Window treatment are so immediately visible in a room that updating them is a great way to transform your space. But knowing how to choose the best window treatment can be a little daunting. Especially since they are an investment in your home you will likely live with through several changes of furnishings.

A common mistake is to start by choosing the style first, but then you run the risk of falling in love with something that doesn’t meet your needs. So it’s better to decide which type of product (or combination of), will give you the privacy and sunlight control you want. Then look at the styles that offer that.

This overview is designed to show you what the different types have to offer so you can explore your best options for functionality and style.

SHADES
Shades are made of materials on a continuous roll and fit into a window and stack neatly at the top or bottom depending on the style. Shades are drawn up and down by cords or rolled up with a spring device. You can choose different levels of opacity for light preference. The three most popular styles are:

 -Design 1
CELLULAR SHADES: These are a great solution for bathrooms because of the privacy they can give with the top-down/bottom-up feature. You can see out and let daylight in while still being able to move around the room in privacy. An added bonus is their honeycomb design has a thermal effect of keeping cold out and heat in.

 -Renew Properties
WOVEN WOODS SHADES: Unlined styles give filtered light during the day when closed but are not completely private at night. Lined styles gives less light during the day but are more private a night. They are one of the few treatments that have a self valance feature. They work equally well on standard doors and windows for a matched effect.

– Amoroso Design
ROMAN SHADES:  When lowered they give light control, privacy and even some temperature control when lined with  insulating fabric. When raised they give the look of a decorative fabric valance which few window treatment do.

 – Cippananda Interior Design
BLINDS: Are made of slats or vanes that drop down as it is lowered or can be pulled across a window. The slats stay closed tightly for privacy and light control, but can also be adjusted to let light in. They are suited for room darkening but not a blackout effect.

 – Chloe Warren, Designer
DRAPERIES: Are fabric panels to the floor. They can be stationary and not close, or be drawn over the window. First floor bedrooms especially need both daylight and privacy and there are such beautiful solutions for that. Even when the drapery like the above is closed for privacy during the day it still lets light in. This style window treatment has two options for installing the track, either on the wall or the ceiling..

 – Amy Lambert Lee, Designer
BLACKOUT CURTAINS: The most common need for these are east-facing bedrooms, nurseries and media rooms. A blackout lining can be added to any drapery fabric and will darken the room. But for more of a blackout effect, install floor-to-ceiling drapes with blackout lining that extend 18 inches past each side of the window.

 -A B Associates
SHUTTERS: These allow you to control privacy and direct sunlight when over the window. If you have enough wall space to swing them open you can also have them off the window completely.  If they are opened by folding back within the window they will extend out from the frame and window sill the depth of the shutter panel.  They will give complete privacy when closed but will not block all the light.

-Bridgewater Consulting Group
LAYERED TREATMENT: Cellular shades combine well with stationery fabric side panels in master bedrooms, and living and dining rooms. Disappearing almost completly during the day because of their narrow stack at the top when pulled up and then closing at night to give privacy. In this bedroom a Roman shade is paired with draperies for a different look that lets the stack of the shade form a valance.

In media or TV rooms blackout shades are usually a must. By adding drapery panels you will be doubly sure the room is “movie theater dark”. Combined window treatments, because of the added fabric, will also give you better acoustics.

Now that you are armed with this information on the capabilities of the different treatment options, it will be much easier to choose the best window treatment for your home!

Find out ways we can also help you love your home without doing any major renovations by clicking “Curated Options” and “Collaboration“. Or call Mary for a free 15 minute consultation at 760-84-1200 or by connecting online.