Pattern Without Print

For dining rooms in which texture is the dominant design element, wood is the natural choice as a window treatment material. But it's also more: It's an opportunity to embellish the window with graphic pattern -- without a single swatch of fabric.

Wooden grid window treatment
©Pinecrest Inc.
This sliding wooden window grid echoes other geometric motifs in the dining room.
The vertical lines of the framing boards repeat the linear sweep of the banquet table.

Just as fabrics provide a nearly infinite number of patterns to pick from, wood can bring a surprising variety of looks. It can be configured in a small-scale grid pattern; it can go long and lean with wood blinds, which, massed in a single space, make a bold horizontal statement; or it can be restrained to Japanese-style, large-scale grid-work panels backed with translucent paper or fabric. Each wooden treatment has an entirely different effect, keeping its own beat in the rhythm of the room.

For more decorating ideas around the home, see: