Taunton's Threads - For people who love to sew
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From the pages of Threads Magazine Window Treatments 101 Design strategies from a window-fashion professional
Start with the elements of design Window treatments come under the heading of applied design, which means they must be practical as well as beautiful. For a professional designer, the elements of design -- color, line, texture, form, and space -- represent tools of the trade in the designing process. Color: Choosing a color scheme is usually one of the first steps in the design process, because color can be used to create a focal point and set the mood in a room. Colors like coral, red, and peach, for example, create a cozy feeling and are a great way to warm up a north-facing room. Cooler blues and grays might be more welcome in south-facing rooms. Bright colors against a light background can fill up a wall, but those same colors against a dark background will not appear as bright or large. And window treatments placed against a lighter value of the same color blend into the wall. Keep in mind that colors may change from the light of day to evening. Line:
Texture: The surface texture of a fabric can also convey mood. For example, chenille, denim, and linen are more casual, while smooth, shiny silk and moiré are more formal. Nubby, coarse textures absorb more light, creating shadows and making the colors look darker in value, while shiny textures reflect light and tend to look lighter in value. Combining several textures adds variety and interest, but juxtaposing strongly contrasting fabrics, like corduroy and smooth silk, produces incompatible effects. Form: Lines joined together create shapes. In my experience, rectangles are the most preferred shape for window treatments as well as objects in a room, like tables and chairs. You can turn a square-shaped window, like a sliding glass-door unit for example, into a rectangle by extending its drapery onto the wall beyond the edges of the glass. And you can soften the stiff feeling of rectangles with curving drapery lines.
Emphasis: Generally there should be one obvious focal point in a room. Before choosing a window treatment, decide if you want that treatment to be the focal point or a backdrop for emphasis elsewhere. Rhythm: This principle directs the eye as it moves around the room, through the repetition of line, form, color, or shape and the progression (the gradual increase or decrease in size and direction) of these elements.
Design considerations When I design window treatments for clients, I take into account the design fundamentals I've just outlined, as well as other considerations, the first of which is style. Be aware of your own preferences in terms of style--that is, formal, classic, contemporary, casual, and so on -- but also take into account the latest fashion in interiors. And try to be consistent with the period and architecture of the house as well as the specific room and its special characteristics. Choose simple treatments for small spaces and more elaborate treatments, like layered draperies over sheers, for oversize spaces. Create treatments that flow visually for multiple windows, and, if there are disparate windows in the room, try to unify them by accentuating their common elements. Consider the shape of the window and hang draperies with a visual reference point, like the window sill, the apron (horizontal trim below the sill), or the floor, following the proportion guidelines I'll discuss in a moment. And try not to make design decisions that will present maintenance nightmares. Get out the sketchpad Working on paper is a way to visualize your design and plot out measurements. Use graph paper and start by drawing the window, then sketch in your treatment, considering all of its components: the drapery length; the heading, or top portion of the drapery, the top treatment, or valance, that runs horizontally across the top of the window (such as a festooned swag made with draped folds of bias-cut fabric and that may include a cascade or sidepiece that's pleated or gathered and mounted over or under the swag); and tiebacks that hold the drapery lengths off to the side of the window. Although there can be exceptions, the following proportion guidelines hold true for most situations: Try not to divide the length of the window in half. Instead, use the Rule of Fifths or Sixths. For example, if you want your window treatment to include a swag, divide the total length of the treatment by five or six to give you the swag's finished length. Here's a good rule of thumb: For treatments mounted just above the window, divide by six; for ceiling-mounted treatments, divide by five. A cascade should be at least twice the length of the swag drop, and its long point should fall into the bottom third of the window for the best look. A second rule of thumb -- the rule of threes -- which I learned many years ago in design school, maintains that objects placed in threes, or multiples of three, are the most pleasing to the eye. If you're planning stationary drapery panels, use a ratio of two-thirds panels to one-third window. And use that same ratio when using two colors or two fabric prints, for example, and a 60%, 30%, 10% mix when using three. Using three colors or prints allows you to use one color or print as a statement, one as a contrast, and one as complement. Will it work? Before your design can become a reality, you need to consider how and where you'll mount the rods for your treatment. Do you want them on the window frame or on the wall? Placing them on the frame is not as good a choice as on the wall because gaps can occur at the edges of the drapery panels, and the headings may show from the outside. Ideally, consider mounting the rods so the treatments extend at least 4 in. up from the top and to each side of the window. Before I plan to install rods on a wall, however, I examine the wall's surface to determine whether it's drywall or plaster, because that might affect installation, especially the choice of mounting screws. When you're satisfied with your designs, it's time to make some patterns. You don't need actual patterns for long drapery panels -- they can be cut directly from the fabric using your measurements--but I recommend making patterns for top treatments with special details. Some designers make their patterns using lining fabric instead of paper, which works especially well for large treatments. It can also be used to model the treatment on the window. Keep in mind as you calculate your dimensions and make your patterns, that you need to make allowances for hems, headers, seams, fullness, and pattern repeats. You can follow standard workroom practice described below, or go a step beyond to create a couture finish. Workroom standards
Traditionally drapery panels are set 1/2 in. off the floor. But the current look is to stack panels on the floor, that is, add 1-1/2 to 3 in., depending on the length of the panel, so the panel doesn't puddle on the floor but breaks at the top of the hem, like a man's pant cuff breaks at the ankle. Increase the fullness to three times the finished width (three and one-half times for sheers). Line all draperies, except sheers, and for luxurious treatments, interline them with a flannel-like interlining (found in better home-decorating fabric stores). I also set my window treatments apart with hand-sewn trim and dressmaker details -- techniques I'll talk about in a future article. Whether you follow tradition or expand upon it, I hope these guidelines are helpful. Pair them with basic sewing skills to create fabulous window treatments.
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