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The Case for Custom Window Treatments

  • Writer: Bre Oriolo
    Bre Oriolo
  • May 1
  • 3 min read

If windows are the soul to the home, window treatments are the eyebrows. My first drapery workroom I worked with as a decorator said that to me, and I've never forgotten it. Eyebrows are a defining feature, they frame our faces. And we don't want thin, overplucked brows of the 90s...we want nice and full. You aren't going to get nice and full drapes from a retail store. You're going to get it by going custom. Read ahead as I list the many reasons to go custom with window treatments.



1. Fullness

living room with too thin drapes

This is our living room when we first moved to the house we are in now. Check out the curtains. Too thin and scrawny. They're retail. We need drapes that are going to be hung higher and wider than the window, and the fabric needs to cover a small portion of the window and then stack back onto the wall a bit. We want a full look. When you go to buy curtains from retail, they come in fabric that is one width. Fabric is typically 54" wide. By the time the edges are finished and sewn, you likely have 52" of width. As you can see in this picture, it's not enough. When you go custom, you get the exact width you need for your space. If you are doing stationary panels (panels that stay at the outside edges of the window(s)), you might do 1.5 or 2 widths of fabric to get the full look. If you have functioning drapery panels (meaning you will open and close them to cover the window when needed), you would need 2 or 2.5 widths to get a full look.


  1. Wide Selection of Fabrics + Trims



office moodboard with butterfly fabric

Not only are you not getting the width you need from retail options, but you aren't getting quite the fabric selection, either. As a decorator, I have access to fabric vendors--each who have thousands of fabrics to choose from. The sky is the limit! You can go as bold or toned down as you want. In this picture, my client had a butterfly hanging on her office wall, and that inspired me to find some butterfly fabric for Roman shades.



custom roman shades and pillows using butterfly fabric




We also added matching (custom) pillows since there's a bench in that space.















window treatments and trim

You can even add a fun trim to your drapery panels or Roman shades, which you aren't going to see with retail options. In this picture, we went with white linen drapes in three spaces on a first floor, and then selected three fun, different trims for each. The trims here give just a little something special. Stay tuned for my next blog, where I show these three window treatments come to life.




  1. Customization Options


custom drapery panels with trim

There are a few customization options that you don't get with retail. One is adding trim, like I just mentioned. The other is being able to choose your header style. Header style refers to what happens at the top of your drapery panels. For example: grommet (please don't do this!), rod pocket, back tab, or pleated. I always opt for pleated. Common pleating options are pinch pleat or triple pinch pleat. The drapes in this picture show a pinch pleat (and also one of my favorite trims!). Pleats elevate the look of not only your drapes, but the whole space. There are drapery pins that are attached to the back of the header and then looped through curtain rings.


Roman shades also have style options. For example, flat fold, relaxed, tie, swag. I personally prefer a flat fold. It's what you see in the butterfly picture above.


  1. Just the Right Size + Placement


window treatment install

We talked about having the right width and fullness for your drapes. But hanging height is also important.  The drapes should just barely touch the floor or hover there perfectly. No more too short drapes. No more limitations of "standard" lengths from retail. When you get custom, you're going to get everything installed for you. Your Roman shades are going to fit perfectly in the window frame (for inside mount). Did I mention yet that you don't lift a finger? Someone else is going to get the right measurements, and hang everything for you. Oh, and your curtain rods will be the perfect length. I can customize pole lengths and have lots of options for finials. No more limitations of retail sizes. No more bending, telescoping rods. Going custom, you'll get hardware that will properly support the weight of your drapes.


Have I convinced you yet to get custom window treatments? I hope so!

Next up: the window treatments process. What it's like to get window treatments from start to finish.


Until then, enjoy some fun IG reels about custom window treatments:


 
 
 

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