Simple, natural trends emerging in window treatments

By Marla Caceres, Tribune Content Agency

Homeowners today have many options when it comes to window treatments.

From blinds to shades, to curtains and drapes, the choices are almost endless. Yet, interior designers say a few trends are rising to the top of homeowners’ wish lists.

Keeping it sheer

Following trends in home design overall, homeowners today are looking to window treatments that look simple, clean and contemporary.

“I think people are becoming minimalists. They are not fussing over elaborate valances and heavy drapery — they want a nice, clean, simple look,” says Jen Miller, an interior designer with Baer’s, a collection of fine furniture stores with 15 locations throughout Florida.

Drapes are still in, but the heavy look of thick drapes layered with sheer curtains is out. Instead, interior designers prefer to pair sheer drapes for a lighter look.

“The trend with window treatments is to maximize views, and not with heavy draperies but with contemporary sheers,” says Helene Brown, a licensed interior designer with Baer’s. “A lot of times I can take a sheer and line it with a sheer to give it some body, but you still have privacy.”

Sheer curtains can also be combined with shades or blinds, giving homeowners the option to pull shades down or draw blinds for more light control or privacy. A sheer curtain layer can be left behind, softly diffusing light throughout a room.

Go neutral

Homeowners are choosing fabrics for their window treatments that are not only light in texture, but light in color, too. This choice not only feels clean and contemporary — it also provides for long-term flexibility in home design choices.

“It’s always a good choice to go with neutral colors, so if you have a change colors in your home design, you don’t have to change the window treatments,” Brown says.

Fabrics with patterns are still in, but vibrant colors and busy florals are out. Again, the focus is on simplicity and clean design.

“Window treatment fabrics can be a pattern, but a lot now is tone on tone,” says Sonia Najman, director of window treatment sales for Baer’s Dania Design Center.

Batteries included

Technology is playing a role in every part of the home — even window treatments. Homeowners with large windows are choosing motorized window treatments for a convenient, easy-for-everyday-use option.

There are two choices for these technology-driven window treatments, battery powered and electrical. But, designers say homeowners are opting for the convenience of batteries.

“The battery-powered window treatments are a lot less expensive and you do not need to do any electrical work to install them,” Najman says.

Make it easy

Designers say homeowners are looking for window treatment options that are as simple to take care of as they are attractive.

Sometimes this can be accomplished with the technique of illusion.

“I do a lot of pirouette and silhouette and solar shades, with cornices and side panels, so you get the illusion of having draperies, but they’re not operable — just the shades are operable,” Brown says. “When you have a vertical drape, you have the stacking factor when you pull it back. This gets rid of all of that.”

In all, the trend toward simplicity of design and use fits in well with the lifestyle homeowners enjoy in Florida.

“When they’re playing golf, Florida homeowners don’t want to dust and take down drapery and have them dry cleaned every five years,” Miller says. “They want to enjoy themselves, not be tied down to the maintenance of window treatments, so they have time to play.”