When it comes to decorating your home, it feels that there are a million things to do, and a million places to start.  Somehow, in the middle of this major to-do list, one area of interest is often neglected – your windows.

Windows today come in all shapes and sizes and are often beautiful focal points by their own right – and yet so often we fail to dress or enhance them to really offset their beauty and bring the outside in.  It takes a very special window with a very special view to stand on its own, and not every window is up to the task.
Knowing just what to do with a window can be a problem in itself, and often the easy way out is to do nothing at all.  Unfortunately, this can leave a room feeling unfinished – as though you forgot to complete your design project – and can actually detract from the overall feel for the room you are trying to achieve.

Things to Consider:

The function of your window
What does this window need?  Think LIPs – Light Control, Insulation and Privacy. Knowing what is needed will be the first step in determining just how to dress your window.

Make your window a focal point
Many rooms have an architectural element that will be a natural focal point, such as a great fireplace.  But if you need to introduce a focal point for design, a custom window treatment created specifically for your home is a great way to set your mood and style.

Make your window a backdrop
Beautifully dressed windows can create a wonderful background for the favorite elements of your home.  Simple lines and soft drapes can help dictate the feel of the room, by enhancing design decisions you have already made.

Take your lead from the shape of the window
A great way to help you determine what kind of custom window treatment you need for your window is to consider the shape of the window itself.  Curves call for curves, lines call for lines.  A basic design tip is to keep “like with like” so that the eye has a place to rest.

Scale and Proportion
Not every window stands up to the grandeur of your room.  Yet with some creative window treatments you can turn even a small window into something special by adding curved valances or flowing drapes that hang from the ceiling to the floor.  The important element is in matching the scale of your windows to the scale of your room and furniture.

Now that you have a place to start with those windows, do exactly that.  Get started, and really add that finishing touch to the fabulous look you have put together for your home and family.  And call me if you would like some help!

Charity Swanson Buchika, ASID
Elan Interiors
Elan Interiors Website
Contact me via E-mail or phone 315.474.1335

Photo from Country Living

Steps to creating inspiring spaces:

This is a guide line to help with your design process. These steps will work for any type of room, the example below is guest room.   This time of year another ares to think about is your outdoor living area. There are so many wonderful indoor outdoor fabrics and great furniture  available you can really get creative.

1.      Start with an item that you love. Look around your room – what might you find?  For example, maybe a white painted wicker chair with a pink stripe cushion.  And maybe the fabric on the cushion is not your taste, but you have great memories of picking out the fabric with your mother, so the chair and fabric are going to stay.

2.      Select fabric. Because fabric is so diverse, from casual to formal and every little thing in between, the fabric itself can guide you to the rest of the room choices.   For this room example, it was important that the new fabric choices work with the stripe of the wicker chair, yet allow for moving in a different direction.

3.      Select furniture. Easy enough for a guest room – you know you will need a bed and a bedside table, perhaps a dresser, and of course the wooden chair.  Refer back to your inspiration item and your fabric choice. White wicker and a floral print definitely set a stage for a cool colored relaxing room that is not overly formal.  Be sure that your furniture selections have the same feel as your fabrics and inspiration piece.  For this room, let’s choose a white iron bed, and more white, wicker accent pieces.

4.      Select paint color. Again, refer to your fabric choice.  This fabric allows for many choices, from every shade of pink to a myriad of greens and even tan.  Knowing this guestroom would host both male and female guests, let’s opt for a cool shade of green.

5.      Select bedding. Refer to your previous selections to guide you in your bedding choices.  This is a great place to add a third fabric selection, which works with the pink stripe and floral.  Here we brought in small gingham check with tan from the floral and pink from the stripe and floral, and will use it for accent trim, pillows, and the tailored bed skirt.

6.      Select window treatments. The way you dress the windows in your room plays a big part in the way the room feels.  You also need to take privacy and heat and light control into consideration when determining the style.  Much like the furniture that you select, the window treatments need to work with that overall feel.  And high -gloss white cornices are a perfect way to tie all of the fabrics and white accent pieces together.

7.      And last but not least – accessorize. Easily overlooked, accessorizing really is that finishing touch.  Consider artwork, mirrors, lamps, and vases, keeping in mind the feel and function of the room.

By the completion of this guest room, all of your creature comforts are met – a very welcoming bed, an armoire for housing your things, a sitting and reading area for relaxing, and a breakfast table complete with china tea cup just waiting for your wishes.  Can’t you just picture it??!

Now, to secure an invitation for a weekend visit!

So pick your inspiration – grandmother’s lamp, your father’s old golf clubs, your favorite blanket from childhood – and get motivated!  And call me if you need some help!

Charity Swanson Buchika, ASID
Elan Interiors
Elan Interiors Website
Contact me via E-mail or phone 315.474.1335