Shades By Design’s check list:
From setting a budget to the finishing touches, follow these seven steps from decorating pros to create the perfect window treatments for your home.
1. Set a Budget
Some people think they’ll spend $100 or $200 a window, but that’s going to buy you a basic blind in today’s market. Be realistic about what you can afford. Do a little homework to get an idea of fabric prices.
Window treatments are not the least expensive thing to do in a room, but there are ways of saving money, a consultation with a window treatment expert may well be worth the cost – $50 and up for two hours if it helps you avoid mistakes. (Shades By Design offers free consultation)
2. Set Priorities
What rooms and what windows are the most important for you to dress? We suggest you do the rooms you really live in first, such as the bedrooms and the family room. Try to set a schedule for doing other rooms, so you don’t end up six years down the road with the same inexpensive aluminum blinds on the windows that you first threw up there for privacy’s sake.
3. How Do You Live?
Do you have kids? Do you entertain a lot? If your window treatments will go in a high traffic area such as by a sliding glass door, opt for durable, washable materials (nylon, acetate, acrylic, cotton) and save the silk for another window. Similarly, if you cook a lot you don’t want delicate fabrics in the kitchen, where they’ll absorb splatters.
4. Find Your Style
there are no hard and fast rules in choosing a style. Currently, there’s a trend toward “cleaner, urban looks – less fussy,” says Yaniv Dahari NY Window fashion president. That translates into natural woven wood shades, Roman shades and Roller shades. “If you can’t make up your mind, then narrow the focus and just pull things you don’t like,” he says. “If you show me a pile of tailored cornices and Roman shades that you hate, that’s one product category we can eliminate.”
5. Measure
Use professionals to take the exact measurements for you, some window treatments require depth considerations and such.. do it once, and do it right! At Shades By Design, measurements are part of our free consultations, so you are in good hands!
6. Install Them Correctly
Draperies should be hung at least four inches above the window frame and should overlap the frame two to four inches on either side of the window. Standard length for draperies is 1/2 inch from the floor, although now many draperies are cut to stack 1-1/2 to 3-inches onto the floor. The “stack back” — how much space the draperies take up on either side of the window — should be approximately one-third the width of the window.
7. Don’t Forget Decorative Hardware
Some designers will say “People should change their finials like they change their earrings because it can really change the personality of a room”… at Shades By Design we will help you find the right hardware so you wont have to replace it that often.
