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Design Solutions

by Sharon L. Anderson

A variety of treatments still can present a unified look from a home's exterior.

CHALLENGE: I am working with a client who has two children's rooms with windows that face the front of the house. The windows are recessed with no casings around them. Currently there are mini-blinds on these windows, but I would like to install something that will better insulate the windows and also add some color to the rooms. I am suggesting to my client tab top or button draperies for each window. I still would like to keep the look light, as they are rooms for children. I have thought about insulated draperies, but I would like treatments with a more trendy appeal. There is one additional problem: One of the windows has only a 3 3/4-inch clearance from the window to the wall. With a clearance that tight, would even a small decorative rod look inappropriate installed right up against the wall? Would I be able to hang the drapery rod two to three inches above the window so that the tabs would hang just above the window and the drapery portion cover the mini-blinds? I also am considering lining the tab top draperies so I may use different colors of fabrics in each room, yet present a similar view from the outside. Is there anything else I need to consider for these rooms? SOLUTION: If the client wants to keep a hard treatment such as blinds on the windows, one solution would be to install one- or two-inch wood blinds. Wood blinds serve as much better insulators. Woods come in many different color choices from white to various colors of wood stains, so you definitely would have a wide selection available to you to keep the rooms light and airy, yet feeling warm. If you select similar wood blinds for each room they also would add to the continuity of the look from the outside of the home. Your fabric choices are not limited with wood blinds, either. In fact, you should be able to choose from many variations in fabrics for this look. Any overtreatment you eventually would design would not likely be visible through the wood blinds from outside. In reference to your choice of decorative rods and window treatment styles, the following rules would apply: • If you choose to install a wood blind, keep scale and proportion in mind during your selection of a decorative rod for the overtreatment. It is important to keep the rod to an appropriate scale. Do not choose a rod that is too small. • If you choose a light wood or light paint color for the blinds, you could choose either a brass rod or one with a decorative surface or a color that will complement the room's color scheme. The choices are wide and the variety of styles are plentiful. You also should consider painting your own rod to coordinate with the room's color scheme. A nice faux finish would provide the trendy look you are trying to achieve. The tab top or button draperies you are considering are an excellent choice to use with a decorative rod. The open spaces between the taps will showcase the rod's finish. Lining the fabric treatments also will give you added insulation. Mounting the window treatment two to three inches above the window would be a great idea. In fact, doing this would add to the continuity of the look from the outside. The tab tops would be kept above the window opening and would not show! Tab top draperies likely would mean outside mountings. Designed this way, the finished draperies would be wider than the actual window openings. Because there are no casings around these windows, these treatments would hide any imperfections that might be apparent at the window. With the window-to-wall clearance being so tight, I might suggest using an installer with experience hanging treatments in tight places! Editor's note: This is a continuing series of articles written by Sharon L. Anderson that will answer some of the many questions we receive at Draperies & Window Coverings as well as questions Anderson has encountered in her own business. If you have a question you would like Anderson to address, please send it to: Design Solutions c/o Draperies & Window Coverings 666 Dundee Rd., Ste. 807 Northbrook, IL 60062-2769 Fax: (847) 498-0231 E-mail: DesignSol@dwcdesignet.com Sharon L. Anderson has more than 20 years experience as a professional interior designer in both commercial and residential design. She has taught at numerous colleges throughout California and currently is an educator at Moorpark college in southern California. She is a published author and frequent public speaker.