You’ve
spent the summer
months attending to countless renovation
projects for the exterior of your home. You put up a beautiful new fence,
landscaped your yard and updated your driveway to perfection. Now it’s
finally time to rejuvenate the inside of your home with new and exciting
design elements. But there’s one problem – you ran out of money and
the holiday entertaining season is soon approaching.
While most of the plans to change your
interior décor come with a large price tag, there is a cost effective way
to update your home’s interior look this fall –consider replacing your
window treatments.
"People don’t realize how much of
an impact you can make in your home décor by simply updating your window
treatments," says Karin McCoy, Manager Visual Merchandising at Blinds
To Go, the country’s leading manufacturer and retailer of custom made
blinds and shades. "New window treatments can give your decor a quick
an inexpensive boost. You can add new textures, colours and designs to
your current look at a fraction of the cost of other more elaborate home
decor projects," she added.
Here are some of McCoy’s window
covering recommendations:
"It all comes down to the function,
the look and the budget that you desire," she says.
• Horizontal blinds provide excellent
privacy and light control and are available for standard and non-standard
windows. They now come in a multitude of colours and finishes made from
materials like aluminum, vinyl and the ever-popular wood. This variety
makes them easy to incorporate into any type of decor. Slat sizes are
available anywhere from 1/2" to 3" which allows you to adjust
the proportion of the blind to suit the size of your windows. Today’s
horizontal blinds can be custom made for virtually any window up to 12 ft.
wide by 10 ft. high, and can be cut to suit a variety of specialty shaped
windows.
• Vertical blinds likewise provide good
privacy and light control, but are more suitable for large-scale windows
or patio doors. They come in a virtually limitless array of fabrics as
well as in easy-to-care-for vinyl.
• Pleated shades also offer excellent
privacy and light control. They provide a soft touch at the window and
come in a variety of colors and patterns. Cellular shades are a variation
of pleated shades, with a honeycomb shape that provides added insulation.
• Draperies are always a popular choice
for living rooms and dining rooms. To create a customized look try
layering treatments. For example use a blind or roller shade for light
control and a drapery for aesthetics.
-NC
