Decor Living & Family Room Window Treatments

Perhaps no rooms in your home deserve more attention to the window treatments than the living and family rooms. These are the rooms where you spend a majority of the time when entertaining guests, spending time together as a family or just finding a few minutes to relax in the evenings!

And there are special considerations to make when it comes to selecting and designing window treatments in the living or family room, since these rooms tend to have larger windows than others in the home, making the choice of window blinds, cellular shades, curtains or draperies especially important.

Often, there will be a media center or television viewing and privacy needs to consider as well, in which case you need window treatments that will be flexible and easily adjusted to allow more or less light into the room.

Matters of color, texture, patterns and decorating style also play a large factor in the type of window treatments you select in your living and family rooms.

To help you decide what window treatments will work best in your family room or living room, try following these tips:

• If you are decorating your living or family rooms with new an all new theme, color scheme, furnishings and accessories, don’t leave the selection of blinds or shades as an afterthought; make this an integral part of your interior design planning.
• If your family room or living room has already been decorated, then your window treatments should complement the existing décor, colors and patterns in the room. Often the best choice may be to go with neutral blinds or cellular shades if you are in doubt about what to install; you can always add a decorative valance or curtains that match your wall colors or pick up accent colors in your furniture upholstery, area rugs or throw pillows.
• Always consider function first and window treatment styles second; those traditional full length draperies with linings may look great, but if they darken the room and prevent you from being able to open a large picture window up when you want to enjoy a great view or let in the sunlight, you may find yourself disappointed with the results.

Window treatments can either be understated so as not to diminish the design elements in your family or living room, or in some cases, can become a grand design statement that sets the overall tone of the room; especially true if you have an extremely tall and large window space that commands attention and serves as a focal point in the room.

• To create a bold window treatment that is also highly function, a layered approach works well; you can use neutral color cellular shades as a base level, providing extremely versatile light and privacy control, with rich, deep fabric colors and/or patterns in draperies over the shades. Add swagging, a cornice, tiebacks or decorative hardware to give the window treatment a complete look and feel.
• Be sure your window treatments are in keeping with the theme and style of your room décor. For instance, in a country style family room, window treatments should match the style; you might use tabbed curtain panels, simple panels with retro fabrics, or frilly lace curtain panels. In a modern style room you would more likely want the clean look of wood or fauxwood horizontal window blinds with larger slats like three inches, with a neutral colored or natural wood grain finish.
• Interior wood shutters will give your living or family room an elegant, understated and clean look and work very well in room decors from contemporary or modern to more traditional styles equally.
• When selecting family or living room window treatments, you can leverage colors, patterns and textures to either play up or down other features in the room. For instance, if your room décor features bright, bold colors, then a subtle color choice makes sense for window coverings.
• If your living or family room uses neutral wall colors, the window treatments can be a great means of introducing a splash of accent color and pattern into the room and are easily changed later if you change your mind; without having to repaint the walls!
• Use a color wheel, pick up some color samples at your local home improvement or decorating center and try them at home before making your final color and pattern choices; you want to settle on a primary and one or a couple of secondary or accent colors and have a firm color scheme in mind for your family room or living room décor. This will guide you in selecting the right colors to use in your window treatments.