Make Your Small Home Look Bigger (I): Window Dressing

For many homeowners, the size of the home is a major consideration. A limited floor plan can seriously cramp your style due to its lack of space but short of coughing up more money to get a bigger house, there are ways to give your home the illusion of space. In this article and the following ones to come, we will look at various ways to dress your home and make it look bigger.  

Window Dressing

You might think that curtains or blinds are unnecessary items, but such window treatments are essential for privacy and light control. In fact, they can help enlarge the room visually when you choose the right type of dressing to adorn your windows. Here are some tips to picking the right ones for your home:

• Avoid overly complicated designs for your window dressings, the simpler it is the better.
• If you don't like the view outside your windows, apply window film or frost the glass panels. Such a method will block the sight but won't hinder the light.
• Make the windows look taller by hanging draperies just below the ceiling.
• If you prefer a visually wider look, then extend the draperies beyond the window frame's length.
• Choose fabrics that match your wall colours so it'll enlarge your room visually.
• If your room receives lots of sunlight, then avoid brightly coloured ones as these will fade over time.
• Go for neutrals as they blend in better and are not as likely to fade.

  Not sure what to choose? Here are some common window dressings aside from curtains: Simple yet stylish, Blinds are the fuss-free solution to dressing up your windows. Thanks to its horizontal (or vertical) slats, you can adjust the level of privacy and amount of light easily. While it's made from durable materials such as wood, vinyl or metal, it needs regular maintenance to keep it dust free. Popular types include Roman Blinds,Rollers, Venetians, and Honeycomb Blinds. My personal favourite, the Zebra Blinds, allow you to adjust privacy and light levels just by aligning the strips. Not up to cleaning the individual slats? Then you might want to get Shades instead. You can adjust it just by pulling it up or down with a simple mechanism. It's quite popular with homeowners due to the wide variety of materials and styles available for shades like Roman Shades, Bamboo Shades, and Cellular Shades. Drapes are usually made from heavier fabrics than curtains so they are more suitable for formal looking rooms such as the dining room. You can easily open or close them with a string, and they are great for keeping cold drafts from your bedroom on windy nights. Sheers, on the other hand, are on the light side. Their privacy factor is naturally not as high, and for this reason, are usually used in unison with curtains. If you love the frilly look or want some sunshine in your room to make it look larger, then sheers are a good idea. For a touch of grandeur, you can consider adding valances. These are decorative elements that hide the mounting hardware above your window dressing. Made from a dazzling variety of fabrics, they can be presented in a number of styles like pleats or arches. You can read more on this topic:

• Make Your Small Home Look Bigger (II): Raise the Ceiling & Colours
• Make Your Small Home Look Bigger (III): Furniture Placement
• Make Your Small Home Look Bigger (IV): Art & Wall Decor
• Make Your Small Home Look Bigger (V): Fabric
• Make Your Small Home Look Bigger (VI): Light