Did you know that your Madison Flooring and Design showroom has a wide selection of window fashions with coordinating pillows, bed coverings, cornices and upholstery material selections? With the right window covering you create a mood, a look, a setting or a coordination of colors with the latest styles, trends and shapes in window fashions.

When you shop at a Madison Flooring and Design showroom you’ll have the opportunity to coordinate your new floor covering with your window fashions!

CUSTOM DRAPERIES like pinch pleat, tab top, sheers, and ripple folds offer an abundance of design solutions giving your home that "style for life."

TOP TREATMENTS like swags, cascades, tab tops, balloon shades, wood or bamboo cornices, and upholstered cornices finalize the style you wish to achieve.

HARD SURFACE window treatments like woven woods, pleated shades, cellular shades, wood blinds, shutters, verticals, roman shades, mini blinds, Silhouettes, and Luminettes guarantee the privacy and beauty your home deserves.

DRAPERY HARDWARE can accentuate your decor with decorative finials, iron and wood rods, traverse rods and continental rods.

Set a budget
"Some people think they’ll spend $100 or $200 a window, but that’s going to buy you a basic blind in today’s market," Be realistic about what you can afford. Do a little homework to get an idea of fabric prices.

Set priorities

What rooms and what windows are the most important for you to dress? Do the rooms you really live in first, such as the bedrooms and the family room. Try to set a schedule for doing other rooms, so you don’t end up six years down the road with the same inexpensive aluminum blinds on the windows that you first threw up there for privacy’s sake.

How do you live?
Do you have kids? Do you entertain a lot? If your window treatments will go in a high traffic area such as by a sliding glass door, opt for durable, washable materials (nylon, acetate, acrylic, cotton) and save the silk for another window. Similarly, if you cook a lot you don’t want delicate fabrics in the kitchen, where they’ll absorb splatters.

Next, think hard about function. Do you want your window treatments to provide privacy? Control the light coming in? Frame a beautiful view? Insulate against cold and noise?

Some basic guidelines:

For light control, vertical blinds and shutters offer the most options, since you can tilt slats or louvers to allow in just the amount of light you want. But if it’s a bedroom that needs to be totally dark at times, opt for blackout shades or blackout lining for draperies. For energy efficiency, honeycomb blinds actually trap hot or cold air in cells, keeping the room cooler or warmer with the season.

To block noise, "the more fabric you put up, the quieter it is," Consider layering window treatments such as a shade, then sheers, then lined floor length draperies (add a fabric-covered cornice at the top).

Find your style
There are no hard and fast rules in choosing a style. Currently, there’s a trend toward cleaner, urban looks – less fussy. That translates into natural woven wood shades, Roman shades and new flat panels that run on a track, inspired by Japanese shoji screens.

Clip out inspirations from magazines and books. If you can’t make up your mind, then narrow the focus and just pull things you don't like. Ask your Madison Flooring and Design expert to show you ideas from The Encyclopedia of Window Fashions which offers hundreds of examples, and includes charts for stack back widths, general yardage requirements and explanations of drapery terminology. (This is very helpful for those of us who didn’t know that jabots are decorative pieces of fabric hung over seams or between swags on a valance.)

Think about the feeling you want in any given room. If it’s a family room and you’re only in it at night and you want a cozy, comfortable feeling then you need some layers and softness at the window, not just blinds, Window treatments can reflect both your home’s architecture and your personal style.

Install them correctly

Draperies should be hung at least four inches above the window frame and should overlap the frame two to four inches on either side of the window. Standard length for draperies is 1/2 inch from the floor, although now many draperies are cut to stack 1-1/2 to 3-inches onto the floor, the way pants cuffs break at the ankle, says Barrett. The "stack back"—how much space the draperies take up on either side of the window—should be approximately one-third the width of the window.

Don’t forget decorative hardware

You can change your finials like you are changing your earrings and it can really change the personality of a room.

Find out more by visiting Madison Flooring and Design Showroom Today.

Your Madison Flooring and Design showroom offers an extensive selection from Robert Allen Design, Hunter Douglas, Comfortex, Kathy Ireland Home and many more.

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