Sometimes you want to take in the view. Sometimes you don't.
When the sun is in your eyes. When you're stepping out of the shower. When it's dark beyond your window. That's when window shades come in handy.But knowing when you need them is not the tricky part. Today, choosing from dozens of options can keep your head spinning, just like an old roller shade in a Donald Duck cartoon.
Consider a few choices: Austrian shades, inverted pleat shades, balloon shades, London shades and Roman shades; Silhouettes, Vignette and Luminette shades; honeycomb shades (large or small, single, double or triple honeycomb); wood or durawood blinds; metal blinds; vertical blinds; miniblinds; roll-up shades, bamboo shades. . . .
And those are just the basics. Every company and workroom has its specialty and variations.
As in most decorating choices, you have two things to consider when selecting shades: practicality and appearance.
First, be practical. Do you want to shut out all outside light or just some? Is energy efficiency important? Can you reach the cords? Would a remote control be worth the cost?
Then be creative. What kind of atmosphere suits your room? Do you want a pow color or a subtle one? A print that complements your basic color scheme? A light, gauzy look that lets the sunlight filter in? A simple country feeling or the formal look of a cornice or valance?
Shades made of swagged or folded fabric have been around forever. Imagine Caesar peeking out from under a Roman shade.
Deb Brewer and her daughter, Cindy Ponder, have seen - and made - almost every shade and curtain combination imaginable since Brewer started Brewer Quilt and Design 37 years ago in suburban St. Louis. The workroom manufactures and installs window treatments and bedding, mostly for designers.
"People are tired of the miniblinds and metal shades they see at the office," Brewer says. "They're choosing soft shades for home."
Among the many styles she makes are Roman, Austrian, balloon and box pleated shades. Some are tucked under a valance, but many others form their own header and are the only fabric needed on the window. Still others are used in conjunction with curtains.
When laminated, fabric can also be made into roller shades. Depending on how often they're pulled up and down, they can fray on the edges, Brewer says. If you want custom fabric shades, she recommends variations on the Roman or Austrian shades for most windows.
For big, open windows, less is often more. "Nobody treats windows in a really heavy way any more," Brewer says. "When window designs changed to wider and taller to look more spacious, people wanted to let the outdoors in. But they still want something to give a little designer look, something wispy and graceful."
Even for standard window sizes, a lighter look is popular with interior designers today. Arlene Lilie used pale linen for Roman shades and curtains in a morning room in a turn-of-the-century mansion that served as the Symphony Showcase house.
"It was a very sheer and unlined fabric that gave a light, gauzy, soft look to the window," Lilie says. "It gives you privacy but doesn't keep all the light out." The Roman shade and curtains were made of the same 100 percent, open-weave linen.
"Linen has a naturally clean look when the light comes through," she says. "It lends a special ambience to a room that you can't get any other way."
Roman shades are made so that the fabric forms a soft, flat pleat. "Roman shades are sophisticated, whereas balloon shades look a little more cute," Lilie says.
One of the most popular ideas in manufactured shades came from Hunter-Douglas Co. about 1991. Called Silhouette, the shades have soft adjustable fabric vanes suspended between sheer front and back facings, combining the advantages of blinds with the look of fabric. They offer the light control of a blind, the easy operation of a shade and the soft, airy look of sheer curtains.
Vignette, introduced a few years later, is an updated version of a Roman shade; fabric rolls up into a head rail.
Honeycomb shades, made by several companies, are the most energy-efficient shade. The air trapped in each honeycomb helps keep out cold and noise and keeps heat inside in winter.
Hunter-Douglas' newest innovation is vertical privacy sheers, Luminette, introduced this spring. By twisting a wand, the fabric creates a sheer, translucent or opaque look and also can be pulled back from the window like conventional sheer curtains.