Maybe it's a reaction to spending a lot of money on curtains? A recession-era necessity? Can't spend thousands on a curtain to cover the whole window so you put up small curtains for cheaper and use blinds on the rest of the window?

I never understood not covering up your windows at night, unless the window is overlooking somewhere that people are not going to be spying on you. I suppose this would work for people who only ever change clothes in the bathroom, wear full pajamas to bed, and have sex in the dark

I don't like the partial curtain either. It reminds me of the fake shutters many, many houses have to frame their windows. Or that silly scarf-sized pretend folded blanket at the end of the beds in cheap motels. In my opinion the option to close the curtains should be there. It just looks cheap to me.

They look like they are telescoping curtain rods. Maybe the curtains fold in as well?

Believe it or not, there are some actual purposes for these that make sense! In the models, the decorators are just trying to show what the space would look like with curtains, without having to spend the money on the real thing. It's kind of like the cardboard televisions that you see in models.

In real life, I actually hung these in my boyfriend's apartment! He has a window in his bedroom with a big radiator unit right under it. You can't use regular, full functioning curtains because of this radiator. We bought a high quality blackout shade to cover the window at night, and then hung some heavy "fakey" curtains on the sides to keep any light from the edge of the blackout shade from peeping through. If you hide the top of the curtains under a cornice, you can't tell that they are the upsetting, stunted version. They do everything we need them to do, and for a fraction of the cost.

Perhaps in the case of the model homes in your condo, such as the photo above, the stationary curtain panels are used more for the effect of staging to potential buyers, i.e., using the panels to highlight the large picture window.

I've yet to see a bedroom that didn't have any sort of privacy covering, unless that bedroom backed up into some sort of forest where it would be unlikely that anyone from the outside would be looking in.

No, you would never use that particular treatments on a window like that, in a bedroom, facing all manner of neighbors. It's absolutely a cheap staging trick. The reason to do something like that in real life - along with another treatment that provides light-blocking and privacy of course - is because fabric panels add texture and sometimes color, so you want some panels even though you don't need them to cover the entire window (or they're not the most practical way to cover your window). Or perhaps because you really love a particular fabric but it's too expensive to buy 20 yards of it to cover a large picture window, you buy 5 yards to do some faux drapes instead and then use blinds or roller shades along with them.

On my own projects I have used stationary window panels - there are times it dresses up a space or helps make the space look more finished. This is in addition to roman shades however. Additionally, to make this work you must use enough fabric (double width, triple widths, etc.) so they appear that they would cover the window if closed. Otherwise it looks quite rediculous.

Curtains can (among other things) "extend" a window, soften a room, add color or texture to a wall, and (depending on the height of the rod) appear to raise a ceiling. On the other hand, curtains are a pain in the a*s to open and close. So, yes, decorative panels are quite common, especially when paired with either blinds or shades.

I had an apartment once that had floor-to-ceiling windows- and floor-to-ceiling powder blue vertical shades that the landlord would not allow us to remove. I made some very long mini curtains liek the ones used for staging to cover the ugly shades.

It tricks the eye into making the window look bigger...

What bothers me most about these window treatments are the fact that the rods are so short! Having the rods go across the width of the window would at least make it look realistic. This looks cheap and useless.

This is not at *all* about saving money. And I daresay, with those dressmaker details at the top, these cost more than a wall full of Ikea panels...

It's been done for ages. They are frequently called "dummy panels." Candice Olsen uses them all the time.

It's about bringing some of the room's color and textile story up the walls.
It's about expanding the visual weight of the window (counterintuitive to cover some of the frame to do it, but it works).
It's about making the ceiling feel higher.
It's about softening the actual envelope of the room, and integrating the color story.

This example room would look very different, and much less "established," if you took those panels away.

Window treatments are about layers. They've left the privacy and light control layer off these, since it is a model, and privacy is not an issue, and they want as much light as possible to pour in.

But the side panels are neither a staging trick nor a cost-savings device. They are an established decorating device. But only part of a window treatment story.

Like a few others said, it makes the window feel larger, and it "finishes" the room.

Unless you're in a modern home, using curtains next to windows gives it that traditional look.

I will, however, agree that they way it's done in this photograph looks odd. If you're going to have curtains dress the sides of the windows, at least have a full-length curtain rod so it gives the illusion that you CAN close the curtains on the window. Additionally, at some point in the future, you may change your mind and actually want curtains to run the length of the window. At which point, you'll have to remove and throw out this hardware and start over.

its supposed to frame the window -- like fake shutters, or as we used to call them "faux shutairres". its the same as adding a silent e to a perfectly good word like point. or calling something a landing that isn't.
imho they hung them way too high too -- its supposed to be a visual trick to make a window bigger -- but you really don't have to do that when you have a window is already big.
i am much more horrified at how overly matchy it is. the the carpet literally matches the drapes. and the ceiling.

i have some curtains kind of like this in my house, there is just 1 panel on each side. because we rarely close them (they face the back). however, at least for ours, if we really do want to block more light you can move and flatten them and they cover about 3/4 of the window.

@garystartswithg

i am much more horrified at how overly matchy it is. the the carpet literally matches the drapes. and the ceiling.

Agree, it must be the model apartment. Hell, I didn't even notice the ceiling. It's all pretty awful.

It's fine if the panels are stationery, if you don't need coverage, but it looks cheap. I would at least attach the panels to a rod that stretches across the whole of the window.

Model apartment.

Staging.

Really, nothing more need be said.

However, I do disagree that it looks "cheap". It's a designer detail, and in a residence (as opposed to a model unit) there would be additional functional window treatment layers along with the dummy panels -- and quite possiblly NOT a long empty rod in between. (I'd probably opt for Duette shades, myself.) The point here is NOT the illusion that the draperies would cover the window if extended. Who cares? The point is that the panels FRAME the window, bring the softness and color up the wall, etc. Some folks here are overthinking this.

Agreed w/ Sherry.

This was done to be easily removed and placed in another model apartment, then another, and so on...
...so they're certainly not going to use a long custom-made rod and extra-width panels.

i used "decoration" drapes to break the color in my living room. I have french doors to wide to have full size drapes and it looked boring so i decided to do half drapes with a nice pattern fabric and it totally changed the feeling in the room.

What did Freud say? "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

Sometimes a curtain panel is just a curtain panel. It's not meant to pull across the length of a window, nor is it meant to *look* like it would pull across the length of a window. Short rods, like those pictured above, are both decorative and appropriate.

Would you expect a piece of art to vacuum your rugs, or cook your dinner, or mix your drinks? Don't expect a curtain panel to block your sun. Think of it as successful ornamentation rather than failed window covering.

the shorty panels make sense in the ways described in the other comments-- designers just want to give an idea of what the space looks like decorated. but what i want to know is-- why just the shorty rods? i'd think non-standard rods would actually be MORE expensive than those sort ones on the side...

This is *not* a staging trick, a money saving device, or a shortcut, or something to be easily reused elsewhere.

It's a style decision. And, egads, it (even with short rods) happens all the time.

i would assume that it's partially for staging as well as saving money on full curtains as many have suggested. i would also venture to say that it's likely that the condominium board/designer/whoever wanted to achieve a universal look for the complex from the outside of the building(s).

I agree with Patrick. I see this design element all the time in lived-in homes, model homes, catalogs, HGTV etc.

Although you may feel that the treatment is odd because you haven't seen it before, it's not uncommon.

Yes this is a valid window treatment design that is actually quite popular. This size window would look silly with a loong rod (and the appropriate brackets for support in the middle). Function of light control is usually accomplished with a blind. This allows for softening of the window lines and the perfect amount or type of light control you need (as in a wood blind). Fabric only allows you "always open" or "always closed".

It's not "ghetto" as it has nothing to do with the what people in the "ghetto" would do.