Most windows need a little help from a window shade to manage light levels or provide privacy. But sometimes it’s just about making them look their best.
The window coverings “completely add a finishing touch to a space,” says Augusta Hoffman, an interior designer in New York. “A room doesn’t feel complete until you add it in.”
Oftentimes, the easiest way to add that layer is to install blinds or shades. But there are so many styles, materials, and installation options available. How do you decide what’s best for your room?
Review your options
Roman blinds are a favorite among designers because they’re made of fabric, which gives them the same soft look as curtains without dragging across the floor or entangling furniture.
Gideon Mendelson, founding designer Mendelson’s group, in New York. “That drives me crazy.”
That is why he often uses Roman shades in his projects. “You might have a radiator, a heating element or other cover under the window to prevent the curtains from closing,” says Mendelson. “In that case, Roman shade works better.”
Adam Skalman, vice president of sales at Shade shop.
“The roller blinds have a super streamlined, minimalist, modern aesthetic, while the movable blinds have a honeycomb structure that expands when the curtain is lowered, so it can be stowed away,” he says. discreet way when not in use.
“That honeycomb fabric also provides insulation,” says Skalman, so it could be a good choice for drafty windows.
A more casual, natural-looking option is a woven wood shade or matchstick, made with thin strips of natural wood, bamboo or grass. “Woven is my favorite material,” said Ms. Hoffman, who installed the shades from Hartmann & Forbes in her many projects. “It immediately gives a kind of organic texture.”
Blinds, on the other hand, are made from individual slats of wood, metal, or plastic rather than a single sheet of material. “They have a kind of classic reference,” said Everick Brown, moderator Everick brown design with his wife, Lisa Walker Brown.
The couple installed wooden blinds in the kitchen of their home in Yorktown Heights, NY, both in terms of beauty and function. “I like that you can change the tilt, which creates a lot of opportunities to filter light as the sun rises and sets,” says Ms. Brown.
Choose colors and patterns
After you’ve chosen your blinds or curtains, look for materials that have the color, pattern, or texture you want. If there are eye-catching decorative elements in the room — or if you simply prefer a quiet feel — the best choice might be a solid color that complements the walls.
Christina Nielsenan interior designer in New York, chose off-white Roman-style curtains with a subtle ticking stripe from weavers for a living room she designed with textured plaster walls. “I wanted something that blends in rather than separates from the walls, because when you walk into the room, I want you to notice the plaster,” she says.
In a hallway with grass on the wall, she chose Roman blinds with textured, buff fabric for the same reason – when the curtain is pulled down, it’s almost like a continuation of the wall finish. .
For a room that needs a bit of decoration, materials with contrasting colors or expressive patterns may be a better choice. Mendelson sometimes uses Roman shades with bright graphic patterns in children’s rooms or spaces that might look a bit too neutral.
When designing the kitchen for an English country house with white walls and sage green cabinets and shelves, Ms. Nielsen added roman blinds made from pink patterned fabric. She said: “I wanted to show that British aesthetic with more liveliness. She used the same fabric to line the back of the curtains, giving them a decorative touch when viewed from the courtyard outside.
How much opacity do you need?
Different materials block different levels of light. As you’re choosing from a range of options — from thin, dimming curtains to blackout curtains — consider not only the amount of sunlight the room receives but also your preferences.
For the bedroom, some people prefer the dark, while others like to see a little light when the sun rises. In living rooms with a lot of sunlight, you may need a material that filters a lot of light, if not shade; In rooms that don’t get a lot of direct sunlight, a more transparent material is a better choice.
Ms. Hoffman sometimes uses shades made of light, thin cotton or linen in rooms where light control is not required. “Those are completely transparent, ultra-lightweight textured fabrics,” she says. “It’s really just a way to diffuse the light and complete the room.”
If you’re going to buy Roman blinds, you can order them with light-filtering or blocking liners to adjust the amount of light they block. Rollballs and movable shades are also available in a variety of opacity levels, and woven wood shades can do the same using a tighter or looser weave.
It is essential to obtain color samples before ordering new window coverings. “Take those swatches and stick them on the window to evaluate them at different times of the day,” says Mr. Skalman. And if you’re considering using lined Roman blinds, make sure to place a lining pattern behind the fabric pattern.
Just remember that the more transparent the material, the less privacy the shades will provide at night, so you should see them from the street at night with the lights on.
Blinds do not require too much investigation. When they are closed, they give the same effect as the shadow effect; When opened, they provide almost complete transparency. In between, they can be used to regulate sunlight.
Consider using classes
What if you like the look of one shade but need the functionality of another? In that case, some designers use two layers of window coverings.
Miss Hoffman often installs a woven wooden curtain facing the room to make it attractive, then tucks a roller blind behind it. You can drop the roller blinds when you want the room to be darker or you want more privacy. Mr. Brown installed wooden blinds behind the translucent Roman blinds to create a similar effect.
The opposite approach to layering works, too: If you have a thick, lined Roman-style curtain in your room, you can fit a lighter roller blind behind it when, says Hoffman. you just want to diffuse the light.
Select controller
The more often you open and close your blinds or curtains, the more important the controls are. The simplest control is the zipper pull mechanism with a lock. But these sometimes require a bit of muscle and can take longer to keep them out of alignment. The cords can also become tangled and can be a safety hazard.
Some window shades are available with a manual cordless mechanism that allows the blinds or shades to be raised and lowered with a single push of the hand, making them easier to operate and providing a neat appearance. orderly. Another option is a continuous loop mechanism with a string of beads that can rotate the window visor up or down when pulled repeatedly in one direction.
Motorized blinds and curtains are increasingly popular, although more expensive than manual options. Many manufacturers now offer battery-powered blinds and shades, so window shades can be installed without running new wires and the movement can be automated with a remote control or smart home app. bright. The advantage is that you don’t need to pull a leash or chain; The downside is that the battery needs to be replaced or recharged periodically.
Installation planning
There are two strategies for installing blinds and shades: Install them inside the window frame or place them outside.
Mounting them inside the frame provides a custom, integrated look and reveals the surrounding window covers. “It feels more well thought out and like you got the right size,” Ms. Hoffman said.
It’s a point worth emphasizing: Measurements are important when you’re ordering interior-mounted shaders. Vendors like The Shade Store, Smith & noble And Blinds.com We recommend measuring the actual size of your window opening in various places above and below the frame, because windows are not always perfectly square or rectangular. From those measurements, most companies automatically deduct the size of the shade or shade, to give it a bit of breathing space inside the frame.
But sometimes the window frame just isn’t deep enough to accommodate the curtains or blinds mounted inside — or you may prefer the look of an outside-mounted window shade. Ms. Nielsen used outdoor shaders to cover the windows she didn’t like. When you install a window covering outside the frame, you will typically size the curtain or curtain so that its edges align with the outside edges of the window frame.
It is also possible to make a small window look taller by placing an outside mounted shade in the ceiling or bottom of your crown molding, so that it covers the wall space above the top, says Mendelson. window. “That illusion was one of the most important things I learned about window treatment,” he says. “It’s a way to add verticality to the room.”
Of course, if you’re going to use two layers of blinds, you can use both installation strategies, with one decorative curtain layer on the outside of the window frame and a second curtain layer hidden inside the frame.
“It’s like a stage where you can create different moods and moments,” Brown said. “The more layers you have, the more you can do it.”
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