Window Treatments - The New Art?

At a recent Hunter-Douglas workshop I attended, I learned that I was a a Light and Privacy Control Expert. I have to admit, I have tried to be creative in what I call myself and how I describe what I do, but I never have been called a light and privacy control expert. I like to think that I am more of an artist with fabric. Most people are merely functional when it comes to window fashions. Your windows can be more than devices to lighten up your home or let a cool breeze in. They can be a work of art. As a matter of fact, window fashion IS the new art. Most people I work with have a piece of furniture or little arrangement that is the focal point of a room. In most living area and family rooms, the television is the focal point. All the furniture is facing the TV. They are not designed for conversation or to encourage people to look at each other and communicate. I always suggest that the windows become the focal point. With this perspective, your eyes go right to the windows upon entering the room. When this is the case, it is preferable to have a beautiful window treatment. Most people don't realize that a window makeover and a fresh new paint color is an affordable way to improve a room without buying new furniture and spending thousands.

There is nothing like custom window treatments and colors throughout the home. Decorating with fabric is an affordable luxury while still addressing the "light and privacy" concerns.

Window fashions have come a long way. I remember tacking a Peter Frampton blanket up on the dorm-room window while in college actually thinking it looked good. It did...right over the milk crate and plank bookshelf. Then we graduated to "ready-mades" from a department store. It was more about privacy and as they say, light control. The art was something you hang on a wall or place on a shelf. You never thought of a window design as the new art.

Window fashions now fall into three categories. Functional, Decorative, and what I call the Fine Art category. A functional treatment may be a hard treatment such as a blind, shade, or shutter. You open and close them. Let light in. Keep light out. Close them while you are dressing. Open them when you are dressed. It is simple. They usually come described as light-filtering or room-darkening. The fabric version of function is the classic drapes on a traverse rod. Just picture what you have seen in a hotel room.

You venture into the decorative area when you experiment with colors, fabric textures, or when you add a valance or cornice. The decorative types of window fashions utilize color and texture combined with new complimentary paint colors. They don't necessarily have to close or keep out light. They can be combined with shears, lace, or the new translucent fabrics. Window fashion hardware is a growing trend that just adds to the beauty of a window.

Curtain rods have been traditionally hidden, but now with the new rod and hardware fashions, one can easily create a decorative treatment.

You enter into the Fine Art category when you combine the elements of function and decoration. There used to be a "tipping point" on the decoration-fine art spectrum. Now the line is blurred. It is perfectly acceptable to have magnificent tapestry draperies with satin linings mixed with a shear panels AND plantation blinds. That was taboo as recent as a few years ago. Basically, the rules have changed. The rule is that there are no rules. Marshall McLuhan years ago defined art as anything you can get away with! Beautiful custom window fashions are not just for the elite anymore. Competition has brought prices down and there are many people vying for your business. Remember the eyeglasses commercial where a woman asks a snobby salesman why the eyeglasses are so expensive. He replied, "These glasses speak French". Great window fashions no longer "speak French". Everybody who reads this column can get some sort of custom window fashion, create a new focal point, and transform whatever room they desire.

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