Decorating Windows and Using Window Treatments
Shabby Chic Style

Shabby Chic Home Decorating style offers so many great design options to dress the windows in your room. I will answer your question here to, "What do I do with this blank square piece of glass?".

First and foremost, determine your needs for light and/or privacy.

***If you need 100% privacy, you will be choosing from a great selection of

blinds, shutters,shades and drapes.

***If you need 100% light, you will be choosing from a great selection of scarves, valances, panels or paint (yeah, paint, read on!). ***Or if you need both light during the day and privacy at night like most of us do, you will be choosing from both categories.

IDEA!

Paint? Huh? Yes, paint! If treatments and hardware are not for you, then "frame" it by painting the trim around it. Choose a neutral color or a darker one that complements your wall color. If there is a sill, paint that part too. After the paint dries, make it shabby by distressing it with coarse grit sandpaper. If you are painting more than one window in a room, keep the trim the same color for each one. Alternating colors is just too busy, especially if you plan to accessorize later. If your glass doesn't have trim around it, then paint trim around it! This is where you can get creative and let your personality out! Use inexpensive acrylic paint from a craft store and paint an actual frame around it! Very, very shabby chic! (And adorable in a little girls room!).

IDEA!

Use ready made fabric panels to frame the area. Nowadays, buying standard ready made curtain panels and hardware are much cheaper than making them yourself-- saving you time and money, your two most valuable commodities, right? The panels "frame" the space on each side with narrow lengths of fabric which are for looks, not function. The panels are too narrow to stretch the width of the open space. Think of them as "fake curtains".

Or do you need a combination of both? Do you need light during the day and privacy at night? Then use a combination of both which gives you the versatility to use different kinds of

window treatments. Your best options are blinds, shades and shutters for privacy and full length curtains, drapes or sheer panels for style. I found a great online discount fabric store where I bought all the fabric to decorate every window in my new house. The beauty of this is, I don't have a clue how to sew! I simply cut the fabric allowing for a 2 inch hem all around and used iron on tape to "sew" them together. Then I hung the panels on each side of the open space with simply hardware (rods and clips). Voila! The beauty of it all is I found the EXACT fabric style I wanted online!

The book featured to your right is a must have for anything to do with window treatments. What's invaluable about it is that the designers rave about it and so do beginners. It's like a candy store for anything related to window treatments! The book is a heavy, hardcover book but I guarantee it will be your go-to book for years to come!

There are some great online retailers out there where you will find all of the products I have mentioned in my examples. The really good ones are in the links throughout my website. They will walk you through the measuring and ordering process to ensure a perfect fit to your window(s). They will even recommend a company in your area that will install everything for you if you wish.

Take a stroll to my retailer recommended sites in context links throughout my site. You will thank me later!

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