Nicole sent us some photos and a good question : I just bought a condo and have a random window in my living room that I'd like some sort of window treatment for.
I'm not sure if a shade or curtain would look better and what color it should be to complement the rest of the room.
The chair in the foreground is what I'm basing my color choices around; it's green with very thin light blue and brown stripes.
The only other thing in the room not pictured is a dark gray couch, and there will eventually be a light cream/beige rug of some sort.
Any suggestions for what would work well for the window?
Congratulations on the condo purchase, Nicole! We think either a shade or drapes could work here - we see it as more of an opportunity to really underline the general feeling you'd like for the room.
Shades will give a much more modern feeling, which can be simple and steamlined, yet still an opportunity to add some pattern to the room. To work with the color palette of your chair, here is a springy green example...
Drapes will give a more dramatic slant to the room but still don't have to go too traditional - like this example in a colorway called Fall:
You mentioned in your question that this is a "random window" in your living room, but in the second photo, we see another window on the wall to the left. We're thinking that it would make sense to consider dressing all the windows in close proximity to each other in the same fashion to keep things cohesive.
Other suggestions and ideas for Nicole? Let us know in the comments...
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I agree with Janel that putting the same kind of window treatment on the windows is a good idea. I think the shade that she provided a sample of is beautiful and sleek - it looks like it would look very nice with your furniture. I think it would be nice to pick up the green tones in your chair as well, but you may need to be careful with the tone of green you choose in relation to the color of your walls.
view bumblebeechicago's profile
Mmm... I meant to say put the treatment on BOTH windows for continuity.
view bumblebeechicago's profile
Drapes might be hard because the ceiling drops and there is not a lot of clearance. Shades would work better
view Francesca's profile
I agree that a shade seems like it would work better in the space. It looks like you already have a fair amount of brown in there, so I'd get shades in either green or blue, to bring out the accent colors.
view jennifer in sf's profile
I would definitely go for the shades on both windows. And maybe even one on the transom, too.
Love the chair! Cute!
view cptmoll's profile
Oh, definitely shades, in a nice neutral color. Like these?
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p6210/index.cfm?pkey=cprwwinshd
view kygirl's profile
Roman shades baby...
view greg cerveny's profile
I sewed panels of thin but tight very bright white cotton for my living and dinig room windows. We had a lot of existing hardware, so the curtains don't work exactly as I had planned because they hang a couple inches from the wall. In my mind's eye the panels would fit right inside the window like a shade. You could add a couple of button holes to the bottom and the buttons spaced up the sides so that you could open the panels for light or air. Martha has something similar on her website: Button-Up Window Shade ( http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.0e0eb51a2e6b5ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=ecdfd0f19132f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy_kw=curtain&rsc=ns2006_m115 )
view zelda139's profile
It's Chicago. You need more than one thing covering your windows. Remember what it feels like in January? Use a shade behind the blind or a blind behind the drape or a shade behind the blind behind the drape. Keep the drafts out and keeps you warm!
view Kurt's profile
Just my two cents, but isn't that black window frame and the view enough of a window treatment? It's dreamy. Otherwise, a very simple shade? A friend once hung true black shades throughout her house but mounted them upside-down, so they could be pulled up as far as needed to ensure privacy, or all the way up in her bedroom for morning darkness (aka morning sleep without light.)
At any rate, the partial drawing-up allowed for privacy without completely obstructive the views--and it looks like you have a nice one.
view Aulaire's profile