Modern Furniture

Here is an idea of window treatment married a petite drapery to a display shelf. It appeared in a kitchen, but is here adapted to a bedroom.

Buy two ready-made wood brackets (the kind that can support a shelf) from a lumberyard or Home Depot. Mount them on either side of the window, making them flush with the top of the casing (or higher, if you want the illusion of a taller ceiling). Cut a shelf as deep as the brackets and set it on top. Edge it with molding, if desired. Paint the shelf and brackets white.
Now set a slim tension rod (from any hardware or fabric store) between the brackets. Float a lightweight, floor-length sheer from the rod. Set a few lovely objects or vases on the shelf. It will make a handsome display and draw the eye up, implying height.

Cafe curtains, which traditionally cover the lower half or bottom third of a window, offer privacy while admitting light from the top. To make them look fresh and elegant, modernize the proportions. Instead of hanging the curtains halfway up the window, he raises them one mullion higher. (Mullions are the wooden strips between panes of glass.) In a window without mullions, raise the curtain roughly a foot above the halfway point;  experiment until the proportions look right. Consider curtains of white linen with a simple pinch pleat, using pinch-pleat hardware from any fabric shop.

Tip: Align your curtain rod with the mullions, or the window treatment will look disorganized.

Good curtain is like a favorite dress. It drapes handsomely, looks well made even if it’s Shaker-simple, tempts you to touch the fabric, and suits the window it was made for.

How do you decide what your windows should wear? Here is a good advice: if the room has a lot going for it-great art, furniture, or architecture-you should simplify the window treatments; If the room is not that outstanding, go ahead and really decorate the window.

Remember that dressing your living room windows is a little like getting dressed up yourself for the theater: finery isn’t required, but a certain attention must be paid to style, quality, and tailoring. You can do without frills and formality, which in the language of curtains means swags, jabots, and voluptuous valances. But good fabrics, modern furniture and good construction, are essential.

Does the morning sun make it difficult for you to sleep until brunch? If so, your window treatments aren’t amply tailored to your needs. Have curtains made with a blackout lining to keep the room dark, or install a blackout shade behind the curtains you already have. And don’t let the word blackout intimidate you: the lining you see is traditionally white (though it can be any other color you choose).

If noise from traffic or neighbors disturbs your peace in the bedroom, muffle it: cover the walls with fabric.

Your choices:

• Hire a fabric workroom or wall upholsterer. An expert will apply padded and fabric-wrapped panels to your walls or frame out the wall with wood strips to which the fabric is staple-gunned. It need not be all over the room, you can upholster just the wall that’s between you and the noise, or the wall behind your bed.
• Curtain the wall instead; it’s easier and soft-looking. The traditional method is to affix a brass rod under the crown molding, another above the baseboard; the fabric, tightly gathered, is held taut between the two. For extra soundproofing, staple batting up first.