Where beauty meets function

Your windows: They cover such a big space on your walls and it’s often a challenge to figure out what to do with them.

Maybe you should go for a strictly functional look and throw up a sheet-like object that blocks out the light and provides privacy? Or maybe you’d like a more decorative route and combine long pleated panels with sheers, swags, valances and tie-backs, swaddling your windows to within an inch of their clear glass panes?

Evan Miller, along with his wife, Sharon, operates Abode 7 in Perimeter Place, a shop known for its modern, clean-lined window treatments.

Miller took us on a tour recently through one client’s north Buckhead home to illustrate the decisions to be made when you take on dressing those windows.

Overall look

The other side. Some elements of your window treatment are going to be seen from outside the house —- from the other side of the window. Keep that in mind as you think about lining options and the choice of shutters vs. shades vs. draperies. You want the exterior of your home to present a unified look for visitors and passers-by.

Matter of needs. Each window in each room presents a separate challenge. What are your needs: privacy, light control, rounding out the room’s decor?

You can layer. Shades to provide privacy can be combined with drapery panels that soften and round out the decor of a room. Put woven shades next to glass to control the light and hang fabric panels for style and color.

On the tour: Window treatments should enhance the overall feel of a room. In the house we toured, the dining room is an over-the-top homage to Versace with glittering modern crystal chandelier and sconces, white leather chairs and hard glass edges. The large window wall is covered with sage and mauve silk cut velvet panels with inverted box pleats. To maximize the light, the panels actually cover the wall space on either side, but not the windows themselves. The panels are lined with an acid Granny Smith apple green silk for a punch of color. Since the panels only face the walls, the shocking green lining won’t be seen outside the home and won’t fade. The dark bronze hardware is finished off with Swarovski crystal finials that echo the sparkling light fixtures. “Even the sheers themselves play off the flashy room decor with their wonderful metallic sheen,” said Miller.

Choosing material

Pay attention to care. Natural fabrics like silk, cotton and linen are all made into luxurious materials available in a wide variety of textures and colors. But they have care issues. Silk will spot if it gets wet, so it shouldn’t be used in an area like a bath or kitchen. These natural fibers are prone to fading if they’re used in too much direct sunlight.

Man-made fabrics. Polyester, and other such material, are being woven into hundreds of fabrics that mimic the look and feel of natural fibers. They’re durable and often, but not always, less expensive. Some sheer polyester fabrics can be woven into wider panels which eliminates seaming issues.

When space is an issue. Shades and blinds are available in woven grasses and wood which are particularly appropriate for areas where the window treatments may be exposed to water. They’re also excellent in spaces where drapery panels simply wouldn’t work because there’s no wall space around the window.

How to decide? Often it’s a matter of finding the look you love. Sometimes the choice is made for you if you have a particular look in mind but it’s only available in one material, like the patterned sheers the Millers used in the home’s grand atrium windows. The polyester fabric used here comes in panels wide enough to cover the broad expanse of windows, but is soft enough to bunch into sheer columns between the windows.

The bottom line. Maybe you fall in love with a fabric that’s really costly. “Use it to create a header or a border, then coordinate with a less expensive material for the body of the drape. You still get the punch, but not the price tag,” said Miller. Black velvet cuffs on the silk ikat drapes in the billiard room in the home we’re touring provide an inky sumptuousness and help muffle the sound of cracking billiard balls. And don’t forget interlining, which will help block out more light and add to the fullness of the drapery panels.

The hardware

Lots of choices. Gone are the days when drapery hardware was never seen. Now the choice of hardware is as much a decision as the fabric and style of the drapes and just as much a decorative element. Rings, grommets, finials, brackets —- all have to be considered in designing the entire window treatment. “You don’t want the hardware to be the focal point. It should complement the entire treatment in both material and size,” said Miller.

Plan for functionality. How will the hardware be mounted and how will the panels move across the rod? Will the fabric panels bunch on one side or both? How will the panels be opened and closed, or are they fixed? In the grand atrium of the home we’re visiting, the hardware spans the long window wall with brackets mounted on the walls between the windows so the panels can slide along to cover the windows or be pulled back to reveal the view.

Focus on details

Rich look. Fabric panels that will cover the window should not be so skimpy that they merely cover the space. Plan them so that even when closed they feel generous. Fabric that is 54 inches wide will pleat down to about 20-25 inches in finished width.

How much puddle is enough? Miller designs drapery panels with at least a 2- to 3-inch puddle. “This covers imperfections, since very few homes have an absolutely level floor,” said Miller. A 6- to 8-inch puddle will appear even more luxurious.

Where to hang curtains? On the wall above the windows? On the windows themselves? “We prefer to hang the hardware on the wall and to either take up as much of the wall as we can, or to hang the hardware midway between the top of the window and the ceiling. Much depends on the height of the room, but hanging draperies too low will bring the room down,” said Miller. A critical factor is to hang the hardware in such a way that it appears level to the eye. A ceiling with dips and high points needs hardware hung far enough below to not highlight the imperfections.

The trends

What’s hot. Fashions change in window treatments just as they do in all areas of home decor. “Shades definitely look fresher than shutters now,” said Miller. Ikats are the hot new pattern, like that used in the home’s billiard room, and eco-friendly fabrics like bamboo are becoming more popular and available.

Get creative. Alternate uses for drapery panels are also becoming more common. In this house, the powder room on the second floor uses a double-faced drapery panel to provide privacy between the sink area and the toilet. “Use of a free-standing drapery piece requires a little different construction, but becomes an easy-to-change extra wall,” said Miller.

Modern look. The latest thing in window treatments is creating flat panels that slide like Japanese shoji screens. In the daughter’s bedroom, sliding panels of bright silk provide a striking unfussy contemporary look.