Sad isn’t it? This is not a bedroom where I’d want to spend any time (or for that matter have guests spend time.)
Window treatments: their power to transform a room is amazing. I compare them to mascara – they help finish off a room like mascara finishes a woman’s eyes. As we see in this photo above, the room feels bare because the windows (and walls, but that’s another post) appear to have been forgotten.
When we dress our rooms, windows are often forgotten, which seems to be the case in the photo above – there are privacy blinds but little else.
Of course, window treatments can also be forgotten in another way (Got 70’s style jabots framing windows in your house? I took this “before photo”[below] at a house I staged.)
On our quest to create a home that’s lovely, warm and welcoming we need to pay attention to window treatments.
It doesn’t matter if we’re designing our home to sell or to dwell – window treatments need to be on-trend, in style and up to date.
It’s true that sometimes windows don’t need anything but the view outside. However, I find that to be the case in very few instances. When privacy is not an issue, people don’t think they need to dress the windows. What they forget to consider is the ambiance or feel of the entire room.
Window dressing is not just about privacy or blocking the sun. It’s an important element to creating the look and feel of a room. Drapes and/or blinds can add texture, color, pattern and much needed softness. In today’s McMansions, we have huge rooms with floor to ceiling windows that are stark naked. They echo with their wood floors and hardscape. Drapes can help absorb sound and prevent a room from sounding like an echo chamber.
Updating your drapes need not be about spending a lot of money. In our hunter green jabot room [right], I replaced the 
jabots with drapes that cost around $9.00 a panel. We also updated the rods. Total cost was about $60.00 for the two windows.
If you’re stuck for how to treat your windows, consider layering them with drapes that frame and shades that added texture and give privacy. It’s a look that goes with so many decorating styles and an easy way to update your window 
treatments. This photo [left] from Smith+Noble shows the layering effect of combining the two.
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Recently saw in Coastal Living that on a room that has an amazing view you “should paint the window trim and sashes a BOLD color to give the room the jaw dropping view the attention it deserves”. They used no curtains but did have a nice shade of some sort. Super nice and really showed the view.
That’s a great idea. Their suggestion to paint the trim/sashes helps to “dress” the window so it won’t look like you just forgot to put something on them.
Houses in magazines tend to be the exception and not the rule. Sadly, many new construction homes don’t even trim windows out anymore! There is little architectural interest in some of the “big box” construction. I think it’s best to gather up all the great ideas you can and then see which ones you can apply to the rooms in your house to create the home you want.
Thanks for sharing!
So true!!! I totally agree with the “mascara” comparison. Thanks for the before and after as well. I’m wondering…where do you find neutral panels for $9.00 each?
Hi Sara,
Great places to find panels (neutral or otherwise) include Wal-Mart, Big Lots, Ollies, Gabriel Brothers. I also shop the Salvation Army Thrift Store – I found $60.00 6 panels for $9.99 each! I also shop tag/garage sales. Always keeping my eyes open for deals. Generally Target is too expensive when I’m staging a house, but I look seasonally for mark downs. Ya just never know! Wal-Mart now carries the Better Homes & Garden Collection of drapes and they have some nice ones – $14.99ish each. Still a great deal.
Also, you can make your own – painters cloth looks makes a very high-end Pottery Barn/Ballard Designs look. Most of the time they are longer than 84″ but for a simple no sew you can pull the extra over the rod to make a decorative valance. You can hot glue some fringe on that to kick it up a notch. I just saw this done here at the Handmade Housewife: http://thehandmadehousewife.blogspot.com/2009/04/drop-cloth-drapes.html
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