Classic Window Treatment Styles
A window can be the focal point of a room, and the way it is dressed can help to set the style for the entire room. Your choices determine a lot of what goes on later as windows are a large part of the foundational setting. The first question is key: Do you want a simple style or an elaborate style? Does this Spark an idea?
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Features
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What makes a fancy or elaborate style? Cost is an important factor. Simple window dressings usually use much less fabric, are easier to create, and keep the costs lower. A simple fabric shade--either roller style or unlined cotton hung on a pole using rings or ties will be fairly economical. A large window for an opulent setting in a large room will need lots of yardage and may have additional hangings or accouterments to make it fill the scene. Sumptuously dressed windows can have swags and tails, generous drapes, fancy valances and tiebacks.
Function
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Curtains and drapes help to frame a view or hide a bad view. They can soften a window, add drama and texture; insulate a window, create quiet and act as a focal point. They can be hung high to provide the illusion of height. The ends can also drape into a puddle on the floor creating richness. Curtains can be used in other ways--as room dividers or to define a space, to camouflage a bad wall or as a cover up to messy shelving or even as a screen for dust.
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Types
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The way that curtains look are dependent upon several things---the fabric chosen, the heading and the type of hanging system. Fancier drapes are usually constructed using silk (for the sheen and sometimes the "slubbing" or texture of the fabric), velvets, damask or chenille (for the rich fullness), along with other pricey rayon-poly blends. The hidden hanging systems for these can be quite elaborate involving multiple rods and many fixtures, brackets, hooks and slides. Simple curtains are typically constructed using cotton (for price and patterns), linen (for its casual look), or loose-weave fabrics, such as muslin (inexpensive). The one thing about patterned fabric that will make simple hangings more expensive is that the pattern will need to be matched in a pleasing way. Simple curtains can be hung by one pole, or using a simple wooden rod with rings, an iron rod with clips. All fixtures are relatively easy to hang and install.
More Types
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Valances are headers or toppers. These panels of fabric can be undulating like scallops, pleated, petaled or tailored. They are typically hung over the main panels adding a graceful drape or alternate color, trim or pattern. Cornices are generally shaped pieces of board padded and covered in fabric to provide a three-dimensional header over the top of the drapery--hiding the rod and any other fixtures. They can be simple rectangles or cut into shapes and decorated with paint, scenes or additional embellishments.
Plain Style
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An extremely easy, simple window hanging is a plain panel. It is flat, joined with flat felt seams for width, and the sides and bottom are hemmed. It is essentially a square. The square may be lined, so as not to see the construction or through the fabric---and it can have one long thin pocket sew across the top and slid over a simple rod that is affixed above the window. A slightly more elaborate version would be to attach narrow strips of folded fabric to make ties that are sewn into the top, so the curtain can be tied to the rod.
Fancy Style
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Fancier styles for windows are drapes with headings. What this means is the way they are sewn at the top determines their fullness, how they will hang and the overall style. There are many types of headings: gathered (suited to lighter weight fabrics), pencil pleats (a tight tape sewing feature that creates lots of folds), pinch or box pleating (a dramatic but tailored linear look), and smocked pleating (suitable for curtains of intricate design but it needs a lighter weight, but not sheer fabric).
Grand Style
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The grandest types add either swags, valances or cornices. Swags are gentle swaths of full fabric draped to create cascading tails along the sides (called jabots) and deep folds across the top with perhaps a "festoon" in the middle. The point is, the fabric can be looped, swirled, twisted or draped for formal flair. Often the ends of the fabric are finished with fringe, cord, rosettes and tied with elaborate tassels for a luxurious look.
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Resources
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