3 Ideas for Simple Window Treatments

Unfussy window treatments like these may be used alone or as an underlayer.

In this Arts & Crafts living room, practical roller shades can be pulled down to block sunlight or for privacy. Sheer half-curtains filter light and the view while subtly calling attention to unusual sash proportions. (Photo: William Wright)

Simple though they are, the window dressings in Jan Blomstrann’s Vermont house add an important finishing touch. In the living room as well as the kitchen, hall, and bath, sheer café curtains are hung on small rings from inside-mounted rods. Pleated lace panels look elegant in the dining room, given shape by brass tiebacks at sill level. In the bedroom, pleated panels are hung over narrow blinds mounted against the glass.

Simple treatments have one or two layers only, with no stiff or upholstered pieces (e.g., cornice or pelmet); require no extreme sewing; and are minimally embellished. Roller shades, Venetian blinds, lace or sheer panels, café curtains, and also Roman and balloon shades are most often mounted inside the window frame. Lace curtains or fabric drapery may cover a sheer “glass curtain,” shade, or blind.


Tags: Curtains OHJ August 2014 Old-House Journal Patricia Poore

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