Window Treatment Ideas

by Candace Ord Manroe

All in the Family

Gray on mauve is the theme in this tranquil bedroom, which maintains its serene quality despite a use of multiple patterns.
Gray on mauve is the theme in this tranquil bedroom, which maintains its serene quality despite a use of multiple patterns.

Window treatments can an element of excitement or interest when they repeat colors or patterns found throughout the room. Used wisely, a multiplicity of patterns in a single space can energize a room with pulsating rhythm. Windows play a significant role in getting the job done, with the opportunity they afford for panels in one print and valances in another. The window fabrics need not be restricted to the windows only; often, they are found as accents elsewhere in the decor -- as throw pillows, comforters, bedsheets, or even wall borders.

But the two window fabrics don't have to literally repeat prints found elsewhere in the decor. By remaining in the same color scheme, they can take a bit of poetic license by mimicking other prints.

Rich with ethnic flavor and graphic design, this bedroom marries many different prints by relating them in color, graphic pattern, mood, and scale. Rich with ethnic flavor and graphic design, this bedroom marries many different prints by relating them in color, graphic pattern, mood, and scale.
Rich with ethnic flavor and graphic design, this bedroom marries many different prints by relating them in color, graphic pattern, mood, and scale.

The idea is to pay careful attention to color, scale, and pattern, keeping all ingredients in the same family.

For more decorating ideas around the home, see: