Annual Homes & Design Issue
Natural light brings new life to furniture and décor of all styles. From the kitchen and the bedroom to the bathroom and the living room, windows are essential for brightening and elevating any room in the home. This makes it especially important when it comes to choosing window type, trim style, and window treatments. Here, we’ve gathered some of the top tips for selecting and styling windows to suit any space.
Sunrooms are usually casual spaces but can still reflect your personality. Try cotton-blend sheers or long, unlined linen-look panels for romance and softness, or solar screen shades if you want to be shielded from the sun and still see the view through them. Solar screens and roller shades are a much more tailored look but are a far cry from your grandmother’s roller shades with today’s textures and colors. Or, you can combine both options and have the shades for when you need sun protection and the drapery panels to create a romantic, classic feeling.
Choosing a window to go over a kitchen sink is a strategic decision on the front end. Depending on the style and where the meeting rail is positioned, we want to make sure the window provides an unobstructed view. This is best determined by having the customer note their line of sight while standing at the sink and envisioning themselves looking out of the window. Ventilation is another important element to consider for those hoping to let in a breeze. Our in-home design consultants at Window Works see each window as an opportunity to create a designer opening, and we encourage our clients to get creative based on window size and budget. When choosing a window for the kitchen, Window Works is dedicated to educating customers, so they can find the best fit for their home.
When choosing the right window, trim, or treatment for a bedroom, the first thing to consider is style preference. There are many different options, ranging from the traditional double-hung to the contemporary casement window that can be used in the space. What’s important to consider are the ambience and functionality of the room. Pella offers a variety of options, such as grilles, colors, and types of hardware to customize the window to the space and client. Our Lifestyle Series features an option for blinds and shades between the glass, allowing for sound and light control. This is ideal for any bedroom, as these are two important aspects of the bedroom environment.
We believe that a living room should be just that, a room for living in, your happy place. Therefore, when selecting window treatments, consider your personality. Do you like everything to be in its place and neatly organized? Then the straight lines of roller, banded, and cellular shades might be just the perfect fit. Do you like a soft, cozy place to curl up with a good book? Then the more casual textures of woven wood or fabric Roman shades are often the perfect selection. If you are charmed by the ageless classics, shutters are always a great choice. Perhaps you have a great view but need some relief from heat and glare…window tint can soften the summer sun just enough without any obstruction. Whatever your style, our experienced consultants love helping choose the perfect marriage of personality and functionality.
Bathroom windows can be used to bring some beautiful natural lighting into your space through a variety of ways. Some of the most popular are a larger format window over the tub, transom window in the shower, or a window in the water closet. When using a window in the shower (or any area that would be exposed to direct moisture), I would recommend considering a vinyl or all composite window of the same brand and color to match the exterior aesthetic but to keep wood interiors out of the water. There are many ways to achieve privacy in a bath, like using window treatments such as blinds, shutters, or shades on your bathroom windows as opposed to patterned glass that may not match the rest of the home. A single window in a smaller bath can really open the room!
