Window Treatment Tips To Suit Your Space

Blinds or shades? Drapes or café curtains? The biggest priority when choosing window treatments for your home is whether the space needs privacy or light, or both! These few tips can help you decide what would go better on the windows in your space. Semisheer Window Treatments - A common and high traffic space such as a family room, dining room, or a living room, usually doesn't require much privacy. Depending on the number of windows, however, it may always need light. Natural light can brighten any room, so look to choose a semisheer treatment which can allow in natural light and maybe offer some subtle privacy, even when lowered. Cellular Shades - Bathrooms, especially bathrooms on the first floor of the home, need maximum privacy. However a lot of people still want a good amount of natural light in their bathroom areas. A hard treatment known as a 'cellular shade' may be the thing for this space. Also called a top/down bottom/up shade, it'll allow you to walk around unseen yet still lets in plenty of natural light. Draperies - In most cases bedrooms on the first floor need more privacy than bedrooms on the second. A contemporary floor-to-ceiling drape would be good in this space. When closed it allows privacy and, depending on your personal needs, can be selected to let in light or block it out entirely. Roller Shades - Bathrooms on the first floor (and also second if you have close neighbors) can benefit from a set of easy to install roller shades. The shade can be perforated, allowing for natural light to bring a nice glow to your bathroom. Blackout Shades - Whether for use in your bedroom or nursery, blackout shades will block light almost entirely. Blackout shades have a lining of very dense fabric sewn to the back of the patterned drape that allows for very little light to penetrate. For absolute darkness, install floor to ceiling drapes that are eighteen inches past the sides on each end. This will minimize the amount of light that can seep in through the cracks. Shutters - Like blackout shades, shutters can be opened to allow maximum light into the room and then be closed to shut it all out completely.   Stained Glass - If you have a number of smaller windows around your door and want a little privacy without blocking too much of the natural light, consider installing stained glass. The textured and colored glass will provide natural light and elegance to your door while also keeping passersby from getting a full look into your home. Layered Treatments - Want to go the extra mile? Floor to ceiling blackout curtains over all the windows and spanning into each other maximize the acoustics and look of a movie or game room. Of course your specific needs of a room will be unique. You should always base your window treatment decision on how high traffic the room is as well as the durability and required maintenance of the treatment. Whatever you decide on will be around for a while so always keep these things in mind when shopping for window treatments for your home.