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Window Treatment Ideas
"Browse through these window treatment ideas and find plenty of inspiration for your own home."
With the vast array of window treatment styles and designs out there, your biggest challenge ...
... is having to choose among all the window treatment ideas and options that are available.
The following links will help you pick what works best for your home - ideas for interesting window treatments that will add flair to your home and make it truly yours.
So would you like to …
1. control the light in a sunny room?
2. brighten up a sun-starved room?
3. do something extraordinary with your windows?
4. create window treatments with a country look?
5. give your windows a French accent?
(If you read on, you’ll get to all of the above.)
Also coming soon:
6. How to dress an awkward window
7. Window treatment styles that add a romantic flair
8. Window treatment ideas to create a holiday mood
9. Exterior window treatment ideas
10. Decorating with Shutters.
1. Window Treatment Ideas for Sunny Rooms
 Decorating with shutters is very effective when you want to keep a sunny room cool and fairly dark on a summer day.
Use interior or exterior shutter panels with moveable slats (louvers) so that you can adjust the amount of sunlight that filters into the room.
Shutters are widely available and go with many interior styles. The drawback is, though, that when the sun's out, the light in the room is usually 'sliced' into very hard lines.
To soften the stark, angular look in a room, consider additional (lightweight) fabric curtains to cover or frame the shuttered window on the inside.
 Blinds are the next best method of keeping unwanted sunlight out – you can adjust their height and keep the windows ajar to allow airflow into the room.
Blackout roller blinds are the most effective, but on their own they're often a bit drab.
Consider combining them with fabric window treatment ideas - mount a blind ‘invisibly’ behind a curtain rod, a pelmet, or right into the window opening, and then layer it up with drapery.
 Alternatively, add texture and color to a room with Roman blinds, or roller blinds made of natural fibers, like bamboo (as in the picture above left), paper or thin wooden slats.
They won't keep the sunlight out completely, but they'll soften its effect.
Curtains lined with blackout material (or a thick opaque layer of fabric) are another option.
They look great in most rooms, but they’re not quite as practical as a combination of blinds and drapes, because you can’t adjust them in height to respond to different lighting situations.
People in the Mediterranean know a thing or two about managing sunlight, and have come up with these window treatment ideas:
1. Install awnings, as in the picture above. They can look very classy and protect the interior from the sun while allowing good airflow at the same time.
The one in the photo above provides shade for a ground-floor room as well as for the small terrace outside.
To the left, an example of a makeshift 'awning' - a door curtain hung across a balcony railing in Northern Italy.
2. Mount a pergola above the ground floor windows, and top it with a wattle/bamboo screen, or train climbing plants over it (roses, wine, climbing hydrangea, clematis…)
3. Mount adjustable exterior shutters that can be angled out at the bottom. This is the most common sun protection for Mediterranean houses, and it is extremely effective.
To the right is an example of wooden shutters that open out both sideways and from the bottom up (you’ll find more pictures of window treatments like these in the chapter on Decorating With Shutters, coming soon!)
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2. Window Treatment Ideas for Dark Rooms
You’ll get the maximum daylight from a small or north-facing window by leaving it completely bare. But that way, you’ll also end up with gaping black ‘holes in the wall’ at night, and little or no privacy.
On the other hand, if you use anything beyond the thinnest and lightest fabrics to cover these windows, you’ll darken the room even further.
Every thread (literally) costs precious daylight. So ...
1. Use single, flat layers of very lightweight fabric. Gathered, ruffled or pleated material will swallow too much daylight.
2. Paint the window recess in the lightest possible color, or tile it with mirror glass (if that suits the decor in the room).
3. Install mirrors opposite the windows to reflect the daylight back into the room.
4. Instead of covering the whole window, hang a café curtain that covers only the lower third or half of the window
5. If the window is small, and if privacy is not an issue, try stretching a band of lace along the top of the frame (the Dutch did that for centuries, as a way of dealing with restrictive tax laws!)
 But how to make window treatments attractive, if all you’ve got is a single, skinny layer of fabric - if that?
You could, for example,- Insert or attach some lace to a plain, flat curtain
- To create more substantial-looking window curtain treatments, use a heavier border fabric around a sheer central panel, and starch the curtain.
- Hang lengths of gorgeous fabric to the sides of the window (have them cover only the wall and the frame, not the glass)
- Try scarf window treatments that don’t interfere with the light (play with the space above the lintel)
- Paint, or add an ornament (a framed picture, a carving, an antique tile) above the curtain rod
- Place something beautiful on the windowsill - some fruit (as in the photo above), flowers, a bowl, a piece of art.
An interesting alternative to window curtain treatments is sandblasting. If you want to test the effect first (at minimal expense), have ‘frosting’ foil applied to parts of the window.
Or, use a stencil and frosting spray to create your own window decoration.
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3. Window Treatment Ideas With a Difference
 In Preparation:
If you’re the daring kind, or you have an out-of-the-way window where you’d like to experiment a little, then this is for you:
A collection of textile and non-fabric ideas for interesting window treatments from Europe, India, and Japan.
Explore and make your own version of these window treatment styles, and create an extraordinary look for your home!
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4. Window Treatment Ideas for a Country Home
 Traditional European country style windows often combine wooden shutters and simple, cotton/lace window curtain treatments.
Here’s an overview of easy-to-copy Country Window Treatments from Europe.
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5. French Country Window Treatment Ideas
 This is your page if you’re after pictures of window treatments with a chic, distinctly French accent.
French Country Curtains are not just for windows – explore ways to extend the use of window curtain treatments to doorways, wardrobes, and outdoor rooms!
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