Gone are the days when the living room was off limits and all of the furniture was covered in plastic – not that anyone wanted to go in there anyway and sit on cold, crunchy couch coverings! Thankfully, how we use our homes has evolved and living rooms are now meant to lived in. Our homes are the center of where life happens and having a snug place is of the utmost importance these days where staying home is “de rigueur.” Now is the the time to make your living room more warm and relaxing.
As the least utilitarian of all our rooms, the living room deserves a little extra decorating effort. If the living room is cozy and comfortable, it will be used and enjoyed, instead of being ignored. Style and comfort may both be found in selecting the right furnishings and decorative details. An important component to any room are window treatments, but choosing them for the living room will depend greatly on how you and your family use the space. Consider if your room demands a slightly more formal look if you enjoy dinner together, or if you favor the more casual look that fits your lifestyle of reading or playing board games or conquering intricate puzzles. Whether you need to outfit those old drafty windows with an energy efficient window treatment or you just need to update old blinds or shades, a new look will bring your living room to life and, in turn, beckon you to this unused, often forgotten space.
Roman Shades
Roman shades will instantly add a soft elegance to your windows. These run from formal silk to casual cotton to fit your décor and family lifestyle. Our Designer Roman Shades are available in stripes, patterns and most any solid color (74)! Of course, if there are children around, it’s always best to go with a cordless or a motorized lift option so you can relax because your family is safe from any dangling cords. Roman shades give you the best of both worlds, instantly enlivening the living room, without being ostentatious or overly formal. By choosing the fabric and color, your can DIY the living room to your personal design taste. Remember to consider the back side of the shade if your living room windows face the street, as the cords will be visible. All of our Roman style fabrics are decorator worthy and match any room vibe. One of our most popular Designer Roman Shades is our plain fold with a decorative inset but you can easily custom design any window with whimsy or finesse. Roman shades will never let you down!
Shutters
Shutters are ageless and are as fitting for a grand estate home as they are for a bungalow beach cottage. As a built- in feature, they lend a sense of reassurance in our ever changing lives and homes. Stately and simple, shutters look as beautiful from the inside as the outside, making them one of our most popular living room window treatment ideas. Call me a “boomer,” as shutters have always been my all time favorite window treatment for its simplicity and everlasting spirit. Shutters double as an architectural feature for the home, along with its refined look in any living room, whether accented with formality or with a breezy attitude. Shutters like to fit in anywhere and never go out of style.
Cellular Shades
For a crisp, clean look, cellular shades are a superb choice for the living room. Not only are they insulation super stars, but the color assortment available is enormous. Perfect for the living room, their unique horizontal pleats are calming to the eye as they gently filter any incoming light to lend a warm glow and when closed, almost disappear from view. Cells continue to be a best-seller choice for their adaptability in any décor and their slim and sleek look when pulled down and magical invisibility when raised up tight into the window frame. Cells may be a minimal window treatment but those special “honeycomb” pockets trap the cold air, thereby insulating any room from heat loss and likewise block the hot air from seeping in. Cellular shades are the ultimate energy efficient window treatment. If you like a “barely there” window treatment that offers you the unseen promise of energy saving, plus design and color and fabric choices, cell shades are your dream window treatment come true for the living room.
Drapery
The blend of style and function makes drapery a win-win. With almost any color and pattern combination thinkable, drapery adds (I like to call them curtains – more fun and modern) layers of texture, not only to your windows, but to the surrounding walls as well. Ideally paired with another window treatment, such a wood or faux-wood blinds or roman and cellulars, drapery works as a temperature barrier, keeping the warmth from leaking out through the windows. Drapery, as an added flourish, will instantly add a touch of formality to a casual living room or amplify the look of a more urbane living room. For many of us, drapery conjures up a thick, heavy brocaded silk or velvet dust gathering material that suffocates a room with darkness. Banish that feeling as drapery today is soft, casual, airy and is a common final touch to dressing our living room windows. Drapery has been released from the “Gone With The Wind” decadent days of Scarlett O’Hara and Tara.
The living room of our now unusual days might be our last refuge from all the confusion outside our view as we are enclosed more than ever in our homes. Don’t let this space go to waste. Bring your living room back to life with a new look as you are now armed with the best living room window treatment ideas and like Scarlett said: “Tomorrow is another day.” We can all hope for a brighter tomorrow, whenever that arrives.
