Design 411 – Hang your drapery high & wide
It’s August, and the subject of my Décor Revolution Design 411 blog for this month is going to be about window treatments. Window treatments not only transform the look of a room, but they can also save energy, make your space more comfortable and make your home healthier. This week’s tip is to hang your drapery panels high and wide, if you have the space on your walls. Extending the drapery rod beyond the actual window, both in terms of height and width, gives the window the appearance of being larger, and the ceilings taller than they actually are. Both images in my graphic here use the same size window, but the one on the left looks bigger! You have a better view out your window, because the drapery has been stacked on the wall, instead of the window. The room also looks bigger because the rod is hung higher and the draperies are longer.
When you have a large window, you also want to use a heavier drapery rod. A beautiful window treatment hung on a skinny rod will just not look right. So, do not skimp on the size of the rod. If your window is 54” or wider, use a 1-3/8” up to 3” diameter rod. The bigger the better. It can be substantial, and still be clean and simple, if that’s what you are looking for. There are also lots of attractive decorative rods available to choose from. Don’t forget that window treatments are a great opportunity to bring color and texture into a room that is predominantly solids and/or neutrals. Use a pretty pattern or organic textured fabric for your drapery to add visual interest to your decor.
It’s best is to use a professional interior designer to help you design some custom drapery. But, if you like to sew and are a DIYer (Do It Yourselfer), there are always ways to add extra fabric to ready-made panels to make them longer, or sew a couple of panels together to make them wider. It will make a huge difference, if you do.
BTW, things have been getting a bit busy around here lately and I don’t have quite as much time as I used to for blog posting, so as much as I love writing these posts, I may have to cut down on the frequency of them. I will try to post once every other week for a while and see how that goes. I hope you will continue to read my blog and tell your friends about me too. I’m still here. I just won’t be in your inbox quite as often. Busy is a good thing, right?!!