The Most Popular Custom Window Treatment Trends
It’s been a long, gray winter for window treatment trends.
Actually, it’s been a long, gray winter in interior design! For years, grays and neutral palettes have been driving design trends. All your favorite shows on HGTV featured neutral walls and cabinets, white or gray quartz countertops, and simple white and off-white treatments around windows.
There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. Neutral palettes create elegant, sophisticated looks. It’s just that some other design tools were left behind for a while – bold colors, bold textures, and a hint of extravagance here and there.
It’s important to understand that homes on HGTV shows are often being remodeled for resale. In other words, they’re designed to appeal to the broadest audience and cast a wide net for potential buyers.
So, as much as we all want to be on trend, we need to understand what’s driving the trends in window treatments. And recently, people have woken up to an important idea.
The trends are important, but so are you!
Window treatment trends are leaning back into the playful side again. Homeowners are having fun with colors and bold choices and celebrating their own personalities in their designs!
In short, current window treatment trends actually leave more room to express your individuality and uniqueness.
This is important because it creates fun visual designs and because the more your custom window treatments feel like they popped right out of your heart, the more confident you’ll feel in your decision. Your investment should add joy to the home for years to come.
So, let’s take a look at how window treatment trends have evolved in recent years. Here are the new directions for trendy window treatments.
Draperies Galore! Rich Elegance Is Back on Trend
Draperies have seen a rebound in recent years, whether they are full, functional window coverings or decorative, stationary side panels. The style, elegance, and warmth they bring to a room are being celebrated in interior design.
There was a misconception floating around that draperies belonged in “grandma’s house” and were old-fashioned. Now, people are waking up to the fact that contemporary draperies truly define a room.
Your windows are an opportunity to create an emotional, personal statement piece. Fill the room with bold textures and color, and create a warm, calming effect in the space.
These long, flowing fabrics are a chance to capture the latest window treatment trends while also making a statement about your vision for your home.
Clients choose drapery panels or curtains that are either pleated or made in the popular Ripplefold style, also known as "the wave." After more than a decade of minimalist design, homeowners crave rich fabrics to accentuate their once-barren windows.
Fun Fabric Trends in Window Treatments
Unexpected splashes of color and bold prints in drapery fabrics are showing up everywhere!
It’s all part of a trend of personalization. The ultimate example of this is personalized, custom-printed fabrics. The technology for creating your own fabric pattern is finally easy and affordable to use. Custom-printed textiles are also much more environmentally sustainable because they only print what you need. This option celebrates your style while cutting down on wasted resources.
Even outdoor spaces embrace the latest trends! In the past, outdoor spaces were mainly known for functional, monochrome solar shades used to control the environment. Those tools are still essential, but now, homeowners are also thinking about the aesthetics of their outdoor space.
More colorful textiles are readily available, so you can create a space that’s both beautiful and capable of blocking the sun or inclement weather. Durable, colorfast fabrics made from synthetic fibers hold up to the rigors of the outdoors.
The pandemic made us appreciate the virtues of a luxurious outdoor haven, and homeowners use colorful fabrics to create happy, playful, inviting spaces in their outdoor decks, sun porches, and pergolas.
Playful Color Tones and Textures in Current Window Treatment Trends
Our clients love to infuse their homes with saturated colors. As a result, drapery fabrics in bold colors and patterns are popping up everywhere.
They’re bringing life and joy to the “black holes” in people’s homes, those bare, untreated windows which just sit there lifeless at night.
Earth tones of brown and gold are back. Greens from chartreuse to dark emerald fill our senses with well-being and the calming effect of nature and forests.
Even grays are evolving! Cool gray tones and monotonous textures are on their way out, and grays with warmer undertones are showing up.
Of course, a pair of white linen draperies will always be a classic, gracing a room with neutral walls. They create the opportunity to place a lavish backdrop for bold pops of color elsewhere in the room, or the white linen can be juxtaposed against a wall in a contrasting color.
Textures and patterns have become more playful than ever, turning fabrics into artistic statement pieces in the room.
New trends in window treatments also include elegant drapery hardware and accessories.
Stunning hardware elevates every room!
Many homeowners think of the hardware in a window treatment as an afterthought, but it’s an integral part of the design.
Choose from rich metals, wood tones inspired by nature, or acrylics for a glamorous, transparent effect.
The latest trendy hardware finishes include chalk, heirloom copper, rose gold, and graphite. Gold tones are fashionable again, too! People aren’t shying away from merging old-world elegance with modern sensibilities.
Sleek traverse systems allow draperies to hang under a decorative fascia rod without requiring rings, creating a clean, contemporary look. We told you - these aren’t grandma’s draperies anymore! Hardware is often the key to creating highly sophisticated looks which strike a balance between window design and celebrating the view beyond the window.
Window treatment trends include a wide array of stunning Roman shades.
Roman Shades
Roman shades made from sheer fabrics are becoming top sellers. They are one of our most popular window treatment options because they allow natural light to enter the room while softly filtering it.
They vary significantly in design, from a flat Roman shade using a minimal amount of fabric to more ornate styles that use beautiful fabric folds to add softness and richness.
Roller Shades
Roller shades are used in the interior of a home in an ever-growing palette of colors and textures. They are great for filtering light in a room and for creating a clean, contemporary look.
Solar Shades
Solar shades filter the sun so you can still see out the window. They are either mounted to the interior or the exterior of a home. For rooms where the afternoon sun pours in, they’re invaluable to ensure you can enjoy your space. At the same time, they roll up into a small cassette and disappear when not needed. Solar shades come in different opacity levels depending on the balance of light filtering and privacy you wish to strike.
Cellular (honeycomb) shades
Cellular shades in new, trendy colors are a popular choice because their honeycomb cells also insulate a room very well. As a result, they keep rooms cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and they’re one of the market's most energy-efficient choices for window treatments today.
Honeycomb shades are available in light-filtering or room-darkening fabrics, and the latest trend is choosing shades with large “cells” (or pleats) so the shades have fewer lines, creating a cleaner look.
Woven Wood Shades
Woven wood shades or blinds are an excellent, natural-looking option. You can dress them up or down; they are a good choice here in the Pacific Northwest with our laid-back vibe.
Textured reeds, grasses, or wood can truly showcase a window. However, when you pair them with silk draperies, you create an unexpected, inviting, sophisticated, and elegant look. These natural weaves have also become lighter and airier, allowing light to filter softly into the room.
Don’t forget about the lift systems! With many window shades, the top-down/bottom-up feature is available, allowing the shade to work in two ways. First, you can move it from the bottom to the top of the window, and second, it can stack at the bottom of the window and be pulled up partially, offering privacy while still letting you enjoy the view.
Cordless lift systems are an excellent choice for child and pet safety. The bottom bar is raised and lowered by hand, so there are no dangerous draw cords hanging about.
Motorization is one of the hottest trends in window treatments!
Motorization is now available for almost every product, from basic roller shades to draperies, and let’s face it, this is the future, and it is here now!
The three ways to control your product are:
Handheld remote control
Via a “smart” device
Voice activation
And while it is fun to open and close window treatments this way, it is also beneficial. One of the biggest perks is opening room-darkening shades first thing in the morning and letting the sun gently draw you out of bed.
Power sources usually include rechargeable battery packs needing charging about every 6 to 12 months, depending on their usage. These are much more environmentally friendly than early models, which used replaceable batteries. Now, a cable from a DC outlet is temporarily attached to your shade once or twice a year, and the motor will be recharged within a few hours.
Automated drapery tracks have also gotten more intelligent and sleeker. Motors can hide behind drapery panels for a seamless look. By command, your draperies will open and close, or you can set them on a timer and wake to the quiet flutter of drapes welcoming the morning sun.
If you're building a new home or office and are interested in motorization, you should contact a custom window treatment expert immediately. When the correct wiring is included in your plans and installed by an electrician during construction, you can bypass the need for rechargeable battery packs altogether!
One of the most significant window covering trends is optimizing home offices and studies!
So many more people are working from home, and homeowners enjoy decorating their study or office and making it more personal.
Remember these essentials to make your home office both functional and enjoyable:
Quality blinds, shades, draperies, or curtains help reduce the glare on your computer screens.
Lined draperies absorb sound and cancel out some of the noise coming from outside your home.
Custom draperies eliminate unsightly background views when making Zoom or FaceTime calls from your home.
Sheer layers in window treatments soften the light coming into your room while letting you enjoy the view. You can add to the beauty of your window while enhancing the comfort and joy you experience in the room.
Sort through the trends and make a personal statement in your home!
It’s not easy to track what’s trendy and know how to apply it to your personal style of interior design. There’s always a little voice in the back of a homeowner’s mind, “Did I make the right choice?”
Working with a Custom Window Treatment Designer gives you confidence in your decisions.
It also makes the process more fun. We end up creating lifelong friendships with clients.
And as a final perk, the headaches of making changes in your home are all covered. We do the heavy lifting, tackle any problems or challenges, and ensure a flawless, professional installation.
Schedule a complimentary consultation with us. We’ll help you find your way through the trends to a design that fills your home with daily inspiration and joy.