In modern homes, especially those with new-fangled windows designed to keep heat out in the summer and in during the winter, windows need cleaning, not covering, but that’s not always feasible. Modesty usually prevails, so here we explore a few simple ways to let the light in without losing your privacy.
Before we talk about some of our ideas, we’d like to share the best advice we’ve ever seen for making windows look better, which is to say bigger. Buy your drapery longer and wider than the window. Instead of purchasing panels that fit the height of the window, try the height of the ceiling and instead of stopping at the width of the window add 25 percent or more to the sides and buy the hardware to match. It’s a simple way to cheat and fool the eye.
1. The Anywhere Telescoping panel system ($94.50, Uma, 313 North 11th Street or www.iloveuma.com) makes for an airy and inventive window treat. The adjustable silver pole by designers Paul Rowan and Michelle Ivankovic can be used to cover windows or function as a space divider. It adjusts to a height of 70 inches to 120 inches, and the swing arm extends from 20 inches to 36 inches. The look is a great complement for contemporary décor. When closed over the window, there’s the look of filtered light and then with a shift of the swing arm, the window is completely open and unobstructed. The telescoping system is easy to assemble with a few clicks and twists. It’s anchored to the ceiling and floor with screws. Here we use a set of linking 16-inch-square cut-out screen panels ($29 for four, available in three styes and two colors, black or white, linking rings included) to create decorative window treatments.
2. If you’re more of a traditionalist, but you’d still like to give your windows some pizazz, we found a quick and easily solution for dressing up windows at Pier 1 Imports. We used a bamboo table runner ($12), a hot glue gun, colored rope and an anchor (which can be as simple as a decorative screw or an old knob from a cabinet). MacGyver would have been proud.
We used a table runner because of the length. At about 72 inches long, this will fit most windows, and we chose the multicolored bamboo table runner because it rolls nicely without shifting and kinking. You’ll need a sturdy pole to hang your new drapes from because you’ll need to be able to tug and pull on it. A lightweight tension rod would be a disaster. Try a system that screws into the wall. To make the loop for the table runner to fit over the rod, fold the bamboo runner as if you’re making a hem and then hot glue along the edge of the seam so that you have an opening to fit the rod through once it dries. We suggest measuring this distance around the rod before you glue and make it a little loose.
Let it dry completely, then slide it over the rod. Now roll up the table runner from the bottom up and use the rope to make a sort of lasso or slip knot around the whole unit. The rope is going to be the cradle for the bamboo roll.
Now hang the rod and give your slipknot a tug to raise the curtain and then give it some slack to lower. You may want to avoid a knot altogether if you plan to raise and lower the curtain a lot. This can be done by hot gluing or tying one end of the rope to the top of the curtain along the side that faces out and then simply looping the other end around and back over the top. To keep the drapes open at whatever height you chose, use an anchor.
3. Lastly, who says you need to cover a window from the top down. If you live in an area where your windows must be covered at all times, you might be able to get away with covering only the bottom half instead of top to bottom.
Think of the window as extra wall space and hang a piece of art there. Use some fishing line and suspend the art within the window pane for a floating art look. You can use this on any window, but windows that face the public are tricky because they’ll be looking at the unattractive back of the art frame, which tends to diminish curb appeal.