Q: We have wall-mounted air conditioners in both our living room and bedroom. Their placement is right next to the balcony door and window, respectively, and because of this I haven’t been able to figure out how to best hang curtains or blinds. Should I hang curtains from the ceiling and just not extend them past the frames of the window/door, or should I hang them from directly above the frames and extend under the a/c units? Other suggestions? I’ve attached some pictures so you can see what I mean.
Sent by Jessica
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Door mounted drapes or blinds for the door/side light, inside mounted blinds or drape in the window's casement.
Have you considered mounting sheerweave roller shades on the door and sidelight and inside mounted on the window. If you prefer the look of drapery, a small drapery track like KS Track with Ripplefold drapes would work well. The track is less than 1" in height so it should fit underneath the a/c unit. I would mount the track just above your door and extend it out 15-18" on the left side for stacking the drapes.
Hospital track style system mounted on the ceiling with floor to ceiling curtains that cover the entire wall including the AC unit and window/door.
Inside-mount Roman Shades.
I would prefer door mounted roller or accordion shades over curtains. That's a beautiful door frame, I love the skinny side glass panel next to the door. And it looks like you have great light, so I'd want to keep the look clean and airy.
For the bedroom window I would use inside mount top down/ bottom up accordion shades. They are much more versatile than roller shades, let in light and yet provide some privacy.
I would think just above the door would be fine - but then again I never got into the whole waste of fabric by hanging curtains at ceiling height.
Agree with earlier suggestion:
You could use a door mounter blind/shutter/drapery for the living room. In fact i think woven blinds will work great for the living room.
Foe the bedroom, you can use a fabric valance (maybe balloon shade type) that can be mounted inside the window casing. The fabric valance would soften the room and maybe add some color too.
www.lushlivings.com/store
Curtains could be much cheaper than custom blinds or shades, if that's a consideration for you.
I like to sketch out my ideas to see if they'll work.
For the window I'd use a simple track rail or wire (no finials to worry about) with one panel, and swag the curtain to the left to show off the frame and keep the edges away from the AC.
For the door, use the same kind of rod/rail/wire and one panel. You could mount it just above the frame, or on either side (level with the top of the door frame under the AC unit). Just keep the panel pushed to the right when the door's in use (using clip rings as opposed to a rod pocket panel will help it stay off to the side). HTH and good luck!