Window Treatments: Knowing When to Make and When to Buy

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Window Treatments: Knowing When to Make and When to Buy

If your furnishings are the star of the show, consider your window treatments the backdrop — the set that creates the mood of a room. According to Better Homes & Gardens, bare windows are rarely a good choice when you’re decorating a room. No matter what style of window treatment you choose — pleated, piped, or puddled softly on the wood floors — window treatments soften the hard edges of a room and create a tone from which you can decorate.

Window Treatment Ideas from Carlisle Wide Plank FloorsIn addition to style, window treatments help you control light and give you privacy when you need it. Well-designed window treatments can help accentuate the architecture of a room or conceal its flaws.

As a DIYer, you’re accustomed to making choices regarding window treatments: pattern, texture, style, and fabric type all come into play. You have to decide whether you want curtains, drapes, shutters, blinds, or a combination. One peek at a store like Just Blinds illuminates how many choices you have to make prior to committing to a particular window treatment.

At some point, you must even consider whether a project is something you want to tackle on your own or is something best left to the professionals.

When to Do it Yourself

Your DIYers know what it feels like to look at a finished product and feel the satisfaction of having created something beautiful on your own. The trick is figuring out which projects are going to bring you the most satisfaction. How can you fairly predict?

  • When the project is simple. When you walk into a window treatment project either knowing how to complete it, or with total confidence that you can learn, you know it’s perfect as a DIY undertaking.
  • When it’s affordable. Finding a great sale on materials and having the funds to take a project on is another sign that you should do it yourself.
  • When you have time. If you have a thousand other activities going on at the same time, creating your window treatments is likely to feel more like a chore than a labor of love. Make sure you have the time to enjoy the work.

When to Purchase Pre-Made

Even for the most ardent DIYer, there are simply occasions when it makes more sense to purchase your window treatments pre-made.

  • When the price is right. You will occasionally find a sale on a window treatment that is so extraordinary that it would be foolish to pass it up. When the cost of the pre-made window treatments trump the costs involved with making one of the same quality you know it’s time to buy.
  • When the job is just beyond your comfort level. There are some jobs — like lining draperies or ruching curtains — that are tricky. They look great when they’re perfect, but it’s quite noticeable when they’re not. If you don’t think you’re going to be happy with the final product, it would be a good idea to purchase pre-made.

If you are considering purchasing window coverings there are a number of wayas to approach this decision.  If you are working with an Interior Designer they can simplify your decision by helping you narrow dwon fabric choices and colors, and put you in touch with a professional who can design and build them for you.  Or you can dig into the internet.

When to Call in the Professionals

As a DIYer, it might be quite interesting to watch a professional do his job, to think about how you will be able to do it yourself the next time. There’s no shame in calling in a professional though, when you’re not quite ready to take the project on alone.

  • When the room or windows are not square. It is common in older homes to have rooms and windows that are not balanced. A professional may be your best best for blinds, shutters, and other window treatments that require custom-cutting and hanging.
  • When the job may be dangerous. If, for example, you’ll need to be on a high ladder in order to reach your window, it may be a job better left to a professional.
  • Or if there are major constructive work required – cutting through an interior or exterior wall, for example

 

Have you decorated your windows lately? What products did you use? Did you do it yourself or hire a professional?

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