Modern Furniture

For a sophisticated sheer that is worthy of the living room we devise a treatment that is half curtain, half shade.

Hem (at top and bottom) a flat panel of sheer fabric—wool, linen, even a sheer metallic—so it precisely covers the window like a banner. Slip a brass curtain rod through both hems, let-ting the ends of the rod extend an inch past the shade on either side. Hang the top rod from hooks on the wood trim so the sheer drapes before the window like a delicate flag.
To raise the shade, you’ll need to install a pair of cup hooks or plant hooks, one on each side of the window, as high as you can comfortably reach. Lift the bottom rod and set it in the hooks.

The top of the window will still be veiled by the sheer; the bottom reveals a partial view and can now admit the breeze.

Darkness on Sunday mornings. Bright sun on Monday. Privacy from the neighbors, but also a view— we do ask a lot of our bedroom curtains. And it helps, of course, if they have a romantic or peaceful quality that makes the bedroom more of a sanctuary. Not every trade secret in this chapter can meet all these requirements. Depending on your needs, you may have to (a) prioritize or (b) combine treatments—using, for example, an opaque shade behind a sheer drapery.

Now for the easy part: You can dress a bedroom window with less effort than a window in a living or dining room. Consider a blowsy length of gauze tossed over a rod: in the living room, it can look insubstantial, but in the bedroom, it suggests a veil. Delicacy works in the privacy of a bedroom, and delicate fabrics (think linen, lace, and sheers) are often reasonably priced.

Simplicity works, too. A surprising number of houses and apartments by top designers have bedroom windows dressed only in pristine white schoolhouse shades, the kind you may recall from your third-grade classroom, If the shades are custom-made for a tailored fit, you’ll find that the understatement works.

Try not to overcoordinate. If you make curtains to match your patterned sheets, the room will look predictable—and after a while you’ll tune out that gorgeous pattern. Let window treatments stand on their own. If you still crave coordination, do something overscaled and unexpected: cut an 18-inch-high band from the patterned sheets and sew it across the base of starched white curtains. You’ll have broken out of a formula, and the details of your decorating will stand out the better for it.