Modern Window Treatments that Afford Up-to-the-Minute Style
Of all aspects of interior design, window treatments can often be the most chintzy. Even the most forward-thinking of interior designers can leave you with fussy window treatments which are more concerned with providing privacy than they are in looking stylish. That's often okay if your sense of what a home should look like is traditional, but it is often out of place in a truly modern home. What window treatments are contemporary but still utterly practical?
Custom Curtains
Pleated and tab top curtains might not shriek of an up-to-date style in their own right, but there are plenty of ways that modern curtain makers can put together a window treatment that looks good in a modern home. Custom made curtains that fold back with the need for sashes or hooks are extremely fashionable nowadays. In fact, curtains have made something of a comeback with professional interior designers in Europe and North America as well as Australia in recent years. People favour them more and more. Discuss your particular window requirements with a curtain designer who can offer a tailor-made service. Opt for modern, washable anti-rip fabrics, and elegant but unfussy curtain rails.
Modern Venetians
If you are thinking about blinds, then you could opt for a natural look with a single block of colour, such as bamboo or hessian Roman blinds. However, for a more contemporary window treatment, go for a modern Venetian look. Okay, Venetian blinds are nothing new, but you can get a more up-to-the-minute appearance by choosing wider-than-usual slats which create less visual noise. Aluminium is a preferable material to have your blinds made from than other options, such as wood for example. Powder coated finishes will look smarter than anything else. Having said that, unfinished aluminium slats can look very chic indeed.
Solar Changing Glass
You might have been wearing polarising sunglasses for years, but what about using the same sort of technology in your windows as well? Ideal for city apartments and newly finished homes, windows that get darker in brighter sunlight are becoming more and more popular throughout the country. Many of them will react automatically as the sun passes by. However, a good many of these window fittings can be altered simply at the flick of a switch, making them great for bathrooms where you want instant privacy from time to time. Solar changing glass does away with the need for a window treatment at all because everything you need in one is included within the window itself.