Window Treatments

Why live with landlord special blinds if you don’t have to?

Consider this a window of opportunity to get it right.

Plus, where to shop the look.

It's pretty shocking to be honest, and she says she never will have it in any of her homes!

In your living room and beyond.

No drilling necessary!

It's rental-friendly, too!

Shopping for curtains? Start your search here.

Snagging and sticking window treatments will be a problem of your past soon.

And are they more expensive than blinds?

Here are three ways you can add character and charm to your otherwise plain windows without breaking the bank, or the glass.

Garlands aren't just for the holidays!

Sweet dreams *are* made of these.

Curtains aren’t just curtains anymore — they’re parties for your wall.

Plus, they reveal how to get the perfect puddling effect.

Hang on to this one—get it?

We've got curtain love on the brain.

Beyoncé posted a series of uncaptioned photos taken in front of a set of mod 1960s-inspired curtains — here are some similar sets.

Hitting the reset button on your decor? These airy curtains are the perfect place to start.

And it’s not just for the kitchen anymore!

Pretty and practical FTW!

If you need a pitch black room to catch those Zzz, read on.

Because those cheap roller shades you’ve been using to block out the light just don't cut it.

Give your living room a quick style boost!

It's like a springtime garden in a home.

The answer is in your recycling bin.

We’re always on the lookout for smart, renter-friendly products that won’t risk your security deposit, and make your space better than the day you moved in. Slatted window blinds are one particular sore spot for a lot of folks: They look generic, have constant problems, and landlords don’t always let you remove them. Well, tenants rejoice, because we found a way to work around those ugly window coverings, and dramatically change the look of your whole room.

Save money AND expand your pool of available options.

Two is better than one when it comes to window treatments.

Hatch a plan now so your windows won’t be naked forever.

A vintage scarf from a flea market or yard sale can be a hard thing to pass up. So hard, in fact, that you might find yourself with quite the collection. If your scarf stash is getting a bit out of control, this could be the perfect project for you! Once you measure your windows and decide on the configuration of your scarves, the actual sewing goes by pretty quickly.

I loved lots of things about living on San Francisco’s Valencia Street: the coffee at Four Barrel, the mariachis at Puerto Allegre, everything at Community Thrift. But the one thing that always got me down was the Valencia Street Yelling Team. Between the constant yelling and the streetlight directly outside my window, falling asleep was a nightly battle. Blackout curtains to the rescue! Velvet + Wool Curtains: 1. Studded Wool Curtains from West Elm, $79-$89 2.

Hello AT, I’m looking for a solution to hide really ugly security bars on my living room window.I need a solution that still allows light to enter the room because the room is dark.Any suggestions are appreciated!Thanks! Emily(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.)Dear Emily,This is a perennial NYC question and one that we wish was answerable by simply saying TAKE THE BARS DOWN, but we know that is not reasonable for everyone.

Summer is lovely, except… why-oh-why are our kids waking up at 6am? Oh, that’s right, they have this horrible innate sense to get up the instant the sun gets up. Well, if you, like me, would rather trick your tots into sleeping a little longer, rather than waking up daily before 7am, then here are some curtains for you! It’s black-out time! 1. Ruffle Blackout Panels from Pottery Barn Kids. From $89 per panel. 2. Chevron Blackout Panels from Pottery Barn Kids.

Sure, curtains are one more opportunity to add color, pattern and interest to a room, but for a chic, elegant look consider curtains in the same color (or one shade lighter or darker) as the surrounding walls. It shows design confidence: I could jazz this place up with contrasting curtains, but everything else is so fabulous I don’t need to.

Windows — and their coverings — are a big part of your home’s design. Are you getting yours right? There are a lot of ways you can go wrong with window treatments in your home. Here are seven to look out for. Like the look of sheers but can’t sleep because they let too much street light in? Love the look of big, thick drapes but wish you had more of a breeze in your home?

Turtlenecks function perfectly well. In fact, thanks to ample fabric in the neck region, they can be quite a warm delight on a winter’s day. But aesthetically, they can sometimes come off dated, easily veering into the too fussy area, making them a hard-to-pull-off item. Kind of like window valances, amiright? Though once the crown jewel of a home’s window coverings, valances can be well-meaning, but make your room feel like it stepped out of 1988.

If you ask me, the café of the home shouldn’t have the monopoly on cafe curtains. Those short-tier curtains that cover the bottom half of windows are perfect for more than just the kitchen. Cafe curtains perfectly balance privacy and luminosity, letting plenty of light in while keeping inquisitive eyes out. And the best part? You can get them up quickly (without holes in the walls) with nothing more than a tension rod, curtain clips and a light piece of fabric.

Plantation shutters are a hallmark of Southern style that are also a great choice for window coverings in homes of almost any style. The deep-louvered, swinging wooden shutters provide a sophisticated alternative to blinds and will give any home a little touch of the genteel.

A curtain rod is one of those purchases that you try to get through as quickly as possible. Mainly, it’s because the easiest-to-find curtain rods are boring. They’re either purely utilitarian without any sort of flourish, or come complete with finials you’d never choose on their own. Really, it’s kind of hard to get excited about such curtain rods. That was true for me until I saw acrylic curtain rods.

While ready made curtains are perfectly wonderful out of the package, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make them a little bit more special.

While having “too many” windows may sound like a good problem to have (hello, vitamin D), treating multiple windows in one space is often a task best left to the professionals. With so many variables involved, it’s hard to know what treatments will look good together until the installation is complete (aka once it’s too late).

Window treatments are one of the most powerful decor tools. Some curtains serve physical functions like blocking light or providing privacy, but the magic of curtains lies in their visual strength. Curtains add softness to typically rectangular or square windows. They draw the eye upward, preventing rooms from feeling too bottom heavy. They can frame furniture arrangements for effect, or they can add balance and symmetry to an otherwise eclectic composition.

Earlier this week, we published an article that shared six stylish solutions for those (kind of awful) vertical blinds you so often see in rental apartments. Of course, they are incredibly practical, and if you’re all about privacy and so-so about aesthetics, then keep on keepin’ on I suppose. But me? I can’t stand them. They look so… institutional and devoid of any personality.

Swedish retailer IKEA has been testing the waters of smart design for several years with the subtle introduction of tech home products like wireless charging furniture and Trådfri smart lighting. Now, the mega home furnisher is rolling out a new way to do Saturday mornings: window shades you can operate without even leaving your bed. The shades can be controlled by remote or synced to your Google Hub, Alexa, or Siri system for added convenience.

Of all the design elements you can add to a room to give a space a “finishing touch,” nothing quite does the trick like a nice set of curtains. Along with just making a room feel “done,” curtains are also a great way to add in sumptuous and soft textiles. The bummer is that curtains can be pricey… particularly if you have big windows or tall ceilings, two things I have in my New Orleans rental apartment.