Have you ever stood in front of a window in your home and had no idea what window treatment to select? If your answer is yes, don’t feel bad because most consumers are so overwhelmed by the vast array of window treatments that they don’t know where to start.

The first place to begin is to think about the purpose of your window treatment. You need to ask yourself several questions first. Do you need privacy in your room during daylight or after dark? If your window is in a bedroom or bathroom, then you should consider treatments that will provide privacy. But if your window is in a sunroom overlooking a pastoral setting with no neighbors, then privacy may not be an issue.

Think about the exposure coming through your window too. Do you need to protect your interior décor from fading or to keep your interior warm during winter months? Is streaming sunlight a priority or do you need to minimize light for a home theatre setting? If you need to eliminate light completely, then consider a blackout shade behind your window treatment. Or maybe you need the option of both sunlight and light control. Then you might opt for a hard window treatment and a soft treatment.

And when you’re considering the purpose of your window treatments, don’t forget about how you want the window to fit the room visually in size, scale and balance. Let’s think about how your window looks in your room for a moment. What if you had a window that was shorter than you like? Why not place a piece of furniture underneath the window to fill the empty space and add a valance treatment at the top of the window or a long window treatment that includes the furniture below as part of the window. Or what would you do if your window was too narrow? For windows that are too narrow, simply extend your window treatment six inches horizontally beyond the edges of your window or use a horizontal pattern to create width. And how would you make your window appear taller? Just install the curtain rod six inches above the window and add a valance or other window topper to conceal the wall space or pick a fabric with vertical lines to draw your eye upward.

Or what if your windows are too expansive and you want a more intimate feel in your room? Then select a window treatment with tiebacks or decorate each window separately. And what do you do with windows that don’t feel centered on your wall correctly? A great way to offset that type of window is to select a window treatment that’s asymmetrical. For example, if you wanted your window treatment to direct your eye towards the center of your room, then put the weightier part of the window treatment towards the center of your room.

Also, think about windows in smaller spaces. To make your room appear larger, you might want to opt for a simpler window treatment in a similar color to your wall that will blend into your wall. And if your window is the focal point of your room, then you might want to select window treatments that create drama. Just make sure that the weightiness of your window treatments are balanced elsewhere by other furnishings in your room.

Once you’ve determined the purpose of your window and how you want the window to fit your room visually in size, scale and balance, then start to consider the color, style and fabric of your window treatment. When you pick colors and patterns for your window, ensure that they coordinate with any existing colors and patterns that already exist in your room first. Warm colors like red, orange and yellow advance towards you, making a window seem larger and are great for warming up a darker space. Cool colors like blues and grays recede away from you, making a window usually appear smaller and look great in sunnier areas. And vertical patterns tend to be more formal, while horizontal patterns usually convey a more casual atmosphere.

And when you’re selecting colors, consider the fabric also. The texture of a fabric must blend well with the fabrics that already exist in your room, plus they must convey the style that you’ve selected for your room. For example, denim, chenille and linen materials are considered more casual, while silk and velvet fabrics are considered a more formal fabric. Also, shiny materials like silk reflect more light and may look lighter than they are, while coarser materials usually absorb the light, making the color seem darker.
The weight of the fabric should also be a factor in your decision. If you want to keep the heat in your space, then think about heavy fabrics or thermal shades and if sun exposure is the main issue, then try a window treatment that diffuses light such as blinds or sheers.

To determine a style for your window treatments, consider the architecture of your space, plus the current style of your décor. Make sure that your window treatment style will mix well with your other décor. If you’re not sure which window treatment you want to use, try cutting out pictures of window treatments you like and put them in a file. Hire a an interior design professional to help you design a window treatment or if you’re feeling daring, take out a piece of graph paper yourself and draw your window on the paper. Then sketch a few potential window treatment possibilities on top of your window until you find a window treatment that you absolutely love.

Designer’s Eye column was written by Karen Mills of Interiors by Design, Inc. and host, Living Large.