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| Cute cafe curtains |
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| Cornice, panels, shades--these windows have it all! |
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| bamboo shades |
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| Plantation shutters used on the ceiling! |
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| 2" wood |
Thanks to a question posed by a reader I have a topic for this post (sometimes it's hard to come up with them! Thanks for the questions!) Window dressings can be confusing and expensive. I end up leaving just 2 inch wood blinds in mine because they do the job until I figure out
what I really want. I've added curtain panels to some but overall, my own windows are pretty boring. It comes down to my pocketbook. One time, years ago, I had custom made roman shades made for my bay window. It cost a small fortune! I remember the color draining out of my sweet husbands face as he was given the bill. Since then, I recall that every time I think about finishing a window. I'm like Pavlov's famed dogs.
But, window dressing is an imperative...unless you don't mind your neighbors seeing you in your birthday suit. So what do you do? The least expensive things I won't even list because they involve paper. The next best? Bamboo shades. You can get them as inexpensively as $10 all the way up to custom made ones for lots o'money. Bamboo (or another similar material) looks great in a variety of designs. I think they are a little casual for some decorating but overall they can be dressed up or dressed down. In between Plantation shutters you have 2" wood or composite or plastic blinds. Horizontal or vertical. (I have to be honest, I am not a fan of the
vertical.) They come in a variety of colors and are the work horses of window coverings. Plantations are dreamy. They look so put together but whoa! do they cost some buck! It is really furniture for your windows. Once you've decided whether you want a blind or just curtains or blinds
with curtains you are ready for the most difficult part. Fabrics. Boy! There is a lot to choose from. If you sew you are lucky because you can keep a chunk of your budget in tact! Then you have to decide whether you want curtain panels, valances, cornices, etc... (A cornice is a more structured valance. Cornices can even be made of wood or plaster.)
What do you like? What do your windows look like? What do you
wish they looked like?
3 comments:
I relate to this post very much. When we built our home I hadn't really considered the expense of window treatments. A neighbor who had recently finished design school gave me an estimate for one window-$2,400.00! (And she didn't include anything for herself, it was going to be her house warming gift to me.) When I couldn't afford that she suggested using white wooden blinds and adding panels as we could afford them. That's what we did.
I did have dummy panels made for a large window in our living room, but that was pretty pricey too. Window treatments make a huge impact, but there really aren't many affordable options.
Let's discuss whether or not windows with shutters look stupid with additional treatments.
(And by "let's", I mean "you")
I love plantation shutters, but they are too pricey for me, so we've always just had blinds. Currently we have blinds on our living room window that are about 6 inches too short...It's cute, but they were free, and if we want to shut them all the way, then I just pull the curtains. Someday I hope to have the money to spend on nice, cute window treatments!
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