A bit about windows

We were talking about window covering a little bit.  They are to me, the second most important thing to work on in a room.

This again depends on many things.
1. Region of the country
2. Type of room
3. Room exposure
4. Light direction: North, South , East or West
5. Amount of light in the room during the day light hours.
6. Formal or informal

Regions dictate types of fabric, types of blinds, or just open windows.  In the North where we have seasons, draperies are used more than just blinds.  In the East, shutters, blinds and draperies are all used.  Not saying that you have to use anything in your region, this is just a matter of choice.  In the west, depends on the northwest or the southwest, again has choices.  The western look is most often casual, however, in the large cities, you find highly formal settings.  Here layering seems to be popular as well as plantation shutters.  In the South, blinds of all kinds, plantation shutters, light weight fabrics, cornices and sheers.  Again, depends on the setting of your room and your taste.

You can buy almost anything online or at a local store, such as "Bed Bath and Beyond", "J.C.Penney's"," Sears", " Wal Mart ", even resale shops and garage sales. 

It is amazing what is out there.  Every home improvement store sells blinds of all kinds, some even packaged draperies.

Here is a quick way to measure for draperies:
1.  Always use a steel tape to measure with, all others give inaccurate measurements.
2.  Measure everything- each window ( even though they look alike).  Today, there is no such thing as standard.
3.  If using an existing drapery rod, measure it across first and then each side.  Those are called the returns (rod returning to the wall).
4.  I will show you a form to record your measurements on.  You may want to make several copies because each page is set up for one window.

There are several measurements needed for windows.  Look at the window measuring chart and write in all the sizes.  Keep these with you as you shop for window treatments.

Explanations:

 

Inside Measurement:  This is the measurement of the window inside the frame.  You do not include the trim.  In order for any window treatment to be used on an inside mount, you need at least 1" ( one inch) of clearance between the window frame and the outer edge of the casing.  If you do have 1", this works well for regular shades, mini-blinds, micro mini blinds cellular shades or any custom made fabric blind.  If you have at least 3" you can use vertical blinds or silhouettes.

 

Outside Measurements:  This is the measurement of the window from the edge of the casing (trim) to the edge of the opposite casing.  Sometimes shade or blinds are mounted directly on to the casings, ( this does put holes in the wood, if mounted this way), but this is the measurement needed for the outside measurement.  Always take the measurement from the ceiling to the top of the casing, and from the bottom of the window casing to the floor.  Measure from the top of the window to the bottom of the window and from the top of the window casing to the floor.  Enter all measurements on your chart.

 

Add this to all the rest of your information.  You should have quite a folder going, if you are interested in re-doing

 

Tomorrow another piece about measuring.