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Beginners Guide To Choosing Window Treatments – Curtains, Romans, Blinds, Shades, Shutters & More
Beginner’s Guide to Choosing Window Treatments: Curtains, Romans, Blinds, Shades, Shutters & More
Selecting window treatments can feel overwhelming, given the myriad options available. From style to functionality, understanding the various window furnishing types is key to finding the perfect fit for your home. This guide breaks down the most popular options and provides tips to help you make an informed decision.
Categories of Window Treatments
Window treatments can primarily be divided into three categories: blinds, curtains, and shades. Each type has its unique characteristics, pros, and cons.
Blinds
Roller Blinds
- Pros: Known for their modern aesthetic, roller blinds are highly versatile and available in numerous fabrics—light filtering, blockout, and textures. They can be face or recess-mounted, offering flexibility in light control and privacy.
- Cons: They may look plain in more elaborate interiors and sometimes lack insulation.
Roman Blinds
- Pros: These provide an elegant, soft look and are excellent for small spaces. Available in various fabrics, they can be light-filtering or blockout, enhancing aesthetics while saving space.
- Cons: They require more maintenance due to dust and can be more expensive than roller blinds.
Venetian Blinds
- Pros: Casual and functional, Venetian blinds allow you to control light by tilting horizontal slats.
- Cons: They may not provide adequate insulation and require regular cleaning.
Vertical Blinds
- Pros: Offering an affordable and practical solution, vertical blinds can create an illusion of height and are suitable for sliding doors.
- Cons: They can be noisy and get tangled easily.
- Honeycomb Blinds
- Pros: Known for their superior insulation value, honeycomb blinds reduce energy costs and noise.
- Cons: They are more expensive and can be challenging to clean.
Curtains
Sheer Curtains
- Pros: They diffuse light beautifully, adding a cozy feel to any room while maintaining some privacy.
- Cons: They often lack insulation and require careful cleaning.
Blockout Curtains
- Pros: Excellent for bedrooms, blockout curtains provide maximum privacy, insulation, and noise reduction.
- Cons: These can be heavy and require precise installation.
Room Darkening Curtains
- Pros: They offer moderate light control and are perfect for spaces where complete darkness isn’t necessary.
- Cons: They vary widely in quality and effectiveness.
- Cafe Curtains
- Pros: These add a vintage charm while providing privacy without blocking all light, ideal for kitchens and bathrooms.
- Cons: They offer limited coverage.
Shutters
Plantation Shutters
- Pros: Great for achieving a casual look, plantation shutters allow varying light control and come in materials like timber and PVC. They’re custom-fit, providing a clean aesthetic.
- Cons: They can be pricey and require careful measurement when purchasing.
Key Considerations for Choosing Window Treatments
1. Budget
Establish a budget beforehand to narrow down your options and avoid overwhelming choices. Expect to pay more for durable materials like shutters and designer blinds.
2. Functionality
Think about what you want your window treatments to achieve—privacy, light control, or insulation. For example, bathrooms and kitchens require moisture-resistant options.
3. Window Size and Shape
Consider the dimensions of your windows. Treatments for sliding doors differ from those for traditional windows. Custom-made options are available for bay and unconventional windows but can be costly.
4. Style and Aesthetic
Match your window treatments with the overall decor of your home. Decide on colors, textures, and patterns that harmonize with your existing furniture and walls.
5. Installation and Maintenance
Some blinds and curtains are easy to install and clean, while others require professional installation. Understand the maintenance requirements to keep your window treatments looking their best.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right window treatments can elevate your home’s aesthetic and functionality. Whether you opt for blinds, curtains, or shutters, consider your budget, the purpose of the treatments, and how they fit into your overall decor. Remember to order samples and observe them in different lighting to ensure your choice is just right.
Additional Resources
For a curated list of places to shop for window treatments, including custom and ready-made options across various price points, download our free guide linked below.
By making informed choices, you can enhance the comfort and style of your home with the perfect window treatments.
This is so clear and informative, I should have paid for this information. Thank you!
great
hello happy morning. we are a curtain automatic equipment source factory, if you are interested in understanding welcome to contact me at any time!
I plan on eventually being in a victorian home so I'll be keeping the traditional element in mind then I won't have to buy as much later 😀
nice!
have a wonderful day！
amazing!
Man this joint rlly hitting, i watched the whole thing and difnt once break focus 😂 Now i know what venetian curtains, roman and plantation shutters are
amazing!
hello，friend，good morning，iam yulia from china.i am making smart devices for curtains.can we talk now?
hello，friend，good morning，iam yulia from china.i am making smart devices for curtains.can we talk now?
Very well explained. Thank you.
very nice
What is the brand of the ceiling mounted curtain track you're showing in the video? I love how low-profile and seamless it looks. Thanks again for this very informative video. Very helpful!
Good video but still so lost. I just bought a house and have no idea. Was just going to go with curtains?
Tv media suggestion please
Just what I was looking for! Thank you!
Great info, thank you!!
So good, so thorough!
I got some bad experiences in this department… When I first moved out of my parents, I expected to stay 5 years for my Ph.D. and made my first flat really nice including custom curtains. After half a year, my professor caused a scandal and I had to look for a new research group…
I didn't have the money to make my new flat as nice. So, no more curtains… The oldschool shutters you find on the outside of houses make you quite confident in storms, be it hail, or strong winds, but they take quite a surprisingly long time to open and close. No one I know does it for every window every day! Even worse, when you notice the wind picking up, the storm is in full swing before you close the last shutter and then that one flaps violently and you have to bend out of the window trying to pull it in, without falling out, getting hit, etc. and you'll get soaked no matter what!
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Very helpful. However, many urban apartments, including mine, always have the heating unit/radiator under the window. This severely limits your options. I live on a busy, light-filled street and would love to hang blackout curtains, for example — but I can't figure out any way to accommodate the radiator.
I decided on my new home without curtains to go with honeycomb blinds, one of them with sheer and blackout in on curtain in bedroom. I decided on blackout in other windows with top down bottom up feature. Also some are powered while others are manual.
Your guide is detailed and helpful. Thanks
Thank you! very informative
Great video, Thank you very much!
Also another option is window film. They make many kinds, like various privacy levels, one-way privacy, clear or patterns, some create light-catcher rainbows. Thoughts on window film??
Thank you!! I was picturing blackout curtains behind more natural, nicer looking fabric. I was thinking would I need a triple curtain rod for that (since I also want sheer curtains under…so layering sheer under then blackout next then nice lineny look on outside) but then heard some opinions a triple rod may look bulky. I started looking into how to sew blackout liner to fabric but not sure I want that big a sewing project. Was thinking maybe just the blacout part could be a nice woven blackout blind (hmm, maybe, so far haven't seen one tall enough to be hung outside frame enough to 100% not block any window when pulled up). But then this video said sure enough (yhis makes so mich sense) blackout-lined fabric curtains are a thing and also are insulating! Except will need to save up for that. Anyway, great video as always!
So helpful, thank you!
You helped me make some decisions. Thank you!
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What can I do with an arched window in a small kitchen dining area? The window is at the front of the house and faces the street.
I'm surprised you didn't mention biggest con of roller blinds. They're annoying as hell if you have horizontally-sliding windows or a sliding door because if you open the window or door even a little bit and the roller blind isn't completely open, any breeze makes the blind flap around and repeatedly hit the frame or architrave.
What is the water resistant timber alternative he references at 4:19? It sounds like 'vision wood', but I dont think that's what he is actually saying…
Reynard, would be great to see a new window choice video, aluminum, vinyl, etc, etc, make one please!!!
thanks for taking the time to create this video! I'm not sure what to get and this really helps me
i have this dilemma where my windows are both facing my bed which is in the corner of the room. What options do i have for my windows. currently im using curtains but it just tucks in behind my bed and aesthetically and functionally its not very effective. help
Awsome video!
Hi Reynard ! Thank you for such informative video, do you have any recommended brand for ceiling mounted curtain rails? We have a 20 ft ceiling that’s needing curtain and I really want to invest in something with high quality because they will be hard to fix or replace. Thank you again !😊
Can you mix window treatments styles in same room? Ex. Sliding door and windows. (6 windows 42×60 plus a sliding door)
I like curtains because i have sliding windows, and in the summer, i can open them from the middle or the side of the window, which means i can get a lovely breeze, by moving them out the way of the open window. You could also do this with vertical blinds.
Great video! Lots of information to apply in our new home. By the way, what depth do ceiling mounted sheer curtains (ripple fold) normally need? Want to make sure I leave the right space between TV cabinet and the wall for them. Cannot find that information anywhere. Thanks
This video has been quite useful for me. We have a few parts of the house which need new window treatments, but the most awkward has to be our bay window. The frame goes right up to the ceiling, and the sills are fairly deep, not an ideal mix! 😅
Ur ideas are good but it is so difficult to understand your accent. Pls give sub titles for your videos
Do you have any shoe rack and coat hanger suggestions?
Your videos are wonderful. Love your tips and guidelines.😊
This video is very timely for someone who’s about to move in to our newly built home without curtains yet. Thanks!