As I’ve shared here before, window treatments are the number one aspect of interior design that intimidates me most. Reupholstering a couch? Done. Styling shelves? Got it. But when it comes to choosing window treatments, it feels like there are just so many things that could go wrong. When I started mapping out the plan for our recent renovation, my main fear was ordering the wrong size—even a 1/2-inch error can end up being a costly mistake. (Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way.)
Plus, there were so many decisions to be made: drapes or blinds, roman shades or rollers, sheer or light-blocking?
This time around, I knew that it would be worth calling in the experts to help me get it just right, and I’m so glad I worked with Graber on our custom window treatments throughout the house.
I’ve gotten a lot of questions from you guys about our shades and curtains, so now that everything is installed, I thought I’d share a window treatment tour of each room! From choosing materials that go with my aesthetic (check out my Pinterest board!) to helping me think through the functionality of what we need in each space (living vs. bedroom, etc.) the Graber team was so helpful in helping me bring our vision to life. Quite literally, since we started with the online “visualizer” that let me try out my window treatments in my own space, virtually. Read more about our design process here, then scroll for the final reveal of our window treatments in each space, plus the window treatment design tips and “Do’s and Don’t’s” I learned along the way.
A Few Window Treatment Design Tips to Get Started…
Create an inspiration board. Gathering images of window treatments you love will help hone in on the look and feel you want to capture in each room of the house.
Consider the function of each room. Do you need to minimize glare or block light for sleeping? Are there safety factors you need to consider if children are in the house? Do you have hard-to-reach windows? For a home office or media room, consider motorization which allows you to raise and lower the shades without having to leave your desk or couch. Knowing your goals for each space will help guide a conversation with a designer or vendor.
Use Graber’s visualizer tool. It helps you “see” what different choices may look like in your own space, to help you narrow and compare styles. You can also share them for opinions or inspiration boards. Graber also offers free swatches. In fact, a dealer can bring you an entire swatch book/s so you can touch and feel the product before making your final decision.
Have an expert take measurements. This is my number one stress-reducing tip. Measuring for window treatments is not easy, especially when you don’t know the difference between product lines, inside mount or outside mount—it can be overwhelming! Having a Graber expert take all the right measurements based on the product I selected gave me peace of mind and a perfect end result.
Read on for a few window treatment do’s and don’t’s I learned for each space in our house…
Do: Allocate Budget to the Most Important Windows in the House
The Space: Master Bedroom
Practical Considerations: I’ve long fantasized about having motorized blackout shades in our bedroom, but our huge cantilevered bay made for a challenging window treatment solution. But still: in my dreams, I would read in bed with the blinds open to our downtown views… then when I started getting sleepy, I’d take the room to blackout mode with the push of a button. Well, guess what? It’s a fantasy that turned out to be totally doable, and I worked closely with the Graber team to design an innovative solution to house the blackout shades and hang sheer curtains, without sacrificing the open, streamlined look of our big picture window.
Window Treatment Solution: We ended up installing three made-to-order motorized room darkening roller shades from the Shadow collection in white—the blackout liners fit perfectly within each panel of the bay window. The team installed a streamlined white flange (the little box that holds the roller) that virtually disappears during the day. At night, we push the button on a remote (or on the app on our phones) when we’re ready for the shades to close. It makes for the coziest, most cocoon-like sleeping environment that doesn’t close off our little reading nook.
To create a soft, neutral frame for the window itself, we installed two panels of Graber Artisan Drapery from the Tuzee Collection (color is “White”)
