Window treatments offer an effective yet often overlooked way of personalizing a room. After all, coverings for windows are among the few elements in today's home that seldom come ready-made. This allows for lots of latitude in design. With the choice of combinations practically limitless, it isn't hard to make a window treatment look custom-made. Most home furnishings stores sell a wide range of fabrics along with all sorts of trims, tassels and hardware that can be used to create highly distinctive window treatments.
Special effects are possible as well.
Austrian shades, for example, will make a narrow window appear broader, while shoji screens give ordinary sliding glass doors a modern, sophisticated look. Please understand, however, that window coverings need not be elaborate or exotic in order to have a personal quality. While I have no desire to minimize the height of the ceiling, something has to be done to make the windows appear less awkwardly scaled. I prefer elegant styling, but I don't like fussy prints. A camouflage job is called for, and the accompanying photo will give some hints as to how it can be performed.