Window Treatment Ideas For Your Living Room

Do you believe you need Window Treatment Ideas for your Living Room? Many may think this is an elementary and simple question, but it is not. The reason is that terminology has changed so much in the past 30 years or so some home owners do not really know the right name of the space in question. During simpler times prior to McMansions and late 20th century homebuilding, the living room was the main room in the house where family and friends would gather to listen to music, play board games, or nibble on appetizers before the big meal. Then the living room became the great room. If a family had a living room there would be a den for gatherings. In this case the living room was a formal space that was rarely used and was a show piece.

Let’s assume that you indeed want to change the look or update your current living room. Whether the space has a formal settling or is a room that is in constant use will determine which kind of window treatment will be appropriate. We will treat this search with the formal living room. Just because it is formal does not mean it cannot be warm and inviting, and it should represent the feel of the rest of your home. Unique window treatment ideascan be contemporary, transitional, traditional, rustic, Tuscan and anything in between.

For the contemporary living room you will see many designs that utilize lots of sheer panels. Most of the time the colors are ecru, beige or white with contrasting fabric cornices or swags fashioned in colors that complement the furniture, flooring or art work. You will see shades that again use a single light color but have designs and shapes that make them more interesting.  You will see groupings of floor to ceiling sheers, especially in homes with high ceilings or tall windows.

curtain-cornice sheers and panels
Curtains and sheers as formal window treatments in the living room.

If your room is transitional or traditional, in looking for window treatments & curtains for your living room you will begin to see very warm colors and use of heavier fabrics and textures. Many of the more formal and more ornate living rooms will have several layers of window coverings. You may see lace-patterned sheers, then tied-back curtains that can be closed at night, and then a decorative cornice that may have trailing wings down each side of the full set. This look is extremely elaborate and stately.

You can have a traditional living room where solid colored textured shades are used and are accompanied by pleated panels in jacquards, tone-on-tone and floral patterns. There are some more formal spaces that will have sheers covering the entire window while the cornice or swag is in a warm tone that pulls together all the other elements in the room.

Even if you have a rustic, Tuscan or Country French décor you can still find excellent Window Treatment Ideas for your Living Room. The rustic and Tuscan will have very warm golds, browns, reds and other earth tones. Some rustic looks are achieved using very basic brown tones in natural fabrics and textures that would remind you of natural materials from the forest. If you have exposed beams that are in warm wood tones in your Tuscan-inspired living room, you will find where designers have taken a single panel in a gold or red and tied that panel to one side with brown cord or piping.

It may seem that formal and Country French is an oxymoron. When looking for curtain styles for your living room you can achieve a formal look even with the casual essence of Country French. Here you are free to mix checks and plaids, florals and solids in hues that reflect the fine wineries and pastoral settings.

Formal can be fun. Usually it is the first room guest see when they step into your foyer. It should reflect your hospitality and personality.

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