your living room-allowing you to wave nighty-night to the fish-bowl effect.

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