Author Jackie Dishner
Whether looking for romantic ambiance,
blinds to control sunlight or window treatments to protect your privacy,
design experts uncover seven ways to dress up bedroom windows.
Drape With Silk
For a luxurious and romantic ambiance in the boudoir, designer Sharon McCormick pampers the bedroom in silk drapery panels, choosing a restful, sea glass color. Add pleats, tassels, crystals, beads or buttons for a custom touch. Included underneath is a remote-controlled window shade for privacy.
Metallic Finishes
If it's drama you like, you can get it with hardware. New Englander Sharon McCormick loves bedroom drapes that hang from large wooden rods in metallic finishes. Add more personality to the frame by selecting elaborate, crystal or fabric-wrapped finials.
Mix It Up
Designer Kati Curtis favors a combination of simple sheer and opaque draperies in her Manhattan bedroom designs. The sheer fabric stays open during the day to allow light in. At night, the opaque panels help buffer sound and keep light out for a good night's sleep. For a sleek touch, hardware is hidden in the window pocket.
Pleat From Floor To Ceiling
Choose a traverse or gathered rod and cover the entire wall by hanging pleated window treatments from floor to ceiling. Chicago-based designer Mary Susan Bicicchi creates a coccon-like feel with black-and-white patterned drapes in her own bedroom. Use the treatment to make a small room feel larger or open up a room with tall, skinny windows like hers.
Hang in Layers
To soften the look and add dimension to a bedroom window, California-based designer Lada Webster loves to use layers. She suggests adding a pattern to one of the layers to create a whimsical look or touch of character. Then it becomes a focal point in your private space.
Oversized Hardware
DrapeStyle designer Rick Thompson created this urban chic panel with oversized grommets and topped off with chocolate brown silk banding. The lighter metallic mesh fabric provides privacy, yet still allows light into the room. Oversized grommets work well in a smaller space with fewer windows and in contemporary settings, if you want the hardware revealed.
Trim With Fabric
Add a fun element to the bedroom decor with a simple, rectangular valance accentuated with beaded fringe, says Washington state designer Natalia Smith. It's a clean, unobstructed look that opens the room to light and color and adds the finishing touch — as long as the fabric in the valance matches what's on the pillows and bedding. Smith prefers a cornice with simple padding and a finished edge at the bottom for transitional, as opposed to traditional, style.