This is one of our first contributed artciles. We would like to thank “Living Space” from Sulekha Blogs who let us reproduce the article here.  

When decorating a room, the windows occupy an important place in the scheme of things for two reasons. One, they occupy a large area, and will direct visual focus in a room. Most homes in India have reasonably large window areas, so windows become a dominant feature in the room. Two, the fabrics and colours need to be well co-ordinated with other things in the room such as furniture, paintings, artefacts, wall paint, carpets/flooring etc.

Image Courtesy : thepivot.biz

When deciding what kind of window treatment would be suitable for a room/area the following things need to be kept in mind.

• What is the overall theme of the room? Western, Indian or Oriental— Classic, Contemporary or an eclectic mix. This would help determine the ultimate look of your windows.
• What kind of furniture is in the room, and what would be the best way to complement that furniture and accentuate it further?
• What is the wall colour and wood finish …this goes a long way in determining the usability of colour in the room? Most Indian homes have white/off-white walls, so they are fairly neutral. However, in modern day interiors a lot more colour is being used and window treatments should complement the colours of the room. Complement does not mean blending into the same family. Sometimes, a contrast is the best way to bring life and drama into a room–even if it is a subtle contrast.
• What kind of flooring is in the room …marble, wooden, stone or mosaic? Pay attention to the rugs/carpets in the room? Sometimes, rugs/carpets can be a constraining factor in being able to play around with different concepts.
• How much natural light is coming into the room? This is a very important factor, as the filtration of light into an interior space greatly determines flexibility with colour.
• Do you want the room to have a formal or informal look? Again, this would have a bearing on the kind of designs one would opt for.
• Is the window close to any large piece of furniture, such as a sofa or a bed?

• What fabrics already exist in the room—and cannot be done away with? This would require a design that would effectively highlight the piece of furniture without being too dominating, and at the same time blend with existent fabrics.
• How can you tie in the window treatments with other accessories in the room? This is the trick that makes the difference between a well co-ordinated room and one in which the drapes look like an afterthought.
• Colour, texture, fabric and design. These are the last things on the list , but by no means the least important…

Colour

Colour, is very important, because just having neutral drapes is effective only when there is some other feature in the room that is providing some colour relief. Colour, does not mean having red curtains —–you could have off-white drapes with some colour detailing and that would be more than enough colour !

Texture

Texture of fabric is far more important than having a multi-coloured fabric because texture has an understated elegance.

Fabric

Fabric is an essential component, because each fabric has a distinct personality and says something about the room. The question is—what do you want it to say?

Finally, we get to — designing the window treatments. This will tie up all the homework you have done above and help you decide which concept would best complement the personality of the room. Going in for simple window treatments does not mean just hanging drapes in a neutral colour that make no statement whatsoever. You can go in a for a very simple style but if it caters to the points above it will end up looking like a room in which the window treatments were given much thought and consideration and end up contributing significantly to the overall personality of a room. In the same way, having very elaborate window treatments that are not well co-ordinated, can be a nightmare. If it is a small window in a big room…drama will probably be the order of the day. If it is a wall to wall French window scenario, detailing and subtlety will be the best way to achieve that integrated design look.

The magic mantra for great interiors is integration, personality and accessorizing !!

Article Courtesy : http://interiordesign.sulekha.com/blog/post/2006/10/window-treatments.htm