Large Window Treatments 101: Learn How to Tame the Beast

Sunshine Drapery sliding glass doors window treatment

Choosing the Correct Large Window Treatments for Expanses of Glass

When you are dressing large windows or glass doors, you must choose large window treatments that can hold up to the task at hand. Not all window treatments work well in large windows, fortunately, you can improvise with other manners of covering them that you may have not thought of before. Large windows are especially beautiful when they overlook great scenery outside of a lake, a garden, or any beautiful accent outdoors. You like your windows open to let in lots of natural sunlight, which in turn plays off your walls and makes your interior appear even larger than it is. The other side of the coin is that you need solutions that will be easy to operate on such a grand scale and will not cause damages or bowing to your window treatment. Having large windows gives you a much bigger canvas to work with. Read on to find out about several choices you have that look great and work great too after you have your window installation done.

Continuous Cord Loops

A standard blind in a large window doesn't work well because when you pull the cord to open and close them, the vanes will start to bow and bend and may even break because of the sheer weight of the product. A solution to this is to use a blind with a continuous cord loop. The lift mechanism in this type of blind allows you to raise and lower your window coverings easily and evenly at the same time. It doesn't allow the blind to have one side that is lowering or raising faster than the other side. This type of operating system on a blind works well on large windows as it is much more durable and it looks great as well.

Large Window Treatments Multiple Blinds

Solid wood blinds are beautiful and you can have them custom made and stained or painted in any color you wish to complement your decor. One drawback to wood blinds is that they are very heavy and when installed as one unit per large window, they won't last very long due to the weight. A great solution to this is to have custom wood blinds that use one headrail but have multiple blinds in the same window. This will also give you more options to control your lighting and privacy because you can leave some of the sets of blinds open and others closed for balancing temperatures precisely in your home. When multiple blinds are professionally installed in one large window, they actually appear seamless and until someone looks closely, it appears as if it's one large blind.

Choose Lighter Materials

If you don't get a lot of bright sunlight in a large window, you can opt for a sheer shade, which is very lightweight and work well. This can give you a light and breezy appearance in any window while lightly filtering the light that comes inside your home. Another light material that is super great for insulation is cellular shades. Cellular shades are also called honeycomb shades because they appear much like a bee's honeycomb when viewed from the ends. The cells trap air against the window to be one of the best energy-efficient solutions all year round. You also get the added surprise of lower electric bills in the heat of the summer or the cold and blasting winter winds. Lighter materials serve the functionality and they also look nice in any window.

Roller Shades and Roman Shades

Both roller shades and roman window shades give you clean lines and install inside of your window frame to appear sleek. When you choose either of these for large windows, you have literally thousands of fabric choices. You can choose a lighter fabric as a sun filtering window treatment and solid colors, prints and patterns of most anything you can think of. You can also add a decorative valance at the top to hide the headrail and appear finished and modern.

Blackout Shades for Media Rooms

If your large window you are dressing is in a media room or a living room across from your television, you may consider blackout shades. So, if you are in love with a fabric and you choose a Roman or roller shade, you can easily have a liner added to it to make them blackout shades for rooms with televisions or computers in them so you don't get that annoying glare on your screens. You still have the beautiful fabric you choose but it will darken a room when your shades are closed.

Motorized Window Treatments

Motorized window treatments are the best of the best for large windows of any type. The motor is heavy duty and it will raise and lower your window coverings at the touch of a button on any smart device you may have. You can also program your window treatments to open and close at specific times either in banks, individually or one side of a room. This solution works really well in conjunction with your existing security system in your smart home. It's the most reliable treatment for large windows that you can find. When you are choosing window treatments for large windows, you should consider the dimensions of the window. Horizontal blinds and cellular shades work well for tall windows and faux wood blinds are an exceptional choice for tall and skinny windows. Window vertical blinds look great on wide windows and the also give you a sense of height and formality to any room as well. You should now be able to tackle and tame your beast of large windows in several different manners to have the exact appearance you desire with the functionality you need.