Raise your hand if you moved into your home months or even years ago, yet you still have those paper Redi Shades on your windows. Dealing with window treatments — or not — is a major design quandary for residents and designers alike. There are so many options in window-treatment fabrics, colors and function that picking them can be overwhelming. So do-it-yourselfers often install temporary paper shades for immediate privacy and then don’t give their windows a second thought. Or they do nothing at all because they are totally lost. “People see window treatments as an afterthought,” says Jackie Von Tobel, an interior designer and author of “The Design Directory of Window Treatments” ($60, Gibbs Smith), a reference book she intended to serve as a window-coverings guide for homeowners and interior designers. “But every single window in your house has a different set of needs, depending on its size, location and function.” Selecting window treatments is a precise process that “deals with measuring and knowing how to hang rods and materials,” says Toni Palmer, who has been designing luxury homes in Cherry Creek for 37 years.

Window treatments also complete a room’s look by adding color and movement to a space that might otherwise feel static. flexible shower curtain rail b&qThey can soften hard edges, enhance architecture or detract from sore spots.splendour curtains mumbai “A lot of people have beautiful homes, but when they don’t furnish them completely and never get around to window treatments, they really cheat themselves,” says Nora Stewart, a 20-year residential interior designer in Denver who specializes in custom window treatments.sidelight curtains walmart Stewart and designer Toni Palmer used examples from Von Tobel’s book to help do-it-yourselfers dress up some of the most problematic windows. pottery barn white waffle weave shower curtain

Their advice should help everyday homeowners take down those Redi Shades once and for all.eclipse blackout thermal patio door curtain panel - 100 x 84 Highlands Ranch designer Nora Stewart often confronts bay windows in high-end home construction, particularly in breakfast nooks.swift curtains huddersfield To create a traditional look, she says, use a one piece pull-up valance and extend it over all the windows in the bay. argos curtain rail bayThe pull-up valance has a scalloped edge, making it appear to dance around the window and create visual movement, says this owner of Nora Stewart Interiors Inc. The goal is to treat the windows as a whole unit instead of working with them separately.

If there is wall space between the windows and you have enough space at each side of the outer windows, try hanging a stationary floor-length panel between each window and on each side with a decorative rod. “It surprises people to put the long curtain panels between windows, but it creates a really cozy nook,” Stewart says. Or cover the windows with a separate valance, or one long continuous valance with longer sides to create a visual anchor. “People make the mistake of putting treatments right on top of the window,” Stewart says. “Instead extend the treatments up to the ceiling.” Toni Palmer has a bay window in the master suite of her home. She says the key is to enhance the window’s architecture instead of masking it with fabric. She prefers to pair woven wood blinds with four fixed drapery panels or blinds behind a cornice or valance. One of Palmer’s clients, on the other hand, wanted to soften the ceiling line near her bay window. So Palmer created a contemporary look with a serpentine, zigzag cornice board.

In Colorado construction, it’s common to see two or three sets of windows running the full height of a two-story house in a living room or great room. Usually there is a set of windows at floor level with another set stacked above them, Stewart says. In this case, she recommends running very long curtain panels from the ceiling all the way down to the floor. On each side of the row of windows, hang a curtain panel with a decorative rod and nice-looking support brackets. Or try short curtain rods about 24 inches wide with a finial on each end, hanging a panel from the rod with rings. For an old-world look, layer fabrics with valances, a banner or flag treatment over the panels. Or sew panels with two or three bands of complementary fabric or trim. Using panels will typically result in some empty wall space in between the upper and lower windows. To solve this problem, Stewart uses accessories such as scrolled metal brackets or oversized plates to embellish the drywall.

Newly built homes typically have a set of three windows with a large single arched window over the top of the center window. That configuration is called a Palladian window. In one Cherry Creek home, Palmer used an arched valance cornice board to contend with a rectangular window that had a curved insert. “I completed the niche instead of fighting with it,” she says, “by doing a cornice board valance with drapery gathered panels that hit the floor.” Simplicity is good, Palmer adds. A common mistake she sees in homes is piling on fabrics. The result is a convoluted mess. She uses Roman shades and woven wood blinds and draperies for a lighter, contemporary look and avoids heavy treatments. Stewart also suggests having a carpenter come in and remove any sheet rock between the windows. Then surround all of them with casing and put in one sill for uniformity. Allow the architecture to shine by using a multitiered valance with a higher center-point rosette, a middle-point and a lower point.

Or leave the arch open. Stay away from the sunburst pattern — a fan-shaped blind that many mistakenly use with arched windows. “If it’s left open,” she says, “the beauty of the window is exposed.” Here are some common window treatment terms from “The Design Directory of Window Treatments,” by Jackie Von Tobel. Apron: The wood-trim molding below the windowsill. Balloon shade: A fabric shade known for the permanent poufs that form at the bottom as it is raised. Banding: Strips of fabric sewn to the edge of drapery and curtains. Banner valance: A series of fabric triangles attached to a mounting board or threaded on a rod. Also called a handkerchief valance. Braid: A flat decorative trim that can be used to embellish curtain window treatments. Bracket: Metal piece attached to the wall or casing to support drapes, a rod, blinds or a shade. Bump: Cotton lining added to curtain panels to add body. Carriers, or slides: Small runners installed in the traverse rod, which hold a drapery pin or hook.

Cascade, or tails: Often used with swags, a fall of knife- pleated fabric that descends in a zigzag line from the drapery heading or top treatment. Casing: A wooden frame around the window. Clearance: The distance from the back of the rod/pole to the wall, also called a return. Cording, or welt cord: A rope that is covered with fabric, also referred to as piping or welting. Cornice: A box treatment usually constructed of wood that can be padded and upholstered and installed across the top of a window to conceal the drapery, shade or blind hardware. Euro pleat: A free-flowing drapery pleat, with or without crinoline, that has either two or three folds and is tacked within a half-inch from the top. Flat Roman shade: A tailored fabric shade that hangs flat at the window. Soft pleats form at the bottom as the shade is raised. Finial: Decorative end of a pole, usually ornamental and affixed to the end of a rod. Headrail: The board to which shades are attached.

Holdback: A decorative piece of hardware used to secure draperies or hold up swags. Interlining: A soft, flannel- like fabric put between the face fabric and lining of a drapery to add body. Jabots, or pelmets: Optional pieces of a top treatment, often shaped like a tie, cone, cylinder or mini-cascade, that are generally used between and over swags as decoration and to hide seams. Jamb: Interior side of a door or window frame. Knotting: A technique used when looping and arranging panels. L bracket, or angle irons: A metal bracket in the shape of an L used to install a valance and cornices. Lambrequin: A top treatment that is constructed on a wood frame, padded, and covered with fabric. Mullion: The vertical wood or masonry sections between two window frames. Nap: A fabric with a texture or design that runs in one direction, such as corduroy. One-way-draw: Drapery designed to draw one way. Outside mount: Hardware mounted on the frame or wall so the treatment does not fall against anything.