Window treatments can be a breath of fresh air for your home

Tag : Anti-Static Fabric

Colors, styles, materials, ready-made, custom — withwindow-covering ideas everywhere from catalogs to store displays tofriends’ living rooms, the choices are endless. For thehomeowner with a flair for design, ready-to-hang retail choicesoffer a quick, economical solution. For others, a good designer canoffer options and guide decisions.

Interior designer Jane Primrose of Carlinville, Ill., has helpedcustomers meet their decorating goals for 30 years. She has seenfashions come, go and come back. These days, Primrose says, peopleare looking for something that’s high-style, energy-efficientor both.

The best way to give customers the most for their money is tostylishly add insulation between the window and the room, to“create air pockets,” as Primrose says. Rather thanusing one heavy thermal drape, for example, she suggests layering apleated shade, light sheer and draw drapery.

“Honeycomb shades are really ideal for creating airpockets,” she says, and they are in style.
Whether helping clients design a ready-made treatment or guidingthose who want custom panels, draperies, valances, swags or otherwindow coverings, Primrose’s first objective is to identifythe customer’s goal for the windows.
“You should be getting expertise, someone who will help youget the treatment that is best for what you want to do,”Primrose says, “Not what I want, but what you want.”

This may mean creating privacy, screening an unattractive view,finishing a room’s decor or some other objective. Whateverthe plan, however, Primrose wants clients to know that there aredifferences in tailoring, lining, construction and selectionbetween ready-made and custom coverings.

“There is no comparison with ready-made, especially whenyou’re buying something that is going to hang for 20 years.They are double-hemmed and very nicely lined; all the workmanshipshould be beautiful, the stitches hold, and there is a much largerselection of fabrics.”

Even custom blinds provide a longer-lasting installation than thoseavailable off the shelf, Primrose says. “The custom mechanismworks better and lasts longer.”

Primrose has designed window coverings for each of the four homesAtwater, Ill., residents Pat and Ed Traylor have built since 1976,including one under construction. The dining room and kitchenwindows will incorporate red, yellow and black-patterned fabrics tocoordinate with the chocolate-glazed pecan kitchen cabinets.
Although Traylor would pick neutrals on her own, she says sheappreciates the guidance Primrose gives.

“I tell her the look I want, where I want to go, and shehelps me get there,” Traylor says.

Husband-and-wife team Renae and Robert Ernst are co-owners ofRenae’s Window Fashions and Upholstery in Girard, Ill. LikePrimrose, they help area customers update their window decor witheverything from shades and draperies to shutters. Working throughthe fads and fashions, trends and traditions, they help customersof every budget redo or renew their windows.

According to Renae Ernst, more dated curtains include those thatare gathered or tab-topped on rods rather than board mounted;balloon valances stuffed with tissue paper; some of the older,pinch-pleated traversing draperies; and draperies that are cut longenough to “puddle” on the floor.
A more contemporary, but still formal, floor-length drapery“dusts” or “breaks,” just barely touchingthe floor, she says.

Some of the more outdated colors include country blues, mauves,roses and hunter green of the 1980s and early ’90s, Ernstsays. These have been replaced by bright, clear colors, such asbright sapphire, fuschia and yellow. Although, she adds, dusty blueis starting to come back. Earthy greens, apple green, browns, tansand taupes also are popular.

In patterns, big, floral bouquets have been replaced by a“viney, all-over pattern,” she says. One of the mosttraditional patterns is stripes that, she says, have never gone outof style.

There are three striking fashion statements in draperies right now,according to Ernst. One is the variety of pinch pleat styles, suchas French pleats, goblet pleats and other styles that vary wherethe pleats are fastened and create varying degrees of fullness.

Another is the variety of available decorative rods and finialswhich, when used with stationary side panels, create easyopportunities to personalize a look.

The third popular trend, she says, is the use of woven fabrics withpronounced textures, such as chenilles, linens and embroideredsilks. Using textures rather than colorful prints in the curtains,Ernst says, allows homeowners to use colors and prints in artworkand throw pillows, “which can all be changed more easily thanwindow treatments.”

Another window covering option is interior shutters, which provideboth function and beauty, she says. “They are a completewindow dressing on their own.”

However, the narrow louvers of decades ago have been replaced withwide, 4-inch plantation-look louvers, making the installationappear “almost like a piece of furniture itself,” Ernstsays. White is the most common color, she adds, but for aman’s office or any rich, wood-clad room, stained shuttersare popular.

In deciding what type of window covering to use, consider yourneeds, Renae says. Do you need light control, privacy, or are youjust wanting to decorate the window? For a customer on a limitedbudget, Ernst may suggest vertical blinds, roller shades orhoneycomb shades, which also are useful in addressing draftywindows. An economical approach for updating current draperies isto use new trim, braid, tassels or beads, which are, she says,popular. “It really makes a treatment look custom.”

When controlling dust is important, such as when someone in thehome has asthma, Ernst encourages customers to purchase verticalblinds instead of draperies. The new honeycomb blinds, she says,“are anti-static treated, not to collect as much dust. Justvacuum them with low suction.” If the customer does wantdraperies, however, Renae recommends those that can be gathered ona rod, taken down as often as necessary and put in the dryer“to knock the dust off.

“Fabrics today are treated with a protective finish,”she adds, “and vacuuming is recommended, although they canalso be dry-cleaned.”

For screening, a sheer under a drape or shade creates a soft lighteffect during the day when the drape is open, but prevents a viewfrom the outside in; at night, close the drapery or pull the shadefor privacy. As versatile as they are attractive, sheers are madein voile, less sheer batiste and more opaque crinkled and patternedstyles, in a variety of colors, Ernst says.

Finally, window decor trends come back around every few years. So,before tossing out old draperies, consider tucking them awayinstead. Primrose recalls her early designing days. “When Istarted into the business, basically the only colors we sold weregold, avocado and rust — on the carpet, on the draperies andon the furniture. I got so tired of it, I said, ‘If I livelong enough for these colors to come back, I’ve been at ittoo long.’

“Well, they’re back, and I like them. But now the goldis bronze, and the avocado is more khaki. Colors are like ideas— you add to it, take something away from it, and you likeit.”
DiAnne Crown is a freelance writer who can be reached through theState Journal-Register features desk at (217) 788-1512.
Protecting your investment
When it comes to window treatments, a job well done is a goodinvestment. One way to achieve this on a budget is to choose aclassic design, such as a basic draw sheer under a draw drapery ina neutral off-white, beige or cream, Jane Primrose says.“That will go with anything forever.”

Renae Ernst encourages customers to select a good lining. Liningprotects your investment, she says, makes the drapes hang better,protects them from the sun and creates a more neutral look from theoutside.

Another approach is to do one or a few rooms at a time rather thanan entire house. However, Primrose cautions her customers to doroom “groupings” together — such as living-dininggreat rooms or kitchen-dining room combinations — toguarantee that the fabric for all of the windows in that area willbe available and match.
Choosing a drapery length
According to Renae Ernst, if the room is small and furniture willbe pushed up against windows, there is no need to use afloor-length drapery. You may want to use a top treatment and ashade or blind in order to keep as much light as possible, shesays. This also creates a more casual look.

However, when possible, Ernst says that extending floor-lengthdraperies out on the walls (wider than the window) and up a bitabove the window “makes the window appear larger than it is;a ceiling-to-floor treatment makes the ceiling look higher.”