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Arts & Entertainment

How Much Is That Curtain In The Window?

Window Treatments are versitile in cost and style but can make an enormous impact in your home in many ways

I love curtains.  After 25 years in the interior design business,  in my opinion, curtains, drapes, or window treatments of any kind are one of the most important elements of design in a room.  Not only do they look great, they also warm up your room both visually and physically.  With proper installation, they won’t, contrary to hear-say, darken your room, or block your light or your view, unless you want them to!

 Ever noticed how some rooms sound hollow or have an echo? Hang some drapes. Need to sleep in on Saturday? Drape it, baby.  Black-out lining rocks. Sunshine on your shoulders not making you happy?  Blinds or shutters in either real or faux wood, coupled with  stationary drapery panels flanking them are really handsome! You will be amazed at how great these additions will make your room look.

 Did I talk you into it? Great! So….what now?  You have so many options on how to proceed.  If you have a nice big house and you want custom window treatments, there are several talented designers in town who can give you the real deal: bring fabric samples into your home, sketch out the design concept, do all the extensive measuring and ordering of materials, have the items fabricated for you, and best of all INSTALL THEM.  If you’ve ever tried to open a package containing a curtain rod or ready-made-blind, you will certainly appreciate the luxury of that service!  For those of you with large homes with equally large windows,  custom is really your best option.

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 Maybe you don’t quite have the budget for custom, but you can’t find what you want in  readymade items. Sew much? Several local stores have some really lovely drapery weight fabrics and all the trimmings, including patterns to help guide you through.  Also available for your reference are  books and design magazines galore, and, of course, there is always the internet for inspiration.

 If you have a handy man in your life, and he has a jig saw and a staple gun, he can make a cornice board fairly easily.  Here’s one of many how-to videos with instructions on how to make one.  

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You can get fancy with your cornice pattern if you’d like to!  The floral cornice shown with this article is in my kitchen, and I made up that design myself. I used some large sheets of sketch paper taped together to make the final width of my window (72”). By folding it in half (for symmetry) and using chalk, I drew a curvy line.  When I got it like I wanted it,  I re-traced the final line with a sharpie, then, with the paper still folded,  I cut along my sharpie line and when I unfolded it, I had the full size pattern.  From there the pattern was traced onto a thin board called luan, my husband cut it with a jigsaw, and we finished from there!

 Here in Athens,  also have some awesome choices for ready-made window treatments through local .  While sizes, patterns and colors are limited in ready-made treatments, there are still many options available.  Recently I guided a client in purchasing unlined tab curtains at a very reasonable price from .  The color was exactly what we needed,  the price was right, but they were unlined and too long.  Angie turned the curtains over to me for a small fee and I quickly added black out lining using fusible webbing, folded over the tabs and added fun buttons, then stitched the metal rings on by hand.  This gave her everything she wanted for her son’s room for far less than custom drapes,  and with no compromise due to her own time and creative limitations on doing it herself.

 I always say a pretty room is like a woman in a black dress.  It’s always a good look, but adding window treatments to a room is like a woman accessorizing with the perfect jewelry, hair, and shoes!

Be inspired!  Use your imagination, and have fun with it!

We'd love to hear your window treatment ideas! And we're always interested in stories of "re-use, recycle" when it comes to home decor! 

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